If you’ve encountered the terms ‘oxidative stress’ and ‘free radicals’ before, you know that they are often associated with stress, fatigue, premature aging, and degenerative diseases like heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and diabetes. But did you know that oxidative stress and free radical damage may also be blamed for gallstone formation?
Free Radicals and Gallstone Formation
Free Radicals and Gallstone FormationFree radicals are waste byproducts of various chemical processes in the body. Under normal and ideal conditions, our bodies’ antioxidants, like glutathione and alpha lipoic acid, are enough to neutralize these wastes. However, external factors like pollution, environmental chemicals, UV rays, medication, illnesses, and poor lifestyle and diet choices can significantly increase free radicals, depleting our antioxidant storage.
This imbalance between antioxidants and free radicals causes an influx of waste (lipid peroxidation products) from the liver to the bile, initiating further reactions in the bile duct and the gallbladder. This free radical damage prompts inflammation and induces cholesterol crystal formation within the supersaturated bile. Aside from cholesterol stones, free radicals may also react with the bilirubin content and calcium ions in the bile, which can modify bile viscosity and form bilirubin stones.
You Need Antioxidants
As we grow older, our body’s ability to produce antioxidants diminishes. This is why it is imperative to have other sources of antioxidants, like the foods we eat and the supplements we take.
Our Gallbladder Formula Elite (GFE) can be that daily source for your antioxidant needs. The following ingredients found in GFE can help scavenge free radicals in the body and reduce oxidative stress and free radical damage:
- Bile salts – support the body’s ability to release glutathione
- Artichoke – contains the highest level of antioxidants among all vegetables
- Beet Root – read our blog post on beets and all their benefits
- Goldthread (Coptidis rhizome) – contains berberine, known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties
- Ginger root – the bioactive molecules of ginger, like gingerols and shogaol, have potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Taurine – this amino acid supports detoxification and immunity, among others.
- Betaine – enhances antioxidant defenses and helps form a protective membrane around cells to defend against oxidative stress.
Bile salts – support the body’s ability to release glutathioneReferences:
Blázovics, A. (2007). Gallstone disease: Free radical reactions and the ambivalent role of bilirubin in the pathomechanism of gallstone formation. Orvosi Hetilap, 148(13), 589-596.
Sipos, P., Gamal, E. M., Blazovics, A., Metzger, P., Miko, I., & Furka, I. (1997). Free radical reactions in the gallbladder. Acta chirurgica Hungarica, 36(1-4), 329-330.
