As depicted above, if your detoxification pathways are blocked by toxic waste, and your body was unable to rid itself of them, you might experience the following:
- Blurred vision
- Memory loss
- Acid reflux & gird
- Central nervous system disorders
- Increased risk of breast cancer
- Back pain
- Unexplained weight gain
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Low testosterone in men
- Increased risk of colon cancer
- Joint inflammation and stiffness
Are you beginning to see why detoxifying this crucial organ is so important?
The gallbladder, on the other hand, has a much more limited but important role. While bile is produced in the liver, it is actually stored in the gallbladder in quantities of about 50 mL to be released after we consume a meal with fat. The combined roles of the liver and gallbladder help to ensure we are properly metabolizing fats and excreting unwanted toxins from the body.
What Exactly is Bile?
Bile is a greenish-brown liquid made primarily of bile salts, bilirubin, and cholesterol. Its function is to emulsify fats for absorption in the small intestine. Proper digestion of fats is crucial for many processes that occur in the body. If bile is not being released properly or we develop blockages in the gallbladder, then many problems can occur. Like headaches, arthritis pain, back pain, liver spots on the body, malabsorption to name a few.
In addition to aiding in the breakdown and absorption of fats, bile also contains waste products that are passed through the intestines and released through bowel movements. So, with just this information, you may be able to make the connection that poor bile flow can result in malnutrition and the accumulation of toxins in the body.
4 Major Functions of Bile
I’ve already discussed the fundamental functions of bile, one being digestion of fats and absorption, but it is important to understand the implications of poor bile flow to truly understand its importance. Fat malabsorption issues can lead to things like poor nutrient absorption, unwanted bacterial growth in the digestive tract, inflammation in the gut, and ultimately conditions like leaky gut syndrome.
Leaky gut is an inflammatory condition of the gut that results in undigested food particles crossing into the bloodstream. Once these particles cross the small intestinal barrier they cause overactive, confused immune activity. It is this dysregulated immune activity that ultimately leads to autoimmune conditions in the body (1). Autoimmunity can manifest in many ways including thyroid disorders like Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus if left unaddressed.
Fatty Acid Metabolism
You must understand that bile emulsifies fats. Fats are of little use to the body in their unaltered form. If fats are not emulsified, they pass through the digestive tract causing diarrhea. You might mistake this for IBS.
Fat-soluble nutrients like vitamins A, D, E, and K need emulsified fats to act as transportation vehicles to aid in improving immune system function, protecting the arteries from calcification, and so much more.
Bile Helps Regulate Our Microbiome
The importance of the microbiome has been front and center in the news lately, but we are still discovering more about it every day. In fact, there are entire research funds dedicated to analyzing the makeup of healthy and diseased individuals (2).
The microbiomes bacterial makeup can predict your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and even your risk of getting certain neurological diseases. Your emotional state of mind can literally be altered by different types of bacteria because they assist in the production of nutrients and neurotransmitters (3, 4).
Pathogens can make there way into our body without Bile, and stomach acid, because these both help to regulate our microbiome by killing off unwanted pathogens.
Blood Sugar and Fat Metabolism
Another less talked about function is that the metabolism of fat helps to keep blood sugar stable. Having maximum brain performance, stable energy levels, and emotional stability is dependant on healthy blood sugar balance.
Studies have shown that a poor metabolism of fats contributes to blood sugar instability issues. In addition to this, bile actually stimulates two very important receptors referred to as FXR and TGR5. Stimulation of these receptors helps to regulate both fat and carbohydrate metabolism as well as the inflammatory response within the body (7, 8).
Symptoms of Poor Bile Flow
As you can see, proper bile flow regulates many important processes in the body. If it is obstructed for any reason, a number of complications can manifest including:
- Weight Gain
- Low Energy
- Emotional Instability
- Digestive Complications
- Headaches and Migraines
- Fibromyalgia
- Inflammatory Skin Conditions (acne, eczema, rashes)
- Chemical Sensitivities (due to toxic build up)
- …and more
The remainder of this article will focus on strategies to improve liver and gallbladder function so that you can improve bile flow and prevent these unwanted side effects.
