Alcohol May Reduce Gallstone Risk

Anyone who has had a gallbladder “attack” knows how uncomfortable it is. They would also like to know how to prevent having another gallstone, avoiding the pain and discomfort.

A new study, just presented at the Digestive Disease Week annual meeting, has found that moderate alcohol intake reduces the cholesterol in bile and may decrease the chances of developing gallstones by as much as one third.

Gallstones are small stones that develop in the gallbladder, which is a small pear-shaped organ in what is called your right upper abdomen. Bile, which is made in the liver, helps your body digest fats, but the liver makes too much to use all at once. Leftover bile is stored in your gallbladder. When your body needs more bile, the gallbladder releases it into the intestine where the bile can do its job.

The problem happens when the bile hardens into one of two types of stones: cholesterol or pigment. The most common type of gallstone, up to 80% of them, are cholesterol stones.

Gall stones can cause problems for both the gallbladder and the liver because of the shared role.

Who is at risk?

• More women than men develop gallstones
• Older people get more gallstones than younger ones
• People who have high fat diets are more prone to them
• High fat, high cholesterol diets contribute to gallstone formation
• Rapid weight loss can trigger gallstone formation

What is moderate alcohol intake?

When studies come out that say alcohol may help prevent certain types of health problems, it’s important to understand the difference between moderate alcohol intake and unhealthy intake.

According to the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) :

There is no one definition of moderate drinking, but generally the term is used to describe a lower risk pattern of drinking. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans , drinking in moderation is defined as having no more than 1 drink per day for women and no more than 2 drinks per day for men. This definition is referring to the amount consumed on any single day and is not intended as an average over several days.

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