Mediterranean Diet Linked to Lower Risk of Gallbladder Surgeries

The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) may have a pro­tec­tive effect on the gall­blad­der. A French study found women who most closely fol­lowed the eat­ing plan had an 11 per­cent lower like­li­hood of under­go­ing the sur­gi­cal removal of the gall­blad­der, an oper­a­tion called a chole­cys­tec­tomy.

“We found that higher intakes of legumes, fruit, veg­etable oil, and (whole grain) bread were asso­ci­ated with decreased chole­cys­tec­tomy risk, and a higher intake of ham was asso­ci­ated with higher risk of chole­cys­tec­tomy,” wrote the authors in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.
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Approximately 700,000 chole­cys­tec­tomies are per­formed in the U.S. each year, a sta­tis­tic that shows it’s a very com­mon surgery. The inter­ven­tion is needed when a block­age from gall­stones devel­ops in the bile duct, which results in intense pain.

In the study led by Amelie Barre at the University of Paris Sud in Orsay, researchers exam­ined data on 64,000 women born between 1925 and 1950. Every two years, the par­tic­i­pants pro­vided infor­ma­tion on their lifestyle, health sta­tus and med­ical his­tory.

During the course of 18 years, 2,778 of the women had gall blad­der surg­eries. Those whose diet included more whole grain breads, fruit, veg­etable oil and legumes had a 13- to 27 per­cent lower risk of hav­ing a chole­cys­tec­tomy than those whose diet included the least of these foods.

When researchers assigned MedDiet scores to the par­tic­i­pants’ eat­ing habits, the women with the high­est scores had an 11 per­cent lower like­li­hood of hav­ing the surgery com­pared to the women with the low­est scores.

“I am never sur­prised when I see a study out­come like this one that shows an advan­tage of the MedDiet,” natur­o­pathic doc­tor Holly Lucille of West Hollywood, California told Olive Oil Times. ​“The ben­e­fits are most likely due to the fact that it is low in sug­ars and refined foods, mod­er­ate in pro­tein and fruits and high in fresh veg­eta­bles and healthy fats.”

A west­ern diet — com­prised of high amounts of processed meat, rice, pizza, pasta, pota­toes, cake, canned fish and alco­hol — wasn’t asso­ci­ated with an increased or decreased risk of chole­cys­tec­tomies. The one food that was an excep­tion was ham, which was linked to a higher risk.

Because the study was obser­va­tional, it doesn’t prove that fol­low­ing the MedDiet can decrease the like­li­hood of gall blad­der surgery or that ham can raise the risk. Moreover, since dietary infor­ma­tion was reported only once dur­ing the study’s period, it may not accu­rately reflect the women’s diets that may have changed over time. Nonetheless, as the eat­ing plan is linked to an array of health ben­e­fits, it’s not unrea­son­able to include gall blad­der pro­tec­tion as one of them.

“Research links the eat­ing plan to either pre­ven­tion or rever­sal of con­di­tions such as meta­bolic syn­drome, car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­ease and can­cer,” added Lucille. ​“Studies also asso­ciate it with a reduced risk for rheuma­toid arthri­tis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s dis­ease and even adult acne and pso­ri­a­sis.

“My thoughts on the MedDiet are that some­times it’s not just about what the diet includes but also what it excludes. What you don’t eat is as impor­tant as what you do. The body responds amaz­ingly when inflam­ma­tory foods like sugar, trans-fats and processed items are removed.”

• The American Journal of Gastroenterology


• Reuters