Do You Need Your Gallbladder? | Dr. Steven Williams

The gallbladder does have a function within our body. Unlike the appendix, which has only been theorized to have had a function in the past, the gallbladder does aid in digestion. The gallbladder mostly serves as a reservoir. It reserves some of the bile that is made within the liver. Our bile is a greenish yellow fluid that flows from the liver down the bile ducts and into the intestine. Bile is necessary in order for us to digest any fat which we eat.

Since oil (fat) and water do not mix, a detergent such as bile is necessary in order to bring the fat into solution with the water which is the predominant component of our blood. The blood has to carry the nutrients from our digestive tract and distribute the energy created from those nutrients to all of our cells. The gallbladder will take in some of the bile and it holds on to that extra bile and concentrates it by taking some of the water from it. When our stomach recognizes that we have taken in food with fat in it, a chemical messenger is sent to the gallbladder telling it to empty out some (or most) of that stored bile. The extra bile then mixes with the fat we ate in our small intestine so that the fat can be absorbed by the digestive cells and taken into our bloodstream.

So, what happens if we do not have a gallbladder? Well, the bile continues to be made in the liver and trickle down the bile ducts into the intestine, but now there is no ‘reserve’ of bile within a gallbladder. Therefore, it is possible for a person without a gallbladder to overwhelm their system with ingested fat and not have enough bile to be able to help digest the fat within the intestine and it is also possible to have too much bile within the intestine. This could possibly lead to bloating, gas discomfort, and loose stool known as bile acid diarrhea. If someone without a gallbladder is experiencing these symptoms, they closely monitor their intake of fat initially and if the problem persists, medications are available to help. Surprisingly, this situation does not happen very often and most of those people who do not have a gallbladder eat a normal diet without noticing any problems with digestion.

Since the gallbladder does still serve a role in digestion, we only remove gallbladders which are not functioning normally or are deemed to be at high risk of causing the patient problems in the future. Did you know that some people are actually born without a gallbladder at all? This condition is known as gallbladder agenesis.

Click here for more information on the gallbladder and its functions. 

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Can You Live Without a Gallbladder? Diet, Lifestyle, & Life Expectancy

Overview

It’s not uncommon for people to need to have their gallbladder removed at some point. This is partly because it’s possible to live a long, full life without a gallbladder.

Gallbladder removal is called cholecystectomy. You can have your gallbladder removed for several reasons, including:

• infections
• inflammation, called cholecystitis
• gallstones
• gallbladder polyp

While you can survive without a gallbladder, you’ll likely need to make some adjustments to your lifestyle and eating habits to avoid any problems. With these changes, you probably won’t notice any major differences in your day-to-day life after having your gallbladder removed.

To live well without a gallbladder, it’s important to start by understanding what the gallbladder does so you know what your body’s missing.

The gallbladder is a tiny digestive organ that sits in your abdomen, just behind the liver. It’s connected to your liver through the common bile duct. This duct transports bile from the liver through the hepatic ducts, into the gallbladder, and into the duodenum — the first part of your small intestine.

The gallbladder serves as a storage facility for bile, which is a substance that helps to helps your body break down foods and digest fat. When you eat, your gallbladder releases some bile into the small intestine, where it gets to work on breaking down fats.

Without a gallbladder, there’s no place for bile to collect. Instead, your liver releases bile straight into the small intestine. This allows you to still digest most foods. However, large amounts of fatty, greasy, or high-fiber food become harder to digest. This can result in gas, bloating, and diarrhea.

Making a few basic dietary changes will help your body adjust to changes in the way bile is released.

Limit your fat intake

Try to avoid foods that contain more than 3 grams of fat in a single serving. Pay special attention to the labels on processed meats, dairy products, sauces, and toppings, which sometimes contain more fat than you’d think they would.

