Gallstones – Photo By Luk via Wikimedia Commons

For this week’s post, I am going to dig into the mailbag.  One of our visitor’s last week posed the following question: Does Clear Kidneys™ eliminate gallstones?

Because Clear Kidneys is a pure, concentrated extract of Phyllanthus niruri, this question I will rephrase this a couple of  other ways:

• Does Phyllanthus niruri eliminate gallstones?
• Does chanca piedra eliminate gallstones?

Before we go to my answer, let me start by saying that Phyllanthus niruri, a/k/a chanca piedra, has been in use by natural and traditional medicine practitioners to treat gallstones for hundreds of years.*  However, ‘treat’ is not the same as dissolve, eliminate, or reduce.

Here is my response to the question:

I have done quite a bit of research on gallstones and Phyllanthus niruri (aka chanca piedra), which is the active ingredient in Clear Kidneys.  It has been used in homeopathic and traditional practices for eliminating gallstones for hundreds of years in Central and South America and India. **  Unfortunately, there have been no clinical or scientific studies to support the claims, so I hesitate to recommend Clear Kidneys for gallstones.

This is what Phyllanthus niruri has been proven to do in various clinical studies:

• It is has a lipid (cholesterol) lowering effect, which is a risk factor for some types of gallstones (source: Mayo Clinic)
• It is a smooth muscle relaxant, so would likely be useful for the pain that accompanies a gallstone attack

This site contains a lot of good information on Phyllanthus niruri, including references to many of the studies performed:

• http://www.rain-tree.com/chanca.htm

This is the site I would trust the most for information on gallstone prevention:

• http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gallstones/

This site also has some discussion on the use of Phyllanthus niruri (they refer to it as Chanca Piedra) for gallstones:

• http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/gallstones.html#CP

From what I know, it takes a long time to remove gallstones without surgery (months or longer), using drugs, natural remedies, and/or dietary changes.  Even if the pain is gone, the stones may remain, so it is important to keep with any of the recommended therapies.

Mark’s Bottom Line

Does Clear Kidneys eliminate gallstones?  Answer: we don’t know.  In the interest of public health, we don’t recommend our products where there hasn’t been sufficient proof that it works for a given condition. That’s just how we roll.

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Clear Kidneys™ is an all-natural herbal supplement designed to help eliminate and prevent kidney stone formation. ** It is an ultra-concentrated form of Phyllanthus niruri, which has been clinically proven to reduce pain, eliminate stones, and prevent new stones from forming. *  To learn more about Clear Kidneys and how it might help you, click here to visit our product information page.