Liver, gallbladder, bile and gallstones 101

The Liver

The liver has several vital functions - including:

• Cleanses toxins from blood. Eliminated in urine and feces
• Disposes of red blood cells, regulates amount of blood in body, makes substances for clotting blood
• Makes bile for digesting fats
• Stores glycogen (stored glucose) and vitamins
• Metabolizes proteins, carbohydrates and fats for body's use

This football-sized (avg.adult weight 3 pounds), somewhat triangular shaped organ (usually located under the right ribs) is our largest internal organ (actually a gland, since it produces proteins and hormones).

• 2 lobes - larger on our right. Lobes contain thousands of lobules (small lobes) connecting with bile ducts transporting bile from liver to the small intestines
• Blood travels through liver via blood vessels

Liver can be damaged by:

• Drinking too much alcohol, smoking, drugs, toxic chemicals
• Viruses  (spread by poor personal hygeine / not washing hands enough)
• Unhealthy weight
• Hepatitis infection (possibly from unsafe sex)

Common symptoms of liver problems (there are other symptoms) :

• Jaundice (whites of eyes turn yellow due to excess yellow bilirubin in blood). Bilirubin is a by-product of old, broken-down red blood cells passing through the liver processing and on into bile. Bilirubin responsible for yellow color of bile and coloring poop.
• Pain in upper right quadrant of abdomen. Also can indicate gallbladder / kidney problems, gallstones / kidney stones

The gallbladder - what's it there for?

The gallbladder is a small pouch which stores and concentrates bile.  The liver makes 1 - 1½ quarts of bile in a day. The liver's intra-hepatic bile ducts deliver bile to one large tube called the common bile duct, flowing into into the gallbladder, where it is concentrated up to 5-fold.

Bile is used to:

• Break down fats for digestion.   About 20 minutes after eating fat, the gallbladder is triggered to squeeze itself empty, delivering bile through a series of ducts into the small intestines, where it is used to emulsify fats into smaller pieces with more surface area, making it easier for the pancreatic enzyme lipase to break it down for absorption.  90-95% of bile is reabsorbed from the colon and returned to the liver, where it is recycled as many as 20 times.
• Aid absorption of fat-soluble vitamins - A, D, E and K
• Requires a good bile flow.  How to improve bile flow

Gallstones (cholelithiasis)

How do we get gallstones?  Bile can crystallize in the gallbladder forming gallstones from bile components.   The reason is not clearly understood

Symptoms.  ~80% of people with gallstones have no symptoms, but gallstones can cause extended pain (possibly more than 5 hours duration), nausea and/or inflammation.   Other symptoms can include vomiting, dark urine and pale stools. Possible complications include:

• Gallbladder attack (biliary cholic) - caused by a gallstone blocking the bile duct; a crampy pain is felt in the right upper part of the abdomen; blocking bile flow interferes with efficient fat metabolism and absorption of the fat soluble, antioxidant vitamins A, D, E and K;
• Gallbladder infection (cholecystitis) - with inherent severe pain and fever;
• Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
• Bile duct infection (cholangitis)
• Jaundice - yellowish skin is a symptom

Cleansing small gallstones from gallbladder and small intra-hepatic stones from the liver improves digestion

• Cleansing the gallbladder of small gallstones and the liver of any small intra-hepatic stones (formed inside intrahepatic bile ducts) dramatically improves digestion  (obviously necessary for health).    Some stones are just too large to be flushed out, and although the liver/gallbladder flush is unable to remove large stones, many attest to the ability of the liver flush to address many symptoms associated with large gallstones (E.g. gallbladder attack) and also to give an increased sense of well being.
• As intra-hepatic stones grow and become more numerous the back pressure on the liver causes it to make less bile, and as your gallbladder fills with stones, less bile makes it more difficult for the gallbladder to remove the stones.    By way of analogy, if your garden hose had marbles in it much less water would flow, which in turn would decrease the ability of the hose to squirt out the marbles. Consequentially, less cholesterol leaves the body and cholesterol levels rise, thus creating more gallstones.
• Gallstones, being porous, can pick up bacteria, cysts, viruses and parasites that are passing through the liver.   In this way "nests" of infection are formed, supplying the body with fresh bacteria. Permanently curing a stomach infection (such as ulcers or intestinal bloating) is less likely without removing intra-hepatic stones from the liver.

Overnight Liver / Gallbladder Cleanse

Gallbladders are often removed unnecessarily

• Of the over 600,000 gallbladders removed (cholecystectomies) each year in the U.S., only a few thousand need to be removed - according to natural alternative doctor Joseph Mercola, M.D. and then usually because the warning signs were ignored.
• Anyone who has had their gallbladder removed will need to take some form of bile salts with every meal for the rest of their life ((to prevent a large percentage of the good fats they eat from being flushed down the toilet).  If one does not have enough fats in the diet, their entire physiology will be disrupted - especially the ability to make hormones and prostaglandins. BIle normally contains bile salts to break down fats in the duodenum (first part of small intestine).

How to improve bile flow for better fat metabolism

A good bile flow is needed to enable efficient fat metabolism and absorption of the fat-soluble, antioxidant vitamins A, D, E and K

There are several things you can do to naturally improve bile flow:

• A Coffee Enema is given primarily to stimulate the liver's bile production and flow (called a choleretic).   Chemicals in coffee, including caffeine, theobromine and theophylline, cause blood vessels and bile ducts to dilate. This opens the bile ducts and stimulates the liver's bile production.
• Do a liver / gallbladder cleanse - here is an Overnight liver/gallbladder cleanse
• Drink plenty of good spring water
• Consume probiotics, enzymes, organic acids.    Include a daily probiotic supplement and/or fermented vegetables (including qualit.y sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi, which in addition to probiotics, also contain enzymes and organic acids) --- all of which improve digestive juice secretions
• Take a magnesium supplement.   Nick-named the "missing mineral", magnesium is commonly deficient in our diet. It's contractile function is necessary for squeezing bile along the bile ducts from the liver to the gallbladder to the intestinal duodenum.
• Drink lemon water on rising every day.    Drink  a 6 oz glass of warm water containing one fresh-squeeze lemon; also consume one or two apple cider vinegar drinks during the day.
• Be at peace with yourself and others.   It has been well recognized amongst Eastern cultures that the liver and gallbladder take the brunt of your negative emotions,  such as anger, frustration, regrets, making difficult decisons and so on; examine your thoughts and emotions and use any of various stress relief methods available - and especially don't forget prayer.
• Minimize sugar and processed foods.   These are associated with gallbladder problems
• Consume good fats.    Avocado oil, avocados, olive oil, grass-fed butter, wild fish, grass-fed beef, coconut oil
• Have a "time out" on eating fats every now and again  (even the good fats);
• Eat foods which are known to stimulate bile flow:
  • . Raw, grated beets
  • . Carrots, asparagus, celery, broccoli, kale sprouts, radishes, artichoke, lime, grapefruit, cucumbers
  • . Bitter herbs - arugula, cilantro, cumin, dandelion, fennel, ginger, leeks,milk thistle, mint, parsley, turmeric
  • . Chlorophyll-rich foods - chlorella, spirulina, dark green leafies, wheat grass
• Take an ox bile supplement  (available at most health stores)