Why We Need To Improve Liver Function
To ensure the liver is functioning optimally to improve toxin elimination, reduce toxic exposure, and ultimately improve digestion, we must understand that bile production begins in the liver. The liver is under constant stress from the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink.
Additionally, if you are under stress, have an imbalance gut microbiome or have poor relationships, this can overload your liver and lead to poor bile production as well. Here are the steps to improve liver health.
How To Avoid Toxins
Today we cannot avoid toxic exposure completely, but we can reduce it drastically.
In the diet, we must avoid pesticides by buying organic foods, we can avoid xenoestrogens, by refusing to buy things in plastic bottles, avoid artificial colorings, and unnatural processed food ingredients and hormones, by eating whole live, unadulterated foods.
Start by shifting your diet towards one that favors organic, whole foods. The bulk of your diet should be nutrient-dense vegetables and antioxidant-rich herbs and spices. Next, load up on healthy fats like avocados, coconut products, olives and olive oil, and (my favorite) butter or ghee from pasture-raised cows.
16 Foods Foa a Healthy Liver
After eliminating the bulk of toxins from our diet by making better food choices, we can focus on incorporating foods that are nourishing to the liver. These are foods that provide valuable nutrients that assist in detoxification and even help to stimulate the formation of bile.
Some of the best foods for this include: pasture-raised liver, cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens, green tea, spirulina, chlorella, and organic berries.
See image below for my complete list of the best foods for your liver.
Boost Liver Detox Pathways
As toxins are filtered through the liver, they must pass through three phases that all require specific nutrients to occur. This is important because toxins are usually altered and converted into forms that are less toxic (or even beneficial). Here are the three liver detox phases:
Phase I is regulated by the Cytochrome P50 enzyme and is the first step in converting toxins. This phase requires adequate amounts of amino acids, vitamins A, B2, B3, C, E, folate, iron, calcium, copper, zinc, magnesium, and selenium.
Phase II converts the toxins from phase I into water-soluble forms that are easier to excrete. This phase is highly dependent of methylating agents, glutathione, and sulfur.
Phase III is the final conversion where toxins are diverted for excretion in either the bile or urine. This is an enzymatic process that requires the nutrients mentioned in the previous two phases. Foods that stimulate bile flow and healthy sources of fiber both assist with this phase as well.
The top liver foods mentioned above all assist with these phases, given that you consume a variety of them on a regular basis. Bile stimulating foods and best fiber sources will be discussed shortly.
Glutathione The Master Detoxifier
Glutathione is the master antioxidant and detoxifier of the body. By boosting this valuable element within the body, we assist with liver function by reducing toxic load and directly assisting in phase II and III detoxification.
By boosting glutathione levels we benefit from slowing the aging process, improving energy levels, improving the immune system, and supporting mental clarity.
The best strategies to boost glutathione include:
- Consuming the liver-supporting foods outlined above
- Engaging in short-duration, high-intensity exercise
- Using glutathione-boosting agents
- Supplementing with acetylated or liposomal glutathione
In addition to glutathione boosting supplements, milk thistle, alpha-lipoic acid, and n-acetyl-l-cysteine all play important roles in supporting the body’s own ability to create glutathione.
The Liver Helps Balance Hormones
Elevated estrogen levels in both men and women quite literally can cause cancer. Something I see a lot of clinically. One main reason for this is we have many toxins in our environment that mimic estrogen and promote a condition called estrogen dominance.
Estrogen dominance is when estrogen levels become elevated relative to other sex hormones. When this happens, the liver is responsible for converting and eliminating these estrogenic metabolites. This can quickly become burdensome on the liver and contribute to side effects illustrated above.
Consuming cruciferous vegetables can partially assist with the elimination of excess estrogens in the body through the action of a compound called diindolylmethane (DIM). In more severe cases, using a concentrated form, or supplements like CDG Estro DIM can be extremely beneficial.
