Did my diet cause my gallstones?
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Q. I was recently diagnosed with gallstones and wonder if my diet caused them. If so, could changing my diet help to dissolve them?
A. There are no specific foods that directly cause gallstones — hardened deposits of digestive fluid that form in your gallbladder. But the number of calories you eat does matter, as overweight people tend to develop more gallstones than those at a healthy weight. Another risk factor is rapid changes in body weight. Gallstones often form when someone gains or loses a large amount of weight over a relatively short period.
While you can't dissolve your stones by altering your diet, what you eat can help ease the symptoms of gallstones and reduce the risk of making new ones. I recommend a low-fat diet when people have gallstone symptoms (typically, sudden and rapidly intensifying pain in the center or upper right portion of the abdomen, sometimes radiating to the back). A low-fat diet decreases contractions of the gallbladder. This may prevent stones from moving out of the gallbladder into the bile duct, where they may get stuck and trigger pain.
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About the Author
Howard E. LeWine, MD, Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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