Does Slimming World cause Gallstones?

[onecrazycook]

Well, I'm rather stunned to say the least.

Since May I've followed slimming world and lost almost 3 stone. I'm awaiting surgery for gallstones and my doctor told me today that he suspects that following Slimming World had something to do with the cause of the stones. He also pointed the finger at Weight Watchers. He said that following a very low fat diet can stop bile from flushing away when you eat and it sits in the gallbladder and forms sludge and eventually, over time, the sludge turns to stones. The more rapid the weight loss, the higher the risk of forming stones...

Anyone else heard this?

Yes I have heard this and happened to someone else I know.

Rapid weight loss is well known to cause gallstones
As is pregnancy

Well it seems you're damned if you do and damned if you don't!

Anecdotal evidence at least says 'yes' in answer to your question.

It happened to a friend of mine too.

Seems unfair!

I would have thought if it was that common reason would have heard about it. Something to think about though

We would have heard about it

We would have heard about it

Yes it's true but being overweight in the first place can cause them as can being a woman so hard to say what is the real cause! If you lose 1-2 pounds a week instead of losing it quickly it helps as does having fat in your diet so the gallbladder doesn't sit there doing nothing. If I did slimming world I'd use the syns to get some fat in (avocados and nuts etc).

Yes!! Rapid weight loss is usually the cause of gallstones. High fat diet is rarely anything to do with gallstone formation but the old myth still perpetuates! However although painful (the gallstones) your weight loss will still be of benefit maybe just try to slow the weight loss down slightly

It's not just slimming world or weight watchers though so it's a bit unfair to use that in your title.

It's being overweight then suddenly changing your diet drastically and shifting the pounds really quickly that causes havoc.

Mine occurred straight after 1st pregnancy...I didn't follow a plan but in the first 2 months after DD1 was born I lost 4 stone (no idea how). Cue being attacked by gallstones and the irony that staying fat may not have caused them definitely wasn't lost on me.

Yes, I've heard this. I'm doing SW but very gradually, 1/2lb to a lb a week because of this risk and also because I hope the changes I make will be sustainable doing it slowly.

Should have said I agree with titsy it's not slimming world or weight watchers but any rapid weight loss, slimming world emphasises low fat slightly more than WW but it's really the rapid weight loss

Yes I believe this to be true... A low fat diet makes the bile stagnate. I have a 17mm one and I believe it was caused by doing the Cambridge diet 8 years ago. They get bigger at the rate of about 2mm a year so that would make sense.

Happpened to me after a very low fat diet. Wouldn't say it was particularly rapid as I have PCOS but prob the low fat bit.

That would figure, last year I lost weight with shakes and then seemed to develop it but then it may have happened anyway.

If you've lost nearly 3 stone (42lbs) since May (26 weeks), that averages out at about 1.6 lbs a week, which isn't particularly speedy weight loss, is it?

Yep happened to me even iftook me a year to lose 3stone post baby, so not exactly quick! I was told the 3Fs, fat female and forty was then normal for gall stones and i ticked them all!. Ironically when I had my gallbladder removed I was told to stay on low fat eating for life - 3yrs on I've gained back 2st and eat medium fat diet.

My BMI was 30 and I got down to 26 when I had my surgery.

The people I know who have suffered with gallstones have all been overweight, not all of them have been on a diet by any means.

Certainly after you have developed gallstones you need to eat a very low-fat diet to keep the pain at bay (until the surgery, hope it works well for you OP) so if that stops the gallstones hurting so much and boy does it hurt then I'm surprised that a doctor thinks that causes them as well!

Well it does cause them and stop pain. The gallbladder pumps bile into your stomach to breakdown fat so if you stop eating fat the bile will sit there and can form stones. It happens for other reasons too of course - too much fat most likely as it produces too much bile. The pain is when a stone gets stuck when the gallbladder is pumping and the stone gets in the bit between the gallbladder and stomach. I suppose if you eat a balanced diet with some fat you will be fine and some people are more predisposed to getting them.

Nope low fat diet not required after gall bladder removal!! Total nonsense but very much believed and accepted throughout the medical world. Spend at least an hour of my working week discussing with various medical staff why this is not the case! After gallbladder removal you avoid foods that upset you, your gallbladder is just a storage organ. Miss-timing of bile release can cause diarrhoea and this usually happens following large meals which tend to be richer and thus people associate with fat. Low fat diet for gallstones and following gall bladder removal was disproven about 20 years ago.

This is a pretty good guide for what to eat,

www.nnuh.nhs.uk/publication/download/gallstones-dietary-advice-10-0-8/

It is a normal healthy diet

Overweight people are more likely to get gallstones but it is for a host of reasons unfortunately not so simple as eating fat causes them or being fat causes them. "Too much bile"is not the problem and bile doesn't drain into the stomach.

Also most people who lose 3stone don't do it at a rate of 1-2lbs per week but likely had rapid weight loss to begin with and then periods of weight stability etc and it was the initial overweight and then periods of rapid weight loss combined with low fat diet that causes the issue to become apparent.

Sorry will stop preaching now I promise!! 39 weeks pregnant and very grumpy!! This is my personal bug bear (not at all obvious I know ) will leave it alone now!