Gallbladder Symptoms You Can Avoid Naturally
Many people today are seeking natural ways to both cure gallbladder symptoms and to prevent them. If you experience painful attacks after eating, especially meals which are high in fat, then you may have visited your primary care doctor to find out that you have gallstones.
Gallstones typically consist of small, hardened deposits of cholesterol or bilirubin.
Your gallbladder plays an important role in digestion and nutrient absorption. This small, oblong sac stores and releases bile which is created in your liver. When you eat a meal that contains fat, signals are sent from your stomach to the gallbladder which tell it the volume and concentration of bile that is needed. Bile also helps to absorb fat-soluble vitamins like A,D,E and K.
Though there are some risk factors for gallstone formation that can’t be avoided, many of them can. If you are a woman, over 40 and if gallstones run in your family, you will be at a higher risk of developing gallbladder symptoms. As well, certain cholesterol medications and diseases like diabetes may increase your risk of gallbladder disease.
A health factor you can control, however, is obesity. Obese people are at a higher risk of developing symptoms of gallstones and roughly 80% of gallstones contain cholesterol. When you plan to lose weight, ensure that you do this slowly through diet and exercise practices that are sustainable. Rapid weight loss and starvation diets can actually trigger gallstones to form. Increasing regular, daily exercise, no matter what your weight is, has shown to help reduce gallbladder disease and gallstones significantly.
Some steps you can take to help naturally prevent gallbladder symptoms include:
Reducing high fat, saturated, hydrogenated and fried food from your diet. You do need fat for effective gallbladder function though. Each time you eat fat, your gallbladder contracts and this keeps bile flowing in and out as it should.
Replacing those fats with coconut oil, olive oil, grass fed butter, fresh nuts and seeds, avocado, eggs and fish.
If you can, avoid taking hormones that will elevate estrogen levels and may lead to gallstones.
Eat plenty of green, leafy vegetables. In particular, watercress, brussels sprouts, spinach, kale, broccoli, beets, artichoke and arugula are all known to support liver cleansing and improve bile flow when consumed on a regular basis.
Lemon and apple cider vinegar are known to naturally help with gallstone removal. Lemon juice and apple cider vinegar have similar properties as bile and stomach acid do. Sipping on water with a teaspoon of organic lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar will help to increase bile production, break down cholesterol and flush stones while thinning the bile to prevent biliary sludge.
Naturally sourced vitamin C can also cut your risk of gallstones formation by half. Whenever possible, find this in organic fruits and vegetables.
There are also ways to dissolve gallstones naturally. See this natural gallbladder treatment for more information.
