A person’s health is almost always rooted in one’s lifestyle habits, and depending on the nature of these habits, one can easily influence their well-being positively or adversely. Apart from increasing the risk of developing chronic illnesses for the latter, other less known yet harmful health complications could arise from adopting unhealthy lifestyle habits. Such complications include gallstones.
Gallstones can be aptly described as tiny, pebble-like substances that are formed by the hardening of deposits of digestive fluids in the gallbladder. If they become big enough, these gallstones can then potentially become stuck while travelling out of the gallbladder and into your stomach. Once it blocks key ducts that aid in your body’s digestion, a number of health risks is sure to develop, of which some can be life-threatening. To prevent and reduce your risk of developing gallstones, here are some actionable tips that you can do as soon as today.
1. Lose Weight, But Don’t Rush It
Losing and maintaining a healthy weight is undeniably the best and most effective way of preventing gallstones and gallstone disease in the long run. However, it’s important to note that when you’re in the process of shedding off excess pounds, it’s highly advised to do it slowly rather than quickly and abruptly. The reason being is that rapid weight loss solutions don’t aid in preventing gallstones but promote them by altering the levels of cholesterol, lecithin and bile acids, which can lead to higher chances of developing gallstones.
2. Eat A Better Diet
Apart from keeping you in tip-top shape, following a healthy diet plays a crucial role in reducing the risk of developing gallstones and gallbladder disease. A healthy diet typically entails the following:
- eating a balanced mix of plant-based foods and foods with mono- or polyunsaturated fats
- getting sufficient fibre intake from fruits, vegetables and nuts
- avoiding red meat, carbs, and sugar
3. Regularly Exercise
Whether it’s high intensity or not, being active through regular exercise aids in reducing the chances of gallstone development. Create a schedule that ensures you follow the recommended minimum of 150 minutes per week working out and divide it into smaller time frames that can fit into your daily schedule.
4. Take Preventative Medication
As an additional precaution, one can also take preventative medication for gallstones and gallstone disease, such as ursodiol, which helps dissolve gallstones and prevent their formation, and statins, commonly known as cholesterol-lowering medicines. Consult your online doctor in Singapore about the options available to you and get a prescription that fits your requirements.
Conclusion
Due to the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it’s easy for problematic issues like gallstones to slip unnoticed and cause health problems when you least expect it. By simply changing some of your lifestyle habits, such as eating better food and being more active, you can prevent or lower your risk of developing gallstone disease as well as other infamous chronic illnesses.
If you’d like to know more about gallstones and the complications that they can cause, see a doctor online via the MyCLNQ app today. As the leading app for telemedicine in Singapore, you can receive all your medical needs and have your queries answered all in one place. Available on both Google Play and Apple App Store, getting medical assistance has never been easier.