Gallstones & Gallbladder Health --- 's Mini-review

[Guest guest]

Hello, group!

I was reviewing all of the information on Dr Jan Kwasniewski's

web-site (for the Optimal Diet) and I finally stumbled upon

information he provided about gallstones (took me a while to find it,

as he doesn't have a search function embedded in his web-site).

http://tinyurl.com/248e6b

Here is a small excerpt from his site:

" Gallstones in the gallbladder can create some risk after starting to

use optimal nutrition, but that nutrition can, practically in every

case, cause that gallstones will dissolve and you become healthy

without operation. "

In other words, the nature of the high good fats diet helps to restore

gallbladder functioning and even dissolve existing gallstones over

time. Thought I would post this information for anyone that might be

interested, as I am.

---

Here is some additional information from the Price/Pottenger web-site:

http://tinyurl.com/23unkv

" There is another complicating factor to the whole dietary lipids

picture that is also misunderstood. Fatty acids are essential parts of

all body tissues where they are the major part of the phospholipid

component of the cell membrane and are not just stored energy. Low fat

diets that supply adequate calories are basically high carbohydrate

diets. When the body does not get enough fat from the diet, it makes

fats " from scratch " from carbohydrates. The fatty acids that the body

synthesizes are saturated fatty acids -- exactly the same kind of

saturated fatty acids found in butter, cream and animal fat -- and

monounsaturated fatty acids -- exactly the same kind of fatty acids

found in olive oil. The cell membranes are composed of a combination

of saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and

polyunsaturated fatty acids.

It happens that the more fat you consume in your diet, the less your

body tissues make from scratch. But when you consume high levels of

unnatural polyunsaturated fatty acids such as the kind found in

commercial vegetable oils, the normal body synthesis of saturated fat

is eliminated and the ingested polyunsaturated fats are used for

structural fatty acids, leading to an unnatural balance in the cell

membranes.

Essentially it amounts to the following. Low fat, high carbohydrate

diets cause the body to make the saturated fatty acids and

monounsaturated fatty acids it needs. When the fat that is eaten is

mixed and mostly saturated and monounsaturated, it is like the fat the

body synthesizes. Under these circumstances, there is no problem with

the fatty acid supply that the tissues have available for

incorporation into the phospholipids that are an important part of the

membrane structure of all cells. On the other hand, when the fat that

is eaten is more highly unsaturated, the fatty acids available for

incorporation into the tissue phospholipids are more unsaturated than

the body normally prefers and this causes a number of differences in

membrane properties that are thought to be detrimental to the regular

body economy. High levels of polyunsaturates in the diet have been

shown to increase cholesterol levels in tissues, increase fat cell

synthesis in growing animals, alter the response of the immune system,

increase peroxidation products such as ceroid pigment, increase

gallstone formation, and of all things decrease HDL cholesterol in the

blood.

Saturated fatty acids have recently been shown to be necessary for the

proper utilization of essential fatty acids and for efficient modeling

of the bones. Consumption of saturated fatty acids also results in

lowering of Lp(a) in the blood. Elevated levels of Lp(a) are a marker

for heart disease. The textbooks tell us that saturated fats protect

the liver. "

---

http://tinyurl.com/kg6qm

Ask the Doctor About Gallstones

" Establishment medical thinking says that if you have stones in your

gall bladder, it is diseased and needs to come out. But do gall stones

mean that the gall bladder is diseased?

The gall bladder is a reservoir or holding tank for bile salts, which

the body uses to digest fats. When we eat fat, the body releases bile

into the digestive tract to break it down into absorbable fatty acids.

Bile salts are made of cholesterol. Gall stones are a sign that your

body has " decided " to increase its reservoir of cholesterol. Why would

it do this? The obvious answer is that it has become " afraid " that the

supply of cholesterol is low, therefore it uses the strategy of

storing extra for a " rainy day. "

....

" So what should you do? First, do not believe that your gall bladder

is diseased! Second, give your body what it needs, in this case more

cholesterol. Once your body is convinced that you are serious and will

provide it with a steady stream of cholesterol, which it desperately

needs to stay alive, it will give up the flawed strategy of storing

extra, the stones will dissolve and you will be well again. I know of

two people who adopted this strategy, and within a year their stones

completely dissolved. Actually, you might want to thank your gall

bladder for devising such an innovative strategy for keeping you alive

until you learned how to eat in a way that provides your body with the

materials it needs to be healthy.

The best way to provide your gall bladder with cholesterol is to eat

plenty of animal fats. If you eat a lot of vegetable oils and trans

fats, the gall bladder is likely to become inflamed. If you are on a

lowfat diet, the gall bladder atrophies because it does not have

enough work to do. "

---

http://tinyurl.com/2cg348

Making the Transition: Taking the Fear Out of Eating Fat

" Is your gallbladder ready for fat? If you're an American, chances are

you've experienced problems with your gall bladder at one time or

another. Typical gallbladder symptoms include: gas (especially burping

after meals), a full or heavy feeling after meals, bloating, " acid

reflux " (after meals and at night when lying down), pain in right side

radiating into right shoulder blade, loose or light colored stools

that float.