Estrogen mimicking chemicals can come from many sources. Check out the graphic above and strive to minimize your exposure to the things listed. In most cases, there are great alternatives to things like plastics, cosmetics, and household cleaners that do not contain hormone-disrupting ingredients.
Intermittent Fasting
Every time you eat, your body has to process food. By taking breaks from eating, this allows the gut to rest and heal and induces autophagy.
Additionally, this fasting period boosts liver health by allowing more time for detoxification processes to occur. Start your morning by drinking two glasses of purified water daily. this will go a long way in improving liver and gallbladder function.
Begin with a 12 hour fasting window between dinner and breakfast. Once you are adapted well, try increasing this window by 2 hours every few weeks until you reach a fasting window of 16-18 hours, this is the sweet spot for most people.
Ox Bile and Bile Salts
If you are constantly dealing with digestive issues, especially with fats, or you no longer have a gallbladder, then you may find it helpful to use supplemental support for a period of time. Using things like ox-bile or bile salts will help to make up for poor gallbladder function while providing the raw materials necessary for adequate bile production.
My go to Ox-bile formula is LV GB Complex which include ox-bile. LV-GB Complex provides support for liver and gallbladder function by providing lipotropic substances to aid in the elimination of fatty substances from the liver and promoting proper bile flow.
Supplement Protocol to Clear Biliary Sludge
If you have been diagnosed with biliary sludge or simply want to optimize bile flow, then this protocol may be very helpful for you. It is designed to stimulate bile flow while binding up and built up toxins to prevent negative side effects. Good hydration is critical for this protocol to be effective so make sure you are drinking a minimum of half your body weight in ounces of water daily.
This protocol is designed to be followed for 30 days:
Activated Charcoal: Take 1-2 Capsules, 1 hour before meals to help bind to the toxic biliary sludge. Do 1 cap if you are under 125 lbs or have lots of trouble with constipation.
LV-GB Complete: Take 2 Capsules, Twice daily after meals to help improve bile flow from liver and gallbladder
Gallbladder Complete: Take 1 oz. daily till gone – Improves pH & REGULAR BOWEL MOVEMENTS! Chanca Piedra, Turmeric, Lemon & Hibiscus all help support your body in breaking down sludge and debris and moving bile through.
Conclusion
The liver and gallbladder are important organs that aid in detoxifying your body and with digestive secretion. Without bile, we become malnourished and toxic. My goal in this article was to lay out how you can optimize your liver and gallbladder function and digest and metabolize fats properly.
The health consequences of an improperly functioning liver and gallbladder are extensive. Following the strategies outlined above will help ensure you do not have to deal with these consequences, or worse lose your gallbladder due to a gallbladder attack from congestion or even worse yet be plagued with a non-alcoholic fatty liver and cirrhosis. You do the math!
Sources for this Article Include
1. Fasano A. Leaky gut and autoimmune diseases. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. 2012;42(1):71-8. PMID: 22109896
2. NIH Human Microbiome Project (HMP) Roadmap Project (LINK)
3. Liu L, Zhu G. Gut-Brain Axis and Mood Disorder. Frontiers in psychiatry. 2018; 9:223. PMID: 29896129
4. Biragyn A, Ferrucci L. Gut dysbiosis: a potential link between increased cancer risk in ageing and inflammaging. The Lancet. Oncology. 2018; 19(6):e295-e304. PMID: 29893261
5. Wei J, Qiu de K, Ma X. Bile acids and insulin resistance: implications for treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. J Dig Dis. 2009 May;10(2):85-90. PMID: 19426389
6. Hylemon PB, Zhou H, Pandak WM, Ren S, Gil G, Dent P. Bile acids as regulatory molecules. J Lipid Res. 2009 Aug;50(8):1509-20. PMID: 19346331
7. Fuchs M. Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: The Bile Acid-Activated Farnesoid X Receptor as an Emerging Treatment Target. Journal of Lipids. 2012;2012:934396.
