The gallbladder is a small organ on the right body side, right below the liver. It stores bile and releases bile into the small intestines.
Gallstones can build up in the gallbladder due to an overheated liver. If the liver is overloaded and struggling from too many toxins, viruses, bacteria, chemicals,…in the body, it’s still doing its best to protect you and stores things away that it can’t filter and release. Being overburdened it becomes hot. The gallbladder itself is a rather cold organ. And the hotter the liver gets the colder the gallbladder gets. If bile is sent from the liver to the gallbladder then there’s a pretty drastic transition from hot to cold. That is when jelly balls can turn into pigment stones and the same goes for cholesterol stones. Cholesterol stones however can not only come from unhealthy greasy foods (pizza, whip cream, fried food,…) but can also come from healthy cholesterol foods. This happens especially when the liver is already overburdened and has a hard time processing heavier foods.
Another thing that can cause gallbladder issues are infections from food poisoning. When someone has a food poisoning or E-coli infection with vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain, the virus/bacteria not only resides in the stomach and colon but can also travel to the gallbladder and start nesting in there. For some such an infection can even lead to a severe gallbladder issue with having it to be removed. For others everything goes well and the symptoms fade away after a while. But even though the symptoms went away and everything seems fine again, the invader can still be nesting in the gallbladder and can cause some issues later on lets say 10 years later.
This just so happened to me. I ate some tuna that wasn’t cooked all the way through about 8 years ago and got diarrhea, weird tasting burps and abdominal cramps. I couldn’t eat anything because whatever I ate only made me feel even worse. It took me about a week to get better again. So I assume that my current gallbladder issue kind of is connected to this event.
So if you’re struggling with liver or gallbladder issues it’s essential to keep up a low fat/low protein diet and especially a no fat morning. Meaning no nuts and seeds, avocados, coconut meat or animal products during the morning. Because during the morning time our body is working hard on getting rid of accumulated toxins.
A high fat diet puts the liver under a lot of stress because it has to produce a tremendous amount of bile in order to process the fat. In order to give the liver the time it needs to get rid of stored up toxins it’s best to avoid overt fats for a while (let’s say 3-4 weeks). What’s good to know is that once we eat any overt fats the liver stops all other activities like producing hormones, killing pathogens and keeping up the immune system and puts all of its energy into breaking down the fat.
Gallbladder flushes which are pretty popular nowadays are something that I wouldn’t do because of my experience when I eat oils or foods that are higher in fat. Foods like that always make me feel sluggish and sometimes even leave me with gallbladder cramps…if something like that exists. So drinking a glass of oil would be such way to much of a burden for my body.
Gallbladder flushes can actually be pretty dangerous because once a real stone gets flushed out of the gallbladder and gets stuck in the bile duct you can end up in the ER and it needs to be cut out. However, there’s a much better way then drinking oily concoctions to get rid of gallstones. There are foods that assist your body in dissolving gallstones naturally: Fruits and veggies (for details check out the list and image down below).
But what if you once did a gallbladder flush and say that you felt amazing afterwards?! Well, this is probably because during the fasting and flushing you felt not well at all so everything would feel better afterwards for sure. The problem is that drinking oil puts the liver under a lot of stress to a point where it has to bring up all of its resources to produce bile. And once the flush is over this can cause a drop in bile production in general and you might experience an even weaker digestion.
And then there are the stones that people find in their stool. These stones are not necessarily gallbladder stones but rather oil packs that come from the digestive tract. The digestive tract uses mucus to pack up the oil in order to protect the body.
- Lemon/lime water helps dissolve gallstones & has a cleansing/alkalizing effect
- Celery juice helps dissolve gunk in liver it isn’t sent to the gallbladder
- Cucumber juice helps flush out toxins and is very alkalizing
- Cranberry juice helps dissolve stones and cleans up the liver
- Citrus fruits (grapefruits, lemons, oranges,…) help dissolve gallstones
- Pineapple helps clean up and release mucus & residues from liver and dissolves gallstones
- Apple helps clean up waste from liver & gallbladder
- Wild blueberries clean up the liver and dissolve gallstones
- Tomatoes help reduce gallstone size and clean the gallbladder from sludge
- Spinach and sodium rich veggies (kale, radishes, mustard greens, asparagus,…)
- Zucchini helps reducing gallbladder inflammation
- Hibiscus rejuvenates gallbladder (& liver) and cleans off its walls
Essential Oils are another thing that I use to support my gallbladder. And I have mixed up my own oil blend of different oils which I apply to my gallbladder 1-2 times per day or whenever I feel it’s necessary. I apply it undiluted but if you’re sensitive it’s best to mix them up with a carrier oil like coconut or almond oil. Always make sure to use pure high quality essential oils and make sure that you’re skin can handle them if you’re using them undiluted.
My gallbladder essential oil blend is made up of:
- Geranium – helps extend the bile duct for better bile flow
- Sage – stimulates the gallbladder
- Lemon & lime – helps dissolve gallstones
- Peppermint & spearmint – stimulate the liver/gallbladder and are natural pain killers
- Fennel – helps increase bile flow and liver-cell function
Disclaimer: The information and statements on this page are made for education purposes and are not intended to replace the advice of your treating doctor. The experiences, views and nutritional advice that are expressed by Naturally Rawsome are not intended to be a substitute for conventional medical service. Please see your physician if you have a health issue or a severe medical condition. The links to other websites which are provided on this website are provided for references only. Naturally Rawsome is not responsible for the content or products of linked websites or contained links on those sites.
