As many as 20 million
Americans have gallstones, according to the National Institutes of Health, but
often, there are no symptoms. In fact, many people never experience discomfort
and don’t even know they have gallstones, which may be as small as a grain of
sand or as big as a golf ball. Gallstones
occur when there's an imbalance in the bile transportation process. Cholesterol
stones can form when bile contains too much cholesterol, too much
bilirubin or not enough bile salts. When gallstones leave the gallbladder,
they can become lodged in the bile duct resulting in a sharp debilitating pain.
Passing a gallstone can be an excruciating experience and the tiniest
stone can create a very great pain. Obviously, a situation that everyone would
wish to avoid.
The
large, yellow stones are composed of cholesterol, and the green and brown
stones are indicative of bile pigments, such
as biliverdin and stercobilin.
If you develop gallstones, you need not go on
suffering, contact us for a consultation and we can determine your personal
factors and the best individual treatment.
The Top Five Causes of Gallstones
Stress raises levels of the hormone cortisol,
this depletes bile. Abdominal bloating subsides while we sleep and de-stress.
Switching to a vegan
diet: Saturated fat is one of the key triggers of bile production.
High estrogen
levels: Birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, or
pregnancy produces a rise in estrogen and can contribute to bile deficiency.
Low stomach acid:
Stomach acid activates bile production, low levels (i.e. from taking antacids)
inhibit it.
Eating a lot of processed
food: Preservatives and other toxic food additives, combined with a lack
of detoxifying fresh vegetables, burden the liver and impair its ability to
produce bile.
Gallstones occur when
there's an imbalance in the bile transportation process. Gallstones can also
occur when the gallbladder does not empty into the common bile duct completely
or often enough, accumulating too much cholesterol, too much bilirubin or
not enough bile salts in the gallbladder, forming what we call stones.
The following steps assist bile production,
relieve gallstone symptoms, and may also help to gradually dissolve some
gallstones.
If You Are Overweight...
Eat These Vegetables
Eat some saturated fat,
because it signals the liver to produce bile- eggs, grass-fed meat, fatty fish,
and coconut oil are good sources.
Eat 7 cups of vegetables
daily, half in the form of greens and brightly colored veggies for the rest.
Avoid these foods because
they are thought to aggravate gallbladder conditions:
§
Nuts, nut butters, and peanuts
§
Large, heavy, fatty meals
§
Calcium carbonate, because it reduces stomach acid
If Your Gallbladder Has
Been Removed …
Follow the same steps above
for those with gallbladders, but omit stone root and use bile salt this way: Take the supplement before breakfast and
then again before lunch and dinner if you have bloating or other symptoms. Once
symptoms resolve, you can cut back by taking bile salt only before breakfast.
If You Are Overweight...
Your doctor will likely
tell you to lose weight, because studies show that overweight people are more
likely to have gallstones, but it isn't the excess weight which causes the
stones. but a lack of bile production contributes to weight gain, because it
interferes with healthy digestion and nutrient absorption, and makes you crave
fried or sugary foods.
If you have gallstones,
weight loss can aggravate the condition, because excess fat comes out through
the liver and bile ducts. Therefore, taking bile salts is especially important
during weight loss and can help prevent gallstone problems.
Eat These Vegetables
Greens improve the liver’s
ability to make bile by enhancing detoxification—and a liver that is less
burdened with toxins works more efficiently. Greens also help to make bile
thinner, which allows bile to flow more easily and also lowers the risk of
gallstones. The following veggies are particularly good at enhancing your own
bile production:
- Radishes
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Brussels sprouts
- Raw in salads or cooked: beets, beet tops, and kale
Supplemental Options
1. Before or at the start
of each meal: take a supplement of bile salts, which are made from purified ox
bile. If you are a vegetarian, taking concentrated beet powder can enhance your
bile production.
2. If bile salts don’t
resolve your symptoms, you are most likely deficient in stomach acid, which
tells the liver to produce bile. Restore stomach acid by taking
betaine hydrochloride.
3. Take supplements of
stone root, an herb that helps to dissolve stones and is available in pills,
tinctures, and tea form.
[INSERT ADDITIONAL SUPPLEMENTAL OFFERINGS OR LINK TO
SPECIFIC PRODUCTS HERE]
Source info:
Source: http://amazingwellnessmag.com/gallstones-the-real-cause-and-cure/
Cholesterol stones can form when bile contains too much cholesterol, too much bilirubin or not enough bile salts, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDKD).
