Gallstones
Coffee consumption and gallbladder disease
Coffee consumption linked to a lower risk of gallbladder disease
Overall, allowing for relative strengths and weaknesses of the studies reviewed, results* show that coffee consumption could play a preventive role in gallbladder disease.
The combined data from three large studies in Italy3 and the US4,5 show a statistically significant inverse association for coffee and gallbladder disease. This association is dose-responsive, i.e. risk of developing symptomatic gallstones falls as coffee consumption rises.
- In the Health Professional Follow-up Study (HPFS) of 46,000 males participants4, those individuals drinking 2-3 cups of coffee a day had a 40% lower risk of symptomatic gallstones and those drinking more than 4 cups of coffee a day had a 45% lower risk, compared with those drinking no coffee.
- In the Nurses’ Health Study5 of 89,898 females, those women who drank one cup of coffee a day had a 9% lower risk of gallbladder disease compared with those who drank no coffee, those drinking 2-3 cups a day had a 22% lower risk and those drinking more than 4 cups a day had a 28% lower risk of gallbladder disease.
- Furthermore, these two studies4,5 found no effect of decaffeinated coffee indicating that the effects seen were largely due to caffeine.
An American study with male participants6 failed to find a link between coffee consumption and gallstones. However, the authors failed to include coffee in the food questionnaire throughout the study, and did not measure the amount of coffee consumed.
Similarly, an association between coffee intake and gallbladder disease was only seen in women with previously diagnosed gallbladder disease in a large US study7. The authors concluded that ‘the findings do not support a protective effect of coffee consumption on total gallbladder disease although coffee may decrease the risk of symptomatic gallstones in women.”
