Top Tips To Treat And Prevent Gallbladder Pain

In most cases, gallstones are painless. In fact, you usually find out that you have them while undergoing a routine checkup or an exam for another illness. But when gallstones act up, you may feel sudden, severe pain in the upper abdomen that can last from 20 minutes to several hours. That is the result of a stone as small as a speck or as large as an egg getting wedged in the duct that leads from the gallbladder into the intestine. Sometimes the pain will radiate to your back and shoulders. And once you have a gallstone attack, you are likely to have another. What causes these little nuggets of pain?

In a nutshell, the problem arises from the way that you metabolize cholesterol. Your liver produces bile, a cholesterol-rich fluid that your body uses to digest fats. Bile is stored in the gallbladder. Too much cholesterol in your bile can form soft clumps that eventually harden into stones. As unfair as it seems, women are three times as likely as men to develop gallstones because females have more hormones racing their systems. It’s thought that the female sex hormones progesterone and estrogen may affect the amount of cholesterol in bile as well as the functioning of the gallbladder.

It may sound scary to have gallstones. However you can try out these tips to relieve your pain.

Defat your diet. Reduce your intake of dietary fat. If you have gallstones, consumption of fat, especially animal fat, may trigger gallbladder spasm. Once you have gallstones, dietary changes along will not get rid of them. But eating less fat can minimize the risk of symptoms appearing.

Shed extra pounds. Try to maintain your ideal weight. People who are overweight are at a much higher risk for developing gallstones.

Nix the crash or fast. If you need to lose weight, do so gradually. Overweight people who go on extremely low calorie diets or who fast for days or weeks tend to develop gallstones. Also do not consume a totally fat-free diet. Have one meal a day with at least 10 grams of fat.

Eat breakfast. People who skip breakfast are essentially undergoing a short-term fast, and fasting has been shown to increase the risk of gallbladder disease.

See if you are C-deficient. Ask your doctor if you may be deficient in vitamin C or hydrochloric acid. Animals with a high-cholesterol diet and vitamin C deficiency are prone to developing gallstones. In addition, about half of all people with gallstones are deficient in hydrochloric acid. If your doctor finds that you have either deficiency, you can take steps to correct it.

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Raymond Lee is one of the foremost experts in the health and fitness industry and is the Founder of Bodyfixes Group specializing in body health, muscle development and dieting. He is currently the author of the latest edition of "Neck Exercises and Workouts." Visit www.bodyfixes.com for more information.

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