Many epidemiological studies support the assumption that diet is of great importance in the pathogenesis of cholesterol gallstones1, but its role in the origin and development of non-cholesterol gallstones is less clear. In humans, a low-fat, low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet seems to increase the development of pigment gallstones2. The purpose of this study was to explore therefore the effect of a low-fat, low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet on the formation of gallstones and their composition. Hamsters were used because gallstones induced in these animals can be either cholesterol or pigment, depending on dietary constituents3.