"Cholesterol is a naturally occurring substance within our bile," said Dr. Kalman Bencsath, a general surgeon at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. "When you have an abnormal accumulation, you can wind up with cholesterol crystals precipitating out, and growing over time into what we call stones."
Gallstones can also occur when the gallbladder does not empty into the common bile duct completely or often enough. Women are twice as likely as men to develop gallstones because excess estrogen from pregnancy, hormone replacement therapy, and birth control pills may increase cholesterol levels and decrease gallbladder movement, which can facilitate gallstones.
Source:http://www.livescience.com/34726-gallstones-symptoms-treatment.html
What are gallstones?
When the chemicals in the gallbladder, cholesterol, calcium bilirubinate, and calcium carbonate are out of balance gallstones may form. There are two main types of gallstones:
- Cholesterol gallstones - these may form if there is too much cholesterol in the bile? They are the main type of gallstones in the UK and the USA.
- Pigment gallstones - these form when the bile has too much bilirubin. They are more common among patients who have liver disease, infected bile tubes or blood disorders, such as sickle-cell anemia.
What are the symptoms of gallstones?
The majority of people with gallstones have no symptoms at all. This is because the stones generally stay in the gallbladder and cause no problems. Sometimes, however, gallstones may lead to cholecystitis (inflamed gallbladder). Symptoms of gallbladder inflammation include:
- Pain on the right-hand side of the body, just below the ribs
- Back pain
- Pain in the right shoulder
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Sweating
- Restlessness.
What causes gallstones?
Experts are not completely sure why some people develop a chemical imbalance in their gallbladder which causes gallstones, while others do not. However, we do know that gallstones are more common among:
- Overweight/obese people, especially women. A study revealed that a bulging midriff almost doubles a woman's chances of developing gallstones and the need for surgery to remove them.
Obese children have a considerably higher risk of developing gallstones, compared to kids of normal weight, researchers from Kaiser Permanents reported in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition (August 2012 issue). - Women who have been pregnant
- People who have recently lost lots of weight
- Intentionally losing weight and then regaining it may increase men's risk for gallstones later in life
- Women taking oral contraceptives
- Women undergoing high-dose estrogen therapy
- People with a close relative who has had gallstones
- A study revealed that a gene variant significantly increases the risk of developing gallstones
- People whose intake of dietary fat is high
- Twice as many women get gallstones than men
- People over 60 years of age
- Native American Indians
- People who take statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs)
- People with diabetes
- Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for women during the menopause is linked to a higher risk of gallbladder problems. A study found that HRT administered by skin patches or gels poses a smaller risk than HRT given orally.
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/153981.php
GALLSTONES: THE REAL CAUSE AND CURE
January 1, 2014 by
Is surgery always necessary? Maybe not—and there are risks. Read on to learn what you can do to prevent gallstones, and about treatment alternatives
As many as 20 million Americans have gallstones,according to the National Institutes of Health, but often, there are no symptoms. In fact, many people never experience discomfort and don’t even know they have gallstones, which may be as small as a grain of sand or as big as a golf ball. But sometimes, the stones can trigger severe pain and other symptoms. In conventional medicine, gallbladder removal is the treatment of choice for patients with any symptoms of gallstones. There is no question that surgery is necessary in many cases. When a patient’s gallbladder is infected or severely inflamed, gallbladder surgery is required as a matter of life and death. But in some other cases, gallbladder removal may not solve the problem and may even be a mistake.
Studies show that gallstone symptoms, which can include abdominal pain, nausea, indigestion, bloating, and gas, don’t always disappear after surgery, although pain usually decreases significantly. One study, published in The British Journal of Surgery, found that 34 percent of patients still had some abdominal pain one year after their gallbladders were removed. And in other research, done by the British National Health Service, scientists found that some people without gallbladders still experienced diarrhea and bloating after eating fatty foods.
How Your Gallbladder Works
Medically considered non-essential, meaning we can live without it, the gallbladder is a holding tank for bile. The gallbladder itself does not make bile, a fluid made by the liver to break down fats in your digestive system.
When you eat fat, the gallbladder contracts and releases bile through ducts that lead to the small intestine. There, bile breaks down fat so that you can absorb nutrients, such as the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. If the gallbladder is missing, the liver continues to make bile; however, without a reservoir of bile, the liver may not be able to keep up with demand, and fat digestion may become impaired.
