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Many people want to lose weight fast. They do all kinds of diets to achieve the desired body shape. Even to the point of torturing himself by avoiding food. This may help you lose weight quickly, but be careful, a diet like this may be the cause of gallstones.

What are gallstones?

Gallstones are solid lumps of material or crystals that form in the gallbladder. The gall bladder (the organ under the liver) itself functions to help the body digest fat by storing and releasing bile into the small intestine. Bile can also help eliminate cholesterol in the body.

Gallstones can consist of a mixture of compounds, but most of them can be formed from cholesterol. There are several conditions that allow gallstones to form, namely:

• The liver releases too much cholesterol and the bile does not provide enough bile salts to dissolve cholesterol, so the bile becomes saturated
• There is an imbalance of protein or other substances in the bile, causing cholesterol to begin to crystallize
• The gallbladder doesn't contract enough to empty the bile regularly

Gallstones are more common in women and adults over the age of 40. Women are the group that is more likely to develop gallstones because the female hormone estrogen can increase the amount of cholesterol in the bile, and decrease the contraction of the gallbladder to empty the bile.

A weight loss diet can be a cause of gallstones

Weight loss is recommended for those of you who are overweight or obese. Losing weight until reaching a normal body weight has been shown to reduce the risk of many diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, as well as preventing gallstones.

Yes, obesity is a risk factor for gallstones. This is because obese people produce high cholesterol levels. As a result, bile is unable to help the body digest all cholesterol and gallstones will form.

However, weight loss must be done well. Don't let it put you at risk for other diseases. One thing you need to know is that the wrong diet can cause gallstones to form. People who lost more than 1.4 kg of weight per week were more likely to develop gallstones than people who lost weight more slowly.

This may occur because diet can cause changes in the balance of bile salts and cholesterol in the gallbladder. Cholesterol levels increase, while bile salts decrease. The body that breaks down fat during a strict diet causes the liver to release large amounts of cholesterol into the bile, so the bile becomes saturated. Also, skipping meals or not eating for long periods of time can decrease gallbladder contractions to empty bile. As a result, gallstones can form.

The cause of gallstones to form in people on a strict or very low calorie diet usually doesn't show any symptoms. This is something to watch out for, because if the gallstones continue to get bigger, surgery to remove the gallstones may be needed to remove them.

Then, how do you run a safe diet?

If you want to lose weight safely, it's best to take it slow. Weight loss of 0.5-1 kg per week is recommended. You should also not limit your calorie intake excessively. Going on a very low calorie diet or limiting your intake to just 800 calories per day puts you at a higher risk of developing gallstones.

In running a diet, you can choose healthy foods as an effort to lose weight. Foods that are recommended for weight loss diets are:

• Eat lots of fiber foods, such as brown rice, whole wheat, whole wheat bread
• Reduce consumption of grains that have been heavily processed (refined grain)
• Cut down on sugar consumption
• Choose the consumption of healthy fats, such as those in avocado, fatty fish, fish oil and olive oil
• Cut down on consumption of bad fats, such as those found in fried foods

In addition to maintaining a diet, you must also do regular exercise to achieve a balance of energy entering and leaving the body. To lose and maintain weight, it is recommended that you do 300 minutes of exercise a week.