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Gallstone attacks hurt. Prevention is the best medicine - and here's some good science to back it up.
An earlier study by the prolific Walt Willett at Harvard found that people who eat more nuts get fewer gallstone attacks. The reason is probably magnesium. This mineral, which is found in leafy greens, whole grains and nuts like brazil, pistachio, cashew and almond, was recently linked to gallstones too.
Willett and colleagues started followed a big group of people in the 1980s, and they have been publishing hundreds of interesting findings linking diet and health ever since. This time they compared magnesium intake, measured by a series of questionnaires, to a total of 2195 gallstone attacks in 42,705 men from 1986 to 2002. They divided the men into quintiles - fifths - based on how much magnesium they got from food or supplements. The fifth of men who consumed the most magnesium had 32% fewer gallstone attacks than those who consumed the least.
If you end up in the ER with a gallstone attack, ask for a gram of IV magnesium. This is not evidence-based medicine - It has never been officially studied - but during my ER experience I have given it to dozens of patients and it has only failed once. There are no side-effects and most people need more magnesium anyway.
Many studies have found that people who drink coffee get fewer gallstone attacks. There are many studies pointing to certain ingredients in coffee. They can stimulate the release of a hormone called CCK that promotes bile flow, help the gallbladder to contract and prevent the crystallization of cholesterol in bile. A few studies did not find this link and wondered if maybe people at risk of gallstones were avoiding coffee on purpose - this would skew the results. But another Willett study (Gastroenterology 2002;123:1823) suggests the benefits are real. The researchers asked 81,000 women about their coffee intake. During the following year, 7811 of them had gallbladder surgery. Those who drank coffee had fewer operations - and the more they drank, the better the results. 2-3 cups a day lowered their risk by 22% and 4 or more cups lowered their risk by 28%. We ask that you take it easy on the caffeine.