Whenever you eat a high-fat meal, your body has to secrete bile to help you digest the fat. Bile is manufactured in the liver and stored in the gallbladder. From there, it’s dumped into the small intestine, where it goes to work, helping to break down the fat that comes from foods like steaks, ice cream, and potato chips. As you might conclude from this scenario, if you’re regularly eating high-fat items, your gallbladder is working overtime.
Just because it takes a lot of gall to break down fat doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to have a lot of gallstones. Gallstones form from excess cholesterol, the same notorious fat that has a reputation for clogging arteries, and some people are just more prone to them than others. Doctors have found that women are more likely to get gallstones than men, particularly if they’re pregnant. Both sexes are at higher risk if they’re overweight.
If you’ve had gallstones, you’re definitely at risk of getting them again, so it makes sense to take preventive steps. When gallstones are inside the gallbladder, they sometimes cause intestinal discomfort or nausea, but only a doctor, with the help of x-rays, can tell you whether those symptoms are being caused by stones.
Once the stones start to move into the bile ducts—the exit ramps from the gallbladder and the liver—pain is not far behind. They can be dangerous, too, causing jaundice or serious infection from blocked ducts.
If you have had gallstones and you recognize some familiar symptoms returning, see the doctor. You might need to have the gallstones dissolved or have the stones or your gallbladder surgically removed.
The Food Factor
"I believe that your first defense against gallstones is to change what you’re eating," says Kristin Stiles, N.D., a naturopathic doctor at the Complementary Medicine and Healing Arts Center in Vestal, New York. "You have to cut back on the fat and get more fiber in your diet."
Some specific foods are said to help. "I’ve had people get really effective relief from gallbladder pain with beet greens," says William Warnock, N.D., a naturopathic doctor in Shelburne, Vermont. When steamed, beet greens are unusually high in minerals, vitamin A, and a substance called betaine. According to Dr. Warnock, betaine stimulates the production of bile and simultaneously thins it out. Also, betaine causes the muscles surrounding the gallbladder and bile ducts to contract and move things along.
Filling with Fiber, Not Fat
Getting more fiber into your diet is a simple way to decrease excess fat. Dietary fiber binds with bile salts, which are a primary part of bile, and cholesterol in the intestines and prevents both from being absorbed by the body. You can up your fiber intake by eating as many fruits and vegetables as possible, along with brans and whole grains like wheat, oats, and rye, says Dr. Stiles.
Fiber absorbs large amounts of water, and water-soaked fiber bulks up and softens the stool. A well-hydrated stool absorbs lots of wastes and by-products of digestion, such as fat. With less fat around, the process of gallstone formation may be interrupted.
The recommended daily amount of fiber is 25 to 30 grams, says Dr. Stiles. If you find that you can’t eat enough high-fiber foods to achieve that level, an alternative is to try one of the fiber/nutritional supplements found in drugstores and health food stores. Dr. Stiles recommends a supplement that contains psyllium. She suggests stirring two tablespoons of the supplement into a glass of water and drinking it at breakfast time each day.
Turning to Lecithin
According to naturopathic doctors, one nutritional substance that might help prevent gallstones is lecithin. Also called phosphatidylcholine, lecithin is a major ingredient in cell membranes. It’s found in animal tissues, especially the nerves, liver, and semen.
Lecithin is important because it helps water and fat mix together more easily. Usually, fat stays separate from water, but lecithin is an emulsifier, a kind of go-between that reconciles these opposites and allows the two substances to combine.
In the body, lecithin can help make cholesterol (a fat) mix with water. Because lecithin is such a good emulsifier, naturopaths believe that cholesterol is transported more easily when there’s plenty of lecithin around.
Indeed, some naturopathic doctors say that low levels of lecithin in the body have been linked to the formation of gallstones. If you supplement with lecithin, gallstones are less likely to occur. You can also get lecithin from foods such as soybeans, wheat germ, and peanuts.
Lecithin can’t dissolve stones that are already in your gallbladder, says Dr. Stiles, but it might help prevent new ones. The typical dose of lecithin is 500 to 1,000 milligrams a day, she says. You should supplement for several months at the same time that you’re working to improve your diet.
Making Bile Flow
If you can just "keep the juices flowing," you may help prevent gallstone problems, herbalists believe. You can get some aid from herbs that have what are called choleretic properties, meaning the ability to increase the amount of bile the liver produces and also boost the flow of bile from the gallbladder. At the same time, herbalists believe that herbs with choleretic properties stimulate gallbladder contraction.
Milk thistle is one herb with these properties. "It gets things moving and helps flush out the small stones," says Dr. Stiles. It is also believed to help improve the digestion of fats, she adds.
Although some supplement formulas are made up of a number of choleretic herbs, Dr. Warnock favors milk thistle taken by itself. "What usually happens when you put a lot of herbs into one capsule is that you don’t end up with high concentrations of any of them," he says.
For the most effective concentration, you need a standardized extract of milk thistle that contains 80 percent silymarin, the herb’s primary active ingredient, says Dr. Warnock. The typical dose is 70 to 210 milligrams three times a day. A naturopathic doctor can recommend a specific amount.
"It may take three to six months before it has a beneficial effect," says Dr. Warnock. You should never take it during a gallstone attack, however. If you already have gallstones that begin to cause persistent pain or a fever, you should see a doctor immediately, not wait months to find out whether the herb is effective.