Two things that the gallbladder doesn't like are bad fats and no fats.

Bad fats, like processed vegetable oils, are difficult to digest and

put a lot of stress on the gallbladder. The gallbladder is a little

sac that sits along side your liver. The liver produces bile, a

substance made from cholesterol that emulsifies fat and makes it

easier to digest. The gallbladder stores and concentrates bile, then

secretes it into the small intestines when fats are present. If you

don't eat fat, the gallbladder won't get any exercise and can begin to

atrophy.

If you've eaten mostly bad fats in your life or have spent many years

on a lowfat diet, chances are your gallbladder will need a little work

before you will be able to completely digest generous amounts of good

fats in your diet. Start by practicing good digestive habits

(discussed in the Spring 2002 issue) and enhance your digestion with

raw apple cider vinegar. Mix 1 teaspoon with 2-4 ounces water and

drink with meals. A nice acid environment in the stomach stimulates

the gallbladder to do its job. "

---

I used to consume large amounts of canola oil heated at very high heat

when I was consuming the 'paleo diet' by Lorain Cordain, who suggested

the use of polyunsatured oils over natural saturated fats because he

thinks they have a better n-3 to n-6 fatty acid ratio. This was a

LARGE error on my part, and so I still think that I am detoxing and

'recalibrating' my system after such an extended onslaught of a low

saturated fat, high carbohydrate (fruit), high protein, high

polyunsatured fat diet. I'm hopeful my inclusion of my new dandelion

root and milk thistle teas will aid in my body's detoxification and

healing process by stimulating digestion and the excretion of bile

(which we all know helps to remove toxins from the liver and gallbladder).

Regards,

[Guest guest]

,

your citation of the Price-Pottenger foundation makes perfect sense.

On the gallstones issue from Dr. Kwasniewsky - well I don't know..

My mother loved butter and always ate butter on top of her liver pate.

She did not have many polyunsaturated oils because it was not promoted

back then as it is today. Well, she had a huge gallstone issue and had

a lot of gallbladder cramps to go thru and finally got operated on.

Otherwise, she was on a mixed diet.

Same thing with a friend of mine, she could eat a stick of butter at

once which back then made me cringe. She had a stone in the

gallbladder about 1.5 inches in diameter (she showed it to me after

operation). She definitely was not lacking cholesterol, as she was

eating a diet high in protein and fat. Well, she is a heavy smoker,

don't know if this is a risk factor for gallstones. Also, she was not

using polyunsaturated oils.

This really makes me think... Can anyone enlighten me how these

experiences goes together with Mr. Kwasniewski's diet? I'm kind of at

loss here.. also I live in Europe, have always read a lot of health

articles in newspapers/magazines/ etc. and have never heard of Mr.

Kwasniewsky.. he's not popular here at all.

Kind regards,

Ellie

[Guest guest]

Dear Ellie. It would impossible to speculate about someone getting

gallstones when we do not know whether their diets were complete,

including enough oil soluble vitamins A, D & E omega-3 ratio to omega-

6, mineral status, etc. There are two main pathways that the body

has for processing and utilizing fats and oils, and if something is

missing, like vitamin E, D or A, or very low, it will interfere with

the utilization of all fats and oils. Also minerals are very

important as well. The proper diet as outlined by Dr. Weston A.

Price in his book " Nutrition & Physical Degeneration " will not cause

gallstones. But the diet must be complete.

Bee

>

> ,

> your citation of the Price-Pottenger foundation makes perfect sense.

> On the gallstones issue from Dr. Kwasniewsky - well I don't

know..

> My mother loved butter and always ate butter on top of her liver

pate.

> She did not have many polyunsaturated oils because it was not

promoted

> back then as it is today. Well, she had a huge gallstone issue and

had

> a lot of gallbladder cramps to go thru and finally got operated on.

> Otherwise, she was on a mixed diet.

> Same thing with a friend of mine, she could eat a stick of butter

at

> once which back then made me cringe. She had a stone in the

> gallbladder about 1.5 inches in diameter (she showed it to me after

> operation). She definitely was not lacking cholesterol, as she was

> eating a diet high in protein and fat. Well, she is a heavy smoker,

> don't know if this is a risk factor for gallstones. Also, she was

not

> using polyunsaturated oils.

> This really makes me think... Can anyone enlighten me how these

> experiences goes together with Mr. Kwasniewski's diet? I'm kind of

at

> loss here.. also I live in Europe, have always read a lot of health

> articles in newspapers/magazines/ etc. and have never heard of Mr.

> Kwasniewsky.. he's not popular here at all.

> Kind regards,

> Ellie

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Bee,

yes they could have been lacking some Vitamins and/or minerals. They

did not take any supplements, so it is a possible cause.

Elvira