Vitamins & Nutritional Supplements for Gallstones

Vitamin C is needed to convert cholesterol to bile acids. In theory, such a conversion should reduce gallstone risks. Women who have higher blood levels of vitamin C have a reduced risk of gallstones. Although this does not prove that vitamin C supplements can prevent or treat gallstones, some researchers believe this is plausible. One study reported that people who drink alcohol and take vitamin C supplements have only half the risk of gallstones compared with other drinkers, though the apparent protective effect of vitamin C did not appear in non-drinkers. In another trial, supplementation with vitamin C (500 mg taken four times per day for two weeks before gallbladder surgery) led to improvement in one parameter of gallstone risk (“nucleation time”), though there was no change in the relative level of cholesterol found in bile. While many doctors recommend vitamin C supplementation to people with a history of gallstones, supportive evidence remains preliminary.

According to one older report, people with gallstones were likely to have insufficient stomach acid. Some doctors assess adequacy of stomach acid in people with gallstones and, if appropriate, recommend supplementation with betaine HCl. Nonetheless, no research has yet explored whether such supplementation reduces symptoms of gallstones...