8. Li Y, Jadhav K, Zhang Y. Bile acid receptors in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Biochem Pharmacol. 2013 Dec 1;86(11):1517-24. PMID: 23988487
How to Improve Liver and Gall Bladder Function
Liver & Gallbladder Functions
The liver does many things that are all crucial for overall health as depicted in the image below. This may be why in some cultures the liver is deemed as the most important organ in the human body. It works to filter toxins and excess hormones from the body, store energy and nutrients, and produce bile for fat digestion. This is a small list of roles the liver serves.
Excretion of Waste Products
The body gets rid of toxins through various passages in the body. These include urine, sweat, breath, and bowel movements. As the liver filters out toxins from the body, they are primarily released in a fat-soluble or water-soluble form.
Water soluble toxins are primarily excreted through the urine while fat-soluble toxins are released in the bile to be passed through the bowels. Bile also helps to stimulate peristalsis. Peristalsis is a wave-like muscular action that propels food matter and waste through the intestines.
If bile is not being released properly, then this critical detoxification pathway will not be functioning as it should. Built up toxins can contribute to unwanted bacterial growth, chronic inflammation, weight gain, and several associated consequences.
Dangers of Toxic Deposits
As depicted above, if your detoxification pathways are blocked by toxic waste, and your body was unable to rid itself of them, you might experience the following:
- Blurred vision
- Memory loss
- Acid reflux & gird
- Central nervous system disorders
- Increased risk of breast cancer
- Back pain
- Unexplained weight gain
- Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Low testosterone in men
- Increased risk of colon cancer
- Joint inflammation and stiffness
Are you beginning to see why detoxifying this crucial organ is so important?
The gallbladder, on the other hand, has a much more limited but important role. While bile is produced in the liver, it is actually stored in the gallbladder in quantities of about 50 mL to be released after we consume a meal with fat. The combined roles of the liver and gallbladder help to ensure we are properly metabolizing fats and excreting unwanted toxins from the body.
What Exactly is Bile?
Bile is a greenish-brown liquid made primarily of bile salts, bilirubin, and cholesterol. Its function is to emulsify fats for absorption in the small intestine. Proper digestion of fats is crucial for many processes that occur in the body. If bile is not being released properly or we develop blockages in the gallbladder, then many problems can occur. Like headaches, arthritis pain, back pain, liver spots on the body, malabsorption to name a few.
In addition to aiding in the breakdown and absorption of fats, bile also contains waste products that are passed through the intestines and released through bowel movements. So, with just this information, you may be able to make the connection that poor bile flow can result in malnutrition and the accumulation of toxins in the body.
4 Major Functions of Bile
I’ve already discussed the fundamental functions of bile, one being digestion of fats and absorption, but it is important to understand the implications of poor bile flow to truly understand its importance. Fat malabsorption issues can lead to things like poor nutrient absorption, unwanted bacterial growth in the digestive tract, inflammation in the gut, and ultimately conditions like leaky gut syndrome.
Leaky gut is an inflammatory condition of the gut that results in undigested food particles crossing into the bloodstream. Once these particles cross the small intestinal barrier they cause overactive, confused immune activity. It is this dysregulated immune activity that ultimately leads to autoimmune conditions in the body (1). Autoimmunity can manifest in many ways including thyroid disorders like Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus if left unaddressed.
Fatty Acid Metabolism
You must understand that bile emulsifies fats. Fats are of little use to the body in their unaltered form. If fats are not emulsified, they pass through the digestive tract causing diarrhea. You might mistake this for IBS.
Fat-soluble nutrients like vitamins A, D, E, and K need emulsified fats to act as transportation vehicles to aid in improving immune system function, protecting the arteries from calcification, and so much more.
Bile Helps Regulate Our Microbiome
The importance of the microbiome has been front and center in the news lately, but we are still discovering more about it every day. In fact, there are entire research funds dedicated to analyzing the makeup of healthy and diseased individuals (2).
