Research
Hormonal
Rapid weight loss, whether from very-low-calorie diets or bariatric surgery, significantly increases the risk of gallstone formation (cholelithiasis) due to bile supersaturation and reduced gallbladder motility.
If you lose weight very quickly (e.g., through surgery or extreme dieting), you are at higher risk for gallstones. To prevent this, aim for gradual weight loss. If you have had bariatric surgery, doctors often prescribe Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) for 6 months to prevent gallstones.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Excess body weight itself is an established risk factor for gallstone formation. Especially rapid weight loss—often observed during very-low-calorie diets—may further promote the development of gallstones or exacerbate symptoms of preexisting cholelithiasis... This is due to several mechanisms, including hepatic overproduction of cholesterol—leading to bile supersaturation—and reduced gallbladder motility.
Why this rating
Based on cohort studies and meta-analyses cited.
Source
Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Obesity Therapy: Mechanisms, Epidemiology, and Management Strategies
Tomasz Witaszek et al. · Biomedicines · 2025
DOI 10.3390/biomedicines13102362
narrative_reviewCited 2×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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