Maid Arise! : Gallbladder Study

Health and Beauty

Okay...so why am I hurting? It's my gallbladder? Where is my gallbladder? What does the gallbladder do? Why does it hurt? What are gallstones? Is there a natural way to heal my gallbladder?
These were only a few questions I had when recently I began to have health issues, including pain "under my ribs". After realizing that my pain might be associated with my gallbladder I decided to research it.
This is what I found.

Gallbladder Study

What is the Gallbladder?

Your gallbladder is an organ (part of the biliary system) which stores bile and helps digest fats. After we eat, bile is released by the gallbladder and the small intestine secrets the hormone cholecystokinin. Then the bile flows into the small intestine to break down the fats.

Where Is the Gallbladder?

The gallbladder is located on the right side, just below your liver. It is only 4 inches long and is attached to the liver.

What Are Gallstones?

Gallstones are hardened bile and cholesterol or calcium salts. Gallstones are bad news because they block bile from being released from your gallbladder, which interferes with the small intestine's job, and therefore our digestion.

What is a Gallbladder Attack?

Cause:

The most common causes of stones are the result of diet (lowfat diets, overeating, industrial foods, commercial salt, dehydration), pharmaceutical use (particularly hormone therapy and birth control pills, cholesterol-lowering drugs), fluoride ingestion, sleep disruptions (ignoring natural sleep/wake cycles) and emotional stress.

Symptoms:

Pain accompanied with nausea and/or anxiety.
Pain that is triggered by eating fatty foods.
Pain and tenderness under the ribs on the right side, sometimes with a fever.
Pain that gets worse with coughing.
Jaundice: yellowing of the eyes and skin.
Bloating and gas
Pain in the abdomen or right shoulder
belching or burping

What's actually happening:

So, gallbladder problems start from what we eat, causing a weak unhealthy liver. Like the gallbladder, the liver is a biliary organ that plays a major part in our digestion and removing toxins.. During digestion, the liver secretes bile into the gallbladder to be stored. Later the gallbladder releases this bile into the small intestine. This bile is important. It regulates the level of friendly bacteria, destroys dangerous ones, and helps digest fats. Gallstones block this process. The pain we experience can come from the stone traveling down the bilary duct toward the small untestine. Or even back up of bile in the gallbladder (which can become toxic and lead to leaky gut or causes the gallbladder swell).

Who is affected?

Forty, Fat and Fertile. Those are the three “F's” most often quoted. Although I don't match any of them. Really, gallbladder issues can effect make and female, old and young. But, here are the most common candidates for gallbladder issues:

Age. People over the age of 40 often have gall bladder disease.
Obesity. People who are obese have bile that is saturated with cholesterol, making them more likely to develop gallstones.
Gender. Overweight women over the age of forty are the population that has gall bladder surgery most frequently
Hormone replacement therapy. Estrogen stimulates the production of gallstones, so women on hormone replacement therapy or those who have taken birth control pills for many years sometimes have gall bladder disease.
Diet. There is a generally recognized link between a diet high in poor-quality fats and sugar and gall bladder disease. This is the diet that most Americans eat today.
Slow transit time and constipation. Constipation and slow intestinal transit time are linked to the formation of gallstones. www.bodycology.com

How do I prevent attacks, and cure them?

With only recently dealing with gallbladder issues I cannot perfectly answer this question. But so far, it would seem that the gallbladder issues are connected with an unhealthy liver. Once the liver is flushed and the right diet introduced the gut now has a chance to heal. So far this is the information that seemed most helpful to me. I am planning on trying the liver flush and will keep you updated.

Flushing the Liver

Short list of good foods:
Beets
Cucumber
Avocados
Vinegars (Cider and white)
Garlic
Tomatoes - ripe
salmon, trout

Lemons (lemon juice in the morning with hot water helps to clean the liver)
Grapes and fresh organic grape juice
apples, berries, papaya, pears
Omega 3 oils: coconut oil, butter or ghee from grass-fed cows, extra virgin olive oil, palm oil and rendered animal fats such as tallow and lard. And small amounts of cold-pressed oils such as sesame or flax. For more on healthy fats
Vegetable juices - Beet and cucumber are especially helpful to gallbladder. You can add other green vegetables like tender baby greens, swiss chard, dandelion greens, beet greens, celery, carrots, ginger)

Freshly pressed juice of apples, berries, grapefruit, grapes, kiwi, lemons, melons, oranges and pears. (commercial juice should be avoided)

List of "Bad" Foods

Omega 6 fats,
sugar,
processed and/or fatty foods, and dairy.

Extended list of foods to avoid
More Food for Thought
Yummy Healthy Recipes that WONT irritate the gut
A "Must Read" on the Gut