Bile Salt & Gall Bladder

I frequently receive questions about gall bladder problems. My personal impression is that gall bladder problems occur most often in people who eat very low fat diets or those who are overweight. Obviously those are not the only factors! I am often asked what to do about gall stones. I have advised a number of people to use Jethro Kloss’ liver flush (found in BACK TO EDEN), but ONLY if the gall stones are relatively small. A one cm gallstone might be flushed and block the common duct! Several have brought me their gall stones after the flush!? Don’t ask!! I had one set analyzed and they were largely cholesterol.

It seems to me that the MAJOR natural way for the body to excrete excess cholesterol is in the bile. But you need fat to stimulate the release of bile. If your fat metabolism is way off, the excess cholesterol collects in the gall bladder, leading eventually to inflammation, infection or gall stones–and of course deposits in arteries.

After removal of the gallbladder, most people have difficulty digesting fat and many members of the cole/brassica family. Many years ago there were frequent ads for Carter’s Little Liver pills. These seem to have been bile salts. In recent years, I have learned that most health food stores do not cary bile salts, which are crucial for proper digestion of fat–along with lipase fom the pancreas.

If you have difficuty with fat digestion or have had your gall bladder removed, you may want to try these. If you need digestive enzymes, I prefer Vascuzyme. Incientally, Vascuzyme is great ans an antiinflammatory.