This article reviews the
role of
nutrition in the
incidence of
gallstones. The epidemiological situation of
gallbladder disease has wide worldwide geographical variations, being
Pima Indians and the Chileans the most affected
populations. The main nutritional
risk factor is
obesity. Other
risk are
serum cholesterol and
triglyceride levels, unbalanced and excessive
caloric intake,
fasting periods of more than eight hours, hypocaloric
diets of less than 700 Kcal/day, specially in obese subjects and
parenteral nutrition lasting more than two weeks. The main conclusion of this revision is that nutritional
behaviors of the
population must be improved through
public health programs, to reduce the
incidence of
obesity and related nutritional imbalances