Beneficial effect of sulphate-bicarbonate-calcium water on gallstone risk and weight control

Table 1 Chemical composition of the sulphate-bicarbonate-calcium thermal water and of the Rome tap water, as consumed by the thermal water and by the control group, respectively

	Thermal water (TW)	Tap water (CTRL)
pH	6.8	7.5
Fixed residue at 180 °C (mg/L)	3280	390
Sulphate (mg/L)	1840	15
Bicarbonate (mg/L)	730	-
Calcium (mg/L)	840	98
Magnesium (mg/L)	180	19
Sodium (mg/L)	41	5.5
Chloride (mg/L)	29.4	6.5
Potassium (mg/L)	7	3
Fluoride (mg/L)	2	0.2
Bromide (mg/L)	0.2	-
Carbon dioxide (cc/L)	537	-
Strontium (mg/L)	0.1	-
Iron (µg/L)	0.8	5
Manganese (μg/L)	-	0.3
Nitrate (mg/L)	-	3.8

TW: Thermal water; CTRL: Control.

Table 2 Demographics and symptoms of the thermal water and the control group (n = 20)

	TW	CTRL	P value
Age (yr)	64.0 ± 1.4	61.2 ± 1.8	NS
Weight (kg)	64.4 ± 2.3	61.1 ± 1.5	NS
Height (cm)	161 ± 0.01	160 ± 0.01	NS
BMI (kg/m2)	24.9 ± 0.9	24.0 ± 0.6	NS
Diagnosis n (%)
Dyspepsia only	12 (60)	12 (60)	NS
Constipation only	6 (30)	5 (25)	NS
Constipation + dyspepsia	2 (10)	3 (15)	NS

BMI: Body mass index; TW: Thermal water; CTRL: Control; NS: Not significant.

Table 3 Serum lipids and plasma markers of oxidative stress in the thermal water and in the control groups

	TW		CTRL
	Baseline	End	Baseline	End
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	178.7 ± 5.8	182.4 ± 6.3	181.5 ± 7.6	177.4 ± 6.5
HDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	62.3 ± 4.7	63.7 ± 4.7	56.7 ± 5.0	59.4 ± 6.1
LDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	100.4 ± 8.0	101.9 ± 8.7	103.6 ± 8.5	93.9 ± 7.7
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	79.9 ± 7.5	84.0 ± 10.2	106.1 ± 11.4	120.7 ± 17.9
7β-HC (ng/mL)	51.4 ± 12.3	70.5 ± 15.1	57.0 ± 8.2	45.5 ± 8.9
7-KC (ng/mL)	93.7 ± 32.5	103.8 ± 29.1	38.6 ± 8.4	53.1 ± 25.9
7β-HC + 7-KC (ng/mL)	145.1 ± 44.7	174.3 ± 43.6	95.7 ± 16.2	98.6 ± 34.5
α-TCP (mg/dL)	1.46 ± 0.1	1.43 ± 0.1	1.40 ± 0.1	1.43 ± 0.1
γ-TCP (mg/dL)	0.74 ± 0.1	0.75 ± 0.1	0.67 ± 0.05	0.79 ± 0.1
α-TCP + γ-TCP (mg/dL)	2.20 ± 0.1	2.18 ± 0.1	2.07 ± 0.1	2.22 ± 0.1
7β-HC + 7-KC/α-TCP + γ-TCP	71.1 ± 22.6	65.7 ± 14.3	52.5 ± 9.2	54.1 ± 21.9

HDL: High-density lipoprotein; LDL: Low-density lipoprotein; 7β-HC: 7-beta-hydroxycholesterol; 7-KC: 7-ketocholesterol; α-TCP: Alpha-tocopherol; γ-TCP: Gamma-tocopherol; TW: Thermal water; CTRL: Control.

Table 4 Number of food portions consumed by the thermal water and by the control group subjects during the study period

	TW	Control	P value
Pasta	16.40 ± 1.22	8.80 ± 1.05	< 0.001
Bread	4.32 ± 1.40	8.90 ± 1.57	0.01
Pizza	0.58 ± 0.23	1.01 ± 0.31	NS
Sweets	9.57 ± 1.87	7.08 ± 1.02	NS
Soft drinks	4.82 ± 1.40	4.30 ± 1.59	NS
Fruits	17.60 ± 1.69	14.59 ± 2.24	NS
Meat	11.52 ± 1.00	5.90 ± 0.51	< 0.001
Fish	4.05 ± 0.75	3.20 ± 0.38	NS
Milk	6.00 ± 1.21	6.89 ± 0.87	NS
Dairy products	6.32 ± 1.23	4.04 ± 0.50	NS
Legumes	0.98 ± 0.36	0.84 ± 0.23	NS
Vegetables	22.80 ± 2.40	13.51 ± 1.08	0.002
Coffee	14.08 ± 2.31	13.32 ± 2.41	NS

TW: Thermal water.