The microbiomes bacterial makeup can predict your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and even your risk of getting certain neurological diseases. Your emotional state of mind can literally be altered by different types of bacteria because they assist in the production of nutrients and neurotransmitters (3, 4).
Pathogens can make there way into our body without Bile, and stomach acid, because these both help to regulate our microbiome by killing off unwanted pathogens.
Blood Sugar and Fat Metabolism
Another less talked about function is that the metabolism of fat helps to keep blood sugar stable. Having maximum brain performance, stable energy levels, and emotional stability is dependant on healthy blood sugar balance.
Studies have shown that a poor metabolism of fats contributes to blood sugar instability issues. In addition to this, bile actually stimulates two very important receptors referred to as FXR and TGR5. Stimulation of these receptors helps to regulate both fat and carbohydrate metabolism as well as the inflammatory response within the body (7, 8).
Symptoms of Poor Bile Flow
As you can see, proper bile flow regulates many important processes in the body. If it is obstructed for any reason, a number of complications can manifest including:
- Weight Gain
- Low Energy
- Emotional Instability
- Digestive Complications
- Headaches and Migraines
- Fibromyalgia
- Inflammatory Skin Conditions (acne, eczema, rashes)
- Chemical Sensitivities (due to toxic build up)
- …and more
The remainder of this article will focus on strategies to improve liver and gallbladder function so that you can improve bile flow and prevent these unwanted side effects.
Why We Need To Improve Liver Function
To ensure the liver is functioning optimally to improve toxin elimination, reduce toxic exposure, and ultimately improve digestion, we must understand that bile production begins in the liver. The liver is under constant stress from the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the water we drink.
Additionally, if you are under stress, have an imbalance gut microbiome or have poor relationships, this can overload your liver and lead to poor bile production as well. Here are the steps to improve liver health.
How To Avoid Toxins
Today we cannot avoid toxic exposure completely, but we can reduce it drastically.
In the diet, we must avoid pesticides by buying organic foods, we can avoid xenoestrogens, by refusing to buy things in plastic bottles, avoid artificial colorings, and unnatural processed food ingredients and hormones, by eating whole live, unadulterated foods.
Start by shifting your diet towards one that favors organic, whole foods. The bulk of your diet should be nutrient-dense vegetables and antioxidant-rich herbs and spices. Next, load up on healthy fats like avocados, coconut products, olives and olive oil, and (my favorite) butter or ghee from pasture-raised cows.
16 Foods Foa a Healthy Liver
After eliminating the bulk of toxins from our diet by making better food choices, we can focus on incorporating foods that are nourishing to the liver. These are foods that provide valuable nutrients that assist in detoxification and even help to stimulate the formation of bile.
Some of the best foods for this include: pasture-raised liver, cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens, green tea, spirulina, chlorella, and organic berries.
See image below for my complete list of the best foods for your liver.
Boost Liver Detox Pathways
As toxins are filtered through the liver, they must pass through three phases that all require specific nutrients to occur. This is important because toxins are usually altered and converted into forms that are less toxic (or even beneficial). Here are the three liver detox phases:
Phase I is regulated by the Cytochrome P50 enzyme and is the first step in converting toxins. This phase requires adequate amounts of amino acids, vitamins A, B2, B3, C, E, folate, iron, calcium, copper, zinc, magnesium, and selenium.
Phase II converts the toxins from phase I into water-soluble forms that are easier to excrete. This phase is highly dependent of methylating agents, glutathione, and sulfur.
Phase III is the final conversion where toxins are diverted for excretion in either the bile or urine. This is an enzymatic process that requires the nutrients mentioned in the previous two phases. Foods that stimulate bile flow and healthy sources of fiber both assist with this phase as well.
The top liver foods mentioned above all assist with these phases, given that you consume a variety of them on a regular basis. Bile stimulating foods and best fiber sources will be discussed shortly.
Glutathione The Master Detoxifier
Glutathione is the master antioxidant and detoxifier of the body. By boosting this valuable element within the body, we assist with liver function by reducing toxic load and directly assisting in phase II and III detoxification.
