The gallbladder’s most important function is to store bile,
a substance manufactured in the liver which helps the body
digest fatty foods. Cholesterol is a normal component of bile;
if too much cholesterol accumulates in the gallbladder, gallstones
eventually result.
Because
estrogen is an important risk factor for gallstone formation
(it increases the concentration of cholesterol in bile), women
are at particular risk for the disease. Experimental animal
studies suggest that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) may play a
role in preventing gallstones, an observation that led to
a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
As part of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey, 7,042 women and 6,088 men provided data on vitamin
C intake and the incidence of gallbladder disease. Results
showed that increasing serum levels of ascorbic acid were
related to a reduced risk for clinical and asymptomatic gallbladder
disease in women, but not in men. Specifically, each standard
increment increase in ascorbic acid level reduced the risk
of a woman getting the disease by 13%.
Your chiropractor can provide you with more information on
these results and suggest nutritional guidelines appropriate
to your needs.
For additional information on women’s health, go to https://www.chiroweb.com/find/tellmeabout/women.html
For more information on nutrition, visit https://www.chiroweb.com/find/tellmeabout/nutrients.html
Reference:
Simon JA, Hudes ES. Serum ascorbic acid and gallbladder disease
prevalence among U.S. adults. The Third National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). Archives of
Internal Medicine 2000: Vol. 160, pp931-36.
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