HOW TO PREVENT GALL BLADDER STONES/SURGERY

Your gallbladder is a small sack that stores bile until needed. Bile is made in the liver and is used during digestion to emulsify fat. When you eat a meal that contains fat (like butter, dairy, meats, oils, etc), the gallbladder squeezes the proper amount of bile into the beginning part of the small intestines. The bile is mixed with the food so the fat can be broken up into smaller and smaller particles so that lipase (digestive enzyme that specifically breaks down fats) can digest the fat and the body can then absorb it.

Bile is an extraordinary liquid in that it has a very wide range of pH: from about 4-9. It works best at 7.6, but can have a broader range for your survival. Your body needs to maintain a slightly alkaline pH to stay healthy and alive. pH stands for “potential of hydrogen” and is a measurement of how acid or alkaline something is. The pH scale runs from 0-14, with 7 being neutral. Stomach acid is very low on the pH scale– about 1-4.5, whereas ammonia is very high – bout 11.

The best way to maintain your body’s slightly alkaline balance is be eating lots of fruits and vegetables; especially deeply colored ones. Deeply colored plants, especially vegetables are full of minerals that you need to give you mineral reserves for your natural buffering system. The problem is that in our standard American dietary habits, we don’t consume nearly as many veggies and fruits that our bodies need for normal health. Our mineral reserves become depleted.

The good news is that your body is designed with many back-up systems so that if you don’t eat properly, you can still survive for a certain amount of time. While you should be getting your alkalizing minerals from the foods you eat, your body can access your bile to get the alkalizing effect it needs to neutralize the acidifying residue left behind from meats, grains, soda, candy, chips, coffee, and all the other goodies ingested. When you eat improperly for too long, the bile gets out of its normal pH balance and stones form. If your habits are not corrected, the stones continue to form, eventually leading to an inflamed gallbladder which you then blame for “attacking” you.

The way to prevent gallstones and possible gallbladder removal is by eating the food that God provided for you. The diet best suited for humans should contain around 60-70% fruits and vegetables. More vegetables are better, and ½ of what you consume should be raw and/or fermented. This will ensure you are getting the minerals you need to provide your body with the material need to keep you healthy for many years to come.

If you have already had your gallbladder removed, your liver still produces bile and there will just be a steady drip into your intestines. You should not eat too many fatty foods at any given meal. Trial and error will let you know how much fat at once is too much for you. Taking digestive enzymes that include lipases is a good idea. They will ease the digestive burden on your pancreas and help you digest the fats easier since you might not have sufficient amounts of bile to emulsify your whole meal. Continuing a high fruit and veggie diet will help prevent your body from becoming too acid and going to the other back-up systems: your kidneys, bones, and muscles. But, that’s another post.

HOW TO EAT PROPERLY

Funny title, huh? And yet, many Americans have major digestion problems that can be improved by these simple steps:

1)      Start with fresh, highly nutritious food whenever possible.

2)      Before eating, take a few minutes to relax and quiet your body and mind. For many, this might include saying grace, or simply have an attitude of gratitude for the meal.

Allowing yourself to calm down before eating is important because it puts your body in the most receptive mode to digest and absorb the nutrients in the food.

There are two main parts of a special part of your nerve system called the Autonomic Nervous System. (Some people refer to it as the “Automatic” Nervous System (ANS) because it works without us having to think about it.) The first part of the ANS is the Sympathetic part SNS). This part prepares you to respond to an emergency.  If you know your child is playing in the front yard and you hear screeching tires, the SNS tells your stress glands to secrete certain hormones that dilate your pupils, deepen your breathing, raise your blood pressure, and shunt blood to your muscles (and AWAY) from your digestive organs. This is called the Fight or Flight response. It prepares you to run and deal with that emergency.

The second part of the ANS is called the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). Its job is to help you “Rest and Digest” and heal. It helps decrease your blood pressure, calm your heart, and shunt blood away from your muscles and TO your digestive and other organs.

In our fast-paced lives, it seems that we go from one emergency to the next, with little time in between to get back into a restful, healing mode. Even when we go to bed, we are often thinking about our list of things to do tomorrow, etc., and never really get fully into full activation of the PNS. Praying over our food or simply taking some deep breaths before eating helps ensure the best environment to receive good nutrition.

3)      Eat some raw food with each meal. This gives us the vital enzymes we need to digest our food.

4)      Take a digestive enzyme supplement right before eating. So much of our food is over processed and void of sufficient nutrient content. A digestive aid will give us the enzymes we need to break down and absorb all the nutrition in our food.

5)      Don’t eat a huge meal right before going to bed. “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, and dinner like a pauper” has a lot of wisdom to it!

6)      Look at your plate; at least 50% of each meal should be fruits or vegetables – some of them raw.

7)      Take a gentle stroll after eating. It doesn’t have to be long, just a few minutes. And, this is not an aerobic exercise walk; just a stroll to help the food settle.

If you start to apply these simple tips, I know you will see some improvement in your digestion, energy, and overall wellbeing!

Fermented Foods

If I had to choose one food catagory that would have the most impact on your health, I would have to say fermented foods.

Let me explain: health-wise, everything begins with the health of the gut. The gut is your entire gastrointestional system from your mouth all the way down and out. The quality of the food you choose and the health of your gut will determine the health of your entire body.

Some of us begin life pretty well - mom eats pretty well while pregnant with us, she has a natural birth with minimal intervention, breastfeeds us, and feeds us pretty good food. Others start out at a disadvantage. Mom might not have availabilty to good nutrition, maybe there are complications with the pregnancy and/or birth leading to a c-section, and then perhaps she is unable to nurse us.

When babies are born naturally, they swallow the normal, beneficial vaginal bacteria that start a healthy gut environment. These probiotics promote a natural balance of pH and normal gut flora to help with digestion of food, assimilation of nutrients, and immune factors. If that step is bypassed via c-section, then baby's immune system is already at a disadvantage.

Eating fermented foods is a delicious, cost-effective way to inoculate your gastrointestinal tract with the health-promoting, beneficial bacteria you need to obtain proper nutrition and fight off dis-ease. Even if you are on a limited budget and can't afford a probiotic supplement, you can always choose healthier, more nutrient-dense food. Raw milk kefir, miso, kombucha, raw saurkraut and kim chee are just a few examples of delicious ways to get your gut restored so you can continue to build robust health.

Here are some websites to start learning:

Fermented Food Recipes
The Benefits of Fermented Foods
List of Fermented Foods & Vegetables that Can Heal Your Gut