Red bell pepper. Getting loads of vitamin C in your diet can help you avoid gallstones, and one red bell pepper has 95 mg of the helpful vitamin – more than the 60 mg a day the government recommends for men and women over age 15. A recent study found that people who had more vitamin C in their blood were less likely to get the painful stones.
[b]Salmon[/b]. Research is finding that omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish such as salmon, may help prevent gallstones.
[b]Vegetables[/b]. Eating your veggies is a good way to ward off gallstones. One study found that vegetarian women were only half as likely to have gallstones as their carnivore counterparts. Researchers aren't sure exactly how vegetables counteract gallstones, but they believe vegetables help reduce the amount of cholesterol in bile.
[b]Wine[/b]. Half a glass of wine a day can avert gallstone attacks. Scientists discovered that drinking half a glass of wine or beer cut the number of gallstone attacks by 40 percent. But don't go overboard. The study didn't find that drinking more than half a glass would offer any more protection.
Also follow
- Exercise! Staying active can cut your risk of developing gallstones in half.
- Lose some weight. Being overweight, even as little as 10 pounds, can double your risk of getting gallstones.
- Diet sensibly. If you are overweight, plan on shedding pounds slowly. Losing weight too fast can increase your chances of developing gallstones.
- Reduce your saturated fat intake. Too much fat in the diet increases your risk of gallstones. But don't cut back too drastically. You need some fat to give the gallbladder the message to empty bile. If you're trying to lose weight, don't go below 20 percent calories from fat.
- Eat a low fat, low-cholesterol, high-fiber diet. Multiple studies show this is your best bet for a healthy body and a healthy gallbladder.