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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffYou can reduce your risk of gallstones if you:
- Don't skip meals. Try to stick to your usual meal times each day. Skipping meals or fasting can increase the risk of gallstones.
- Exercise most days of the week. Being inactive may increase the risk of gallstones, so incorporate physical activity into your day. If you haven't been active lately, start slowly and work your way up to 30 minutes of activity on most days of the week.
- Lose weight slowly. If you need to lose weight, go slow. Rapid weight loss can increase the risk of gallstones. Aim to lose 1 or 2 pounds (0.5 to about 1 kg) a week.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Obesity and overweight increase the risk of gallstones. Work to achieve a healthy weight by reducing the number of calories you eat and increasing the amount of physical activity you get. Once you achieve a healthy weight, work to maintain that weight by continuing your healthy diet and continuing to exercise.
References
- Gallstones. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gallstones/index.htm. Accessed May 28, 2009.
- Understanding gallstones. American Gastroenterological Association. http://www.gastro.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5680. Accessed May 28, 2009.
- Choi Y, et al. Biliary tract disorders, gallbladder disorders and gallstone pancreatitis. American College of Gastroenterology. http://www.acg.gi.org/patients/gihealth/biliary.asp?mode=print&. Accessed May 28, 2009.
- Browning JD, et al. Gallstone diseases. In: Feldman M, et al. Sleisenger & Fordtran's Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease: Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Management. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/140200591-2/0/1389/0.html. Accessed May 28, 2009.
- What are the risk factors for gallbladder cancer? American Cancer Society. Accessed June 8, 2009.
- Rakel D. Cholelithiasis. In: Rakel D. Integrative Medicine. 2nd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/142209696-2/0/1494/0.html. Accessed June 8, 2009.
- Venneman NG, et al. Gallstone disease: Primary and secondary prevention. Best Practice & Research Clinical Gastroenterology. 2006;20:1063.