Other foods to approach with moderation include:

• sausage
• beef
• fried foods
• chips
• chocolate
• full-fat milk, yogurt, or cheese
• cream
• skin-on poultry
• foods that contain a lot of vegetables, peanut, canola, or olive oil

If you already eat a lot of these foods, start out by trying to find low- or non-fat versions of these foods. As a rule of thumb, fat should only make up about 30 percent of your diet. If you consume roughly 2,000 calories per day, aim for under about 60–65 grams of fat.

Eat regular, small portions throughout the day

Try not to eat most your food over the course of three large meals. This can overwhelm your digestive tract because your liver doesn’t produce enough bile to effectively digest large amounts of food.

Instead, aim for about six meals containing 300–400 calories at a time. Try to include lean meats, such as fish or skinless chicken, or other non-processed protein sources. You can also load up on fruits and vegetables.

Limit your fiber intake

Eating high-fiber foods right after having your gallbladder removed can make any bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea you’re experiencing worse.

Following the procedure, try to limit your intake of the following high-fiber foods:

• broccoli
• cauliflower
• cabbage
• beans
• nuts, such as peanuts and almonds
• high-fiber breads, such as whole-grain or whole-wheat
• high-fiber cereals, such as bran

You don’t need to completely cut these foods out of your diet. Just start with smaller amounts, and gradually increase your portions as you figure out what your body can handle.

Limit your caffeine

Caffeine from things like tea, coffee, or soft drinks can also increase gas, abdominal pain, and bloating after having your gallbladder removed. This is because caffeine increases stomach acid production, which can make your stomach empty out faster than usual. Without enough concentrated bile to help break down stomach contents headed into the intestine, the typical symptoms of gallbladder removal can be aggravated.

As with your fiber intake, you just need to limit your caffeine consumption while you recover from the procedure. You can gradually start adding more to your diet as your body adjusts.

Try keeping a food journal or recording your diet in an app. This can help you modify your eating and drinking habits more mindfully. It may also limit the pain and discomfort of potential side effects.

As you eat, pay close attention to how your body reacts to specific foods, especially those high in fats, spices, or acids, and record your body’s responses. List the foods you eat and how much of each food you eat at a time.

Breaking your diet down to this level may help you notice patterns in your symptoms, which can help you identify specific foods to avoid, limit, or have more of. This can make the recovery process and your overall adjustment easier and more comfortable.

Whether you have a gallbladder doesn’t have any impact on your life expectance. In fact, some of the dietary changes you’ll need to make might actually increase your life expectancy. Eating smaller amounts of fats, oils, dairy products, and processed foods usually leads to weight loss. Maintaining a healthy weight can reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and even some cancers.

Eating fewer calories per day can also help you live longer by making your body digest food and use energy more efficiently.

You can definitely live without a gallbladder. This also shouldn’t have any effect on your life expectance. If anything, the dietary changes you’ll need to make may even help you live a longer, healthier life.

with and without it”

Dr. Ivanov’s study of the gastrointestinal tract: gallstone disease and liver cleansing according to Malakhov. Part 4

In previous articles devoted to digestion, Ph.D. osteopath Alexander Ivanov spoke in detail about various diseases – gastritis, flatulence, constipation, etc. In a new article, the doctor will talk about the role of the gallbladder in our body, about the appearance of stones in it and other diseases, about tubage and massage of internal organs.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE LIVER

The liver is the biochemical laboratory of our body. One of its important functions is detoxification, that is, the neutralization of toxins (substances alien to us) – hormones, antibiotics, drugs, alcohol, heavy metals that enter our body from the external environment (food, water, air). In addition, the liver is involved in digestion, producing bile, as well as in almost all types of metabolism (protein, fat, carbohydrate, mineral).

It is no coincidence that in many traditional healing systems (for example, in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine), the liver is given the main role in maintaining human health. Thus, the role of the liver is difficult to overestimate.

GALL BLADDER IS A LIVER FRIEND AND HELP

The gallbladder is a faithful friend and helper of the liver. The latter can produce up to 600 ml of bile per day, and the gallbladder, which is a bag with a volume of 70 – 80 ml, in fact, stores this bile.

During the period of