Dr. Axe Wire · Food, herbs & supplements · gut

Food Thickener Locust Bean Gum Eases Gallstones in Mice

A common food thickener shifted gut bacteria and bile handling in mice fed a gallstone-triggering diet, new research shows.

By Dr. Josh Axe · November 8, 2026 · 1 source · Watch

Photo: Pexels

At a glance

What they found: Mice given a lower dose of locust bean gum, a common food thickener, developed fewer cholesterol gallstones than mice given a higher dose.
Who was studied: In mice fed a gallstone-triggering diet.
What it doesn't show: Whether it works the same way in people.

Locust bean gum, a thickener found in many packaged foods, protected mice against cholesterol gallstones in a study published November 2, 2026 in Food & Function, with a lower dose working better than a higher one.

Researchers fed mice a diet designed to trigger cholesterol gallstones, then gave them 2% or 5% locust bean gum, a thickener used in ice cream, yogurt and other packaged foods. The 2% dose protected against gallstone formation better than the 5% dose, the study authors reported. The gallstone-triggering diet disrupted the normal network between two major gut bacteria groups, Bacillota and Bacteroidota. The 2% dose restored a network dominated by Bacillota and boosted bacterial genes tied to communication and protective biofilm formation; the 5% dose failed to rebuild that network.

The 2% dose also lowered Desulfovibrio, a bacteria group linked to hydrogen sulfide gas production, and raised butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that feeds cells lining the gut. Both doses suppressed HMGCR, a gene that drives cholesterol production. The 2% dose additionally turned down genes that export cholesterol into bile and turned up genes that convert cholesterol into bile acids, a shift the authors say reduced cholesterol secretion and favored its breakdown.

The gut's bacterial community helps regulate cholesterol and bile acid handling, and shifts in that community can influence whether cholesterol crystallizes into gallstones. The authors tied the protective effect to gut bacteria balance, lower gas-producing bacteria, more butyrate, and altered cholesterol-handling gene activity. The lower dose working better than the higher one suggests more is not automatically better with this fiber-based thickener.

This study demonstrates for the first time that LBG dose-dependently protects mice against lithogenic diet-induced cholesterol gallstones

Study authorsFood & Function, 2026

This is an animal diet-induced gallstone model, not a human trial, and exact effect sizes were not reported. Whether a similar dose-response pattern would appear in people eating foods with this thickener remains untested.

Dr. Axe’s Take

Locust bean gum is a plant-based thickener from carob seeds, and I've never flagged it as an additive to avoid the way I do sodium nitrite or artificial flavors. This mouse study gives another reason to feel fine seeing it on a label: it tracked with healthier gut bacteria patterns and better cholesterol-to-bile-acid conversion, with less working better than more. For your own gallbladder health, I'd focus on plenty of fiber from vegetables and legumes, bitter greens and beets to support bile flow, and staying hydrated. This is mouse mechanism data, not a green light for ultra-processed foods just because they contain this gum.

— Dr. Axe

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Story summary

Who: Mice on a cholesterol-gallstone-promoting diet. Size not reported.
Design: Lithogenic diet-induced mouse model of cholesterol gallstones, comparing 2% and 5% locust bean gum supplementation.
Dose: Dietary supplementation with 2% or 5% locust bean gum.
Primary result: 2% locust bean gum protected against gallstone formation more effectively than 5%; exact magnitude not reported.
Secondary: 2% dose raised Bacillota-dominated gut bacteria network, lowered Desulfovibrio and hydrogen-sulfide genes, raised butyrate; both doses suppressed HMGCR gene; 2% also shifted ABCG5/G8 and CYP7A1/CYP8B1 genes toward more bile acid conversion.
Funding / conflicts: Funder listed in the journal record: National Key Research and Development Program of China. Conflicts not reported in the abstract.
Date: Nov 2, 2026