Hey OMY, your Gallbladder is a temperamental thing, and keeping it happy (if you still have one) is an unwritten goal in your OMYzone.
So where’s my gallbladder in the chain of digestion?
To your left is a schematic of your digestive system, from your mouth to your anus. In simple terms, you chew food, swallow it, then it goes into your stomach, passes through your duodenum, and into your small intestine.
Your small intestine empties into your colon, and your colon pushes feces into your rectum. When your rectum is filled, you get the signal that a bowel movement is needed, and the feces goes out your anus.
Each of these phases has a distinct purpose in the course of digestion. Each step is critical, and each step can fill several pages. However, it’s the gallbladder we’re talking about in this post, so let’s go to that now.
Your gallbladder is located under your liver, on the right side of your body. From the outside, it is located just behind the bottom tip of your right rib cage.
Your gall bladder sits under your liver, behind your stomach, and on top of your pancreas.
What does my gallbladder do?
Your gall bladder is a small collection sack with muscles in it that squeeze liver bile out of it when it gets the signal. When bile is squeezed out of the bladder, it goes down through the primary bile duct, into the pancreas, where it joins with the pancreatic duct, and together they empty into the duodenum.
To learn more about the mysterious duodenum and its purpose relative to the gallbladder and pancreas, go here: https://www.verywellhealth.com/duodenum-anatomy-4780308
Whats liver bile anyway, and what does it do?
Liver bile is produced in the liver, and it drains down a tree-like series of ducts, ultimately collecting into the gallbladder, where it’s held for use when needed.
Bile is a green viscous liquid that emulsifies fat, making it (fat and other lipids) easier to digest. In this sense, bile acts as a detergent. Think of washing a load of greasy rags in your washing machine. The detergent emulsifies the grease – breaks it up into microscopic globules, then runs this emulsion down the drain.
When you eat greasy foods, the fat and grease are emulsified by bile supplied by your gallbladder. This bile, along with some pancreatic enzymes, is injected into the contents leaving your stomach when they enter the duodenum. This takes place before the stomach’s contents can enter the small intestine.
OK, bile helps digest fat, but what happens without a gallbldder?
Without a gallbladder, your liver continues producing bile, but it drips directly into your duodenum. You will have problems digesting fat and might have problems with bowel movements being greasy and runny.
You don’t need a gallbladder to survive, but life is more pleasant with one than without one.
Read about Al losing his gallbladder: OMYIZED Al GETS A SECOND CHANCE
How do I “keep” my gallbladder?
Good question, OMY.
Most gallbladders get removed because of gallstones. These stones can accumulate in the gallbladder and most of them eventually pass through the bile duct. Large gallstones, however, can grow bigger in the gallbladder and lodge in the bile duct. These situations usually require medical attention.
Most often, the gastroenterologist removes the gallbladder.
As an OMY, you want to avoid this. But before we talk about keeping our gallbladders, let’s talk about what causes gallstones in the first place.
What are gallstones and what causes them.
Most gallstones contain cholesterol with some additional ingredients, and (like cholesterol) these stones are a yellowish color. A smaller number of darker stones contain bilirubin, a byproduct of broken-down red blood cells.
Causes of gallstones are high cholesterol content of bile, high bilirubin content, and faulty emptying of your gallbladder.
Gallstone risk factors:
Risks you can’t control:
- Being female
- Having a family history of gallstones
- Being age 40 or older
- Have certain blood disorders, such as sickle cell anemia or leukemia
- Native American heritage
- Being a Hispanic of Mexican origin
Risks you can control:
- Being overweight or obese
- Being sedentary
- Consuming a high-fat diet
- Eating a high-cholesterol diet
- Consuming a low-fiber diet
- Having diabetes or liver disease
- Losing weight very quickly
Here again, is an example of lifestyle being a major contributor to a common medical problem.
Now let’s briefly discuss the gallstone risks we can control.
Being overweight or obese:
OK, OMY, you know what I’m gonna say here. I hope you read Al’s story. He was an obese couch potato, so no surprise, Al had a gall bladder attack and his gallbladder was removed. The answer here, of course, is losing weight.
Being sedentary:
Being active can stimulate your gallbladder to stay “clean” by moving bile through its incoming and outgoing ducts. Bile setting long periods in the bladder allows it to coagulate into stones, building up and getting bigger.
Most gallstones pass into the duodenum. The bigger the stone, however, the more likely it is to stick in the bile duct, causing bile to back up and present symptoms.
Consuming a high-fat diet:
High-fat foods trigger the production of bile – this is what your body’s supposed to do when you eat this way. Too much of a good thing, however, can backfire. Go easy on high-fat foods – once in a while is OK.
Eating a high-clolesterol diet:
High cholesterol foods add to the cholesterol that’s already in your blood and temporarily flood your liver with additional cholesterol to bond with gallstones already in your gallbladder.
Consuming a low fiber diet:
Although this is oversimplified, Imagine fiber “soaking up” cholesterol and keeping it from growing gallstones. Fiber is your friend.
Having diabetes or liver disease (or both):
Both of these conditions are controllable. Lifestyle choices often cause these diseases, and you will need to work with your PHCP to manage these issues with medication and lifestyle changes.
Losing weight very quickly:
“Losing weight very quickly” is a problem? That seems counterintuitive, but it’s true. The “lose twenty pounds in the first month” mentality is actually dangerous, as I pointed out in my weight loss post: WEIGHT LOSS THE OMY WAY.
Yes, I’m oversimplifying again, but picture your liver suddenly flooded with fat and passing its excess cholesterol into your gallbladder – not good!
So what do we do to save our gallbladder from the surgeon’s knife?
Well, looking at the above list, it’s clear that most of the controllable factors in gallstone formation can be ameliorated if not completely removed by changing bad lifestyle habits and replacing them with good ones.
Being overweight, sedentary, and consuming a lousy diet sums it up. When you work with your PHCP on your OMYzone plan, you need to discuss reversing the above factors and set new goals. You can lose weight, develop an exercise plan, and eat smarter (eat towards your goal).
This is how you avoid the surgeon’s knife. Make your plans now. Gallstones are ubiquitous and are probably in your gallbladder right now – get ’em under control.
NOTE: Gallstones can hide undetected and never cause a problem. Most of them will pass through your primary bile duct and cause only temporary discomfort if that. If a large one (like Al’s golfball-sized stone) plugs your bile duct, you’ll have painful symptoms that can’t be ignored, and you’ll require emergency treatment.
Discuss these issues with your PCHP, and be prepared with the right information, especially if you fit the lifestyle/disease profile above.
OMY1
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