- With or without a gallbladder, symptoms of insufficient bile include:
- Cravings for fried or fatty foods
- Not feeling satisfied after eating
- Craving sugar after a meal
- Itchy skin and eyes
- Dry eyes
- Hives
- Sneezing
- Bloating
- Indigestion
- Burping
- Belching
- Headaches, especially pain in the right temple or on the right side of the head
- Pain or tension in the right fingers, hand, neck or shoulder, or under the ribs on the right side
What Causes Gallstones?
“Gallstones really develop from a deficiency of bile,” says Alexandria, Virginia-based Eric Berg, DC (drberg.com), author of The 7 Principles of Fat Burning. In addition to breaking down fat in food, bile also breaks down cholesterol and other substances that can accumulate into stones. Most often, says Berg, a bile deficiency is caused by one or more of the following:
Stress: It raises levels of the hormone cortisol, which depletes bile. This is why abdominal bloating is typically worse late in the day and subsides overnight, while we sleep and de-stress.
Switching to a vegan diet: Rare in a plant-based diet, saturated fat is one of the key triggers of bile production. In cultures that have been predominantly vegan for many generations, however, the body has adapted.
High estrogen levels: Birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, pregnancy, or high intake of unfermented soy foods can cause estrogen to rise and thereby contribute to bile deficiency.
Low stomach acid: Because stomach acid activates bile production, low levels (due to taking antacids, for example) inhibit it.
Eating a lot of processed food: Preservatives and other toxic food additives, combined with a lack of detoxifying fresh vegetables, burden the liver and impair its ability to produce bile.
If you Have Gallstones …
Berg’s clinical experience with thousands of patients shows that these steps help enhance bile production, relieve gallstone symptoms, and may also help to gradually dissolve gallstones, especially small ones.
1. Before or at the start of each meal: take a supplement of bile salts, which are made from purified ox bile. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, there are no plant sources of bile salts, but taking concentrated beet powder can enhance your internal bile production.
2. Take supplements of stone root, an herb that helps to dissolve stones and is available in pills, tinctures, and tea form.
3. Eat some saturated fat, because it signals the liver to produce bile. Eggs, grass-fed meat, fatty fish, and coconut oil are good sources.
4. Eat 7 cups of vegetables daily, half in the form of greens and brightly colored veggies for the rest.
5. Avoid these foods because they are thought to aggravate gallbladder conditions:
- Nuts, nut butters, and peanuts
- Large, heavy, fatty meals
- Calcium carbonate, because it reduces stomach acid
6. If bile salts don’t resolve your symptoms, you are most likely deficient in stomach acid, says Berg, who explains that stomach acid tells the liver to produce bile—with or without a gallbladder. Restore stomach acid by taking betaine hydrochloride (abbreviated betaine HCI or HCL).
If Your Gallbladder Has Been Removed …
Follow the same steps above for those with gallbladders, but omit stone root and use bile salt this way:Take the supplement before breakfast and then again before lunch and dinner if you have bloating or other symptoms. Once symptoms resolve, you can cut back by taking bile salt only before breakfast.
A Common Myth
“If you’re overweight and have gallstones, your doctor will typically tell you to lose weight,” says Berg, but this is faulty reasoning. Studies show that overweight people are more likely to have gallstones, but that doesn’t mean the excess weight causes the stones. More likely, says Berg, a lack of bile production contributes to weight gain, because it interferes with healthy digestion and nutrient absorption, and makes you crave fried or sugary foods.
If you have gallstones, weight loss can aggravate the condition, because excess fat comes out through the liver and bile ducts. Therefore, taking bile salts is especially important during weight loss and can help prevent gallstone problems.
BEST VEGGIE CHOICES
Whether you have a gallbladder or not, says Berg, greens improve the liver’s ability to make bile by enhancing detoxification—and a liver that is less burdened with toxins works more efficiently. Greens also help to make bile thinner, which allows bile to flow more easily and also lowers the risk of gallstones. (Although rare, stones can still form in the liver and lodge in ducts even when the gallbladder has been removed.) The following veggies are particularly good at enhancing your own bile production:
- Radishes
- Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts
- Raw in salads or cooked: beets, beet tops, and kale (see recipe for Kale Shake below)
