Category: Health Concerns

If you are one of millions of Americans who have had their gallbladder removed, then you are probably experiencing some unpleasant side effects when you eat certain foods. Fats in particular become very difficult to digest. In the past, the solution has been to avoid fats altogether. The problem with that is that fats are important, and without them skin issues, vision and eye problems, fatty tumors, bruising, and many other problems occur.

The gallbladder plays a key role in digestion of fats. Here’s how: bile acids are produced from cholesterol in your liver and then flow into your gallbladder, where they are stored until any fat you have eaten moves into the small intestine. The gallbladder then releases the bile to emulsify the fat – making it easier to absorb. However, if your gallbladder is removed, there is no storage place for bile, and so there may not be enough bile when needed. The failure of your body to release bile when needed decreases your body’s ability to properly digest fat and eventually leads to defiencies in fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids, as well as some of issues listed above.

To avoid these issues, it is important to supplement with bile salts. Bile salts, when taken with meals, will aid in digestion and assimilation of fats, and take some pressure off the liver.  Continue reading “What To Do After Gallbladder Removal”