By boosting glutathione levels we benefit from slowing the aging process, improving energy levels, improving the immune system, and supporting mental clarity.
The best strategies to boost glutathione include:
- Consuming the liver-supporting foods outlined above
- Engaging in short-duration, high-intensity exercise
- Using glutathione-boosting agents
- Supplementing with acetylated or liposomal glutathione
In addition to glutathione boosting supplements, milk thistle, alpha-lipoic acid, and n-acetyl-l-cysteine all play important roles in supporting the body’s own ability to create glutathione.
The Liver Helps Balance Hormones
Elevated estrogen levels in both men and women quite literally can cause cancer. Something I see a lot of clinically. One main reason for this is we have many toxins in our environment that mimic estrogen and promote a condition called estrogen dominance.
Estrogen dominance is when estrogen levels become elevated relative to other sex hormones. When this happens, the liver is responsible for converting and eliminating these estrogenic metabolites. This can quickly become burdensome on the liver and contribute to side effects illustrated above.
Consuming cruciferous vegetables can partially assist with the elimination of excess estrogens in the body through the action of a compound called diindolylmethane (DIM). In more severe cases, using a concentrated form, or supplements like CDG Estro DIM can be extremely beneficial.
Estrogen mimicking chemicals can come from many sources. Check out the graphic above and strive to minimize your exposure to the things listed. In most cases, there are great alternatives to things like plastics, cosmetics, and household cleaners that do not contain hormone-disrupting ingredients.
Intermittent Fasting
Every time you eat, your body has to process food. By taking breaks from eating, this allows the gut to rest and heal and induces autophagy.
Additionally, this fasting period boosts liver health by allowing more time for detoxification processes to occur. Start your morning by drinking two glasses of purified water daily. this will go a long way in improving liver and gallbladder function.
Begin with a 12 hour fasting window between dinner and breakfast. Once you are adapted well, try increasing this window by 2 hours every few weeks until you reach a fasting window of 16-18 hours, this is the sweet spot for most people.
Ox Bile and Bile Salts
If you are constantly dealing with digestive issues, especially with fats, or you no longer have a gallbladder, then you may find it helpful to use supplemental support for a period of time. Using things like ox-bile or bile salts will help to make up for poor gallbladder function while providing the raw materials necessary for adequate bile production.
My go to Ox-bile formula is LV GB Complex which include ox-bile. LV-GB Complex provides support for liver and gallbladder function by providing lipotropic substances to aid in the elimination of fatty substances from the liver and promoting proper bile flow.
Supplement Protocol to Clear Biliary Sludge
If you have been diagnosed with biliary sludge or simply want to optimize bile flow, then this protocol may be very helpful for you. It is designed to stimulate bile flow while binding up and built up toxins to prevent negative side effects. Good hydration is critical for this protocol to be effective so make sure you are drinking a minimum of half your body weight in ounces of water daily.
This protocol is designed to be followed for 30 days:
Activated Charcoal: Take 1-2 Capsules, 1 hour before meals to help bind to the toxic biliary sludge. Do 1 cap if you are under 125 lbs or have lots of trouble with constipation.
LV-GB Complete: Take 2 Capsules, Twice daily after meals to help improve bile flow from liver and gallbladder
Gallbladder Complete: Take 1 oz. daily till gone – Improves pH & REGULAR BOWEL MOVEMENTS! Chanca Piedra, Turmeric, Lemon & Hibiscus all help support your body in breaking down sludge and debris and moving bile through.
Conclusion
The liver and gallbladder are important organs that aid in detoxifying your body and with digestive secretion. Without bile, we become malnourished and toxic. My goal in this article was to lay out how you can optimize your liver and gallbladder function and digest and metabolize fats properly.
The health consequences of an improperly functioning liver and gallbladder are extensive. Following the strategies outlined above will help ensure you do not have to deal with these consequences, or worse lose your gallbladder due to a gallbladder attack from congestion or even worse yet be plagued with a non-alcoholic fatty liver and cirrhosis. You do the math!