Digestive Health and Gallstones

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Your digestive health and gallstones are directly related and adversely affect one another. Gallstones are also called cholesterol stones. Gallstones are composed of cholesterol, calcium carbonate, bile pigments, and apatite. Your digestive health can play a huge factor in the creation of gallstones and once you have been diagnosed with gallstones you will have to take even more care with your digestive health.

There are some people who are more at risk at getting gallstones than others and it is not always what they eat or their general digestive health that determines who is at risk. People who are more at risk for gallstones include people over 60, women, overweight women and men, pregnant women, women who are on birth control, and people who fast frequently. There are other factors at play that place you at risk from gallstones that affect your digestive health.

Some of these factors include:

Age. For some reason people over 60 are more likely to get gallstones that younger people.
Sex. Women are more likely to suffer from the digestive health problem of gallstones than men.
Weight. Studies show that overweight people, particularly women, are at a greater risk for developing gallstones.
Race. Native Americans are more predisposed to get gallstones than any other ethnicity.
Diabetes. Those people who have diabetes are more likely to have their digestive health affected with gallstones than others.
Fasting. When you fast your gallbladder movement is decreased resulting in bile to become over concentrated.
Estrogen. An excess of estrogen seems to have some affect on your digestive health and gallstones
Weight loss. People who experience rapid weight loss are at risk for gallstones.

When you have gallstones your digestive health must always be monitored. You will have to eliminate or reduce the amount of fatty foods that you eat since a gallstone attack will often happen after a meal that is high in fat. If you have gallstones and your digestive health is at risk your doctor will be able to give you a diet plan to follow and strict guidelines that you can adhere to.