Re: Cholesterol stones

 Firstly, may I suggest cholesterol stones may be a better name for these soft waxy stones that can form in both the liver and gallbladder, and are composed of mostly cholesterol.

Real gallstones fall under two categories.  Cholesterol stones and pigment stones.  The pseudostones formed from the so-called liver flushes consist of saponified olive oil and sterol-cholesterol complexes as analysis of these so-called "stones" has shown over and over.

With this distinction perhaps we can avoid the unnecessary confusion about why the doctor says they aren't gallstones? They are clearly a different entity, they don't show up on x-ray and don't tend to show up on ultrasound either.

Because they are not formed in the liver or the gallbladder, they are formed in the intestine primarily from the ingredients of the flush.

Second, I have read some of the research on why these may form. Agnes compiled information years ago saying that the condition of the bile is such that the cholesterol can not stay in solution. The bile is supersaturated with cholesterol.

Yes, this is a large part of the formation of real cholesterol based gallstones.

It would make sense to me that a high cholesterol diet (and high cholesterol blood levels) would provoke this condition. This would indicate a vegan or low animal fat diet as being healthier overall.

Problem with this is that most of the cholesterol that form real gallstones is not dietary cholesterol, but rather cholesterol synthesized by the liver.  Same cholesterol that can also bind with the sterols in the olive oil in the intestines when released in response to the oil of the flushes thus creating some of the pseudostones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNqWHZj4fMo&playnext=1&list=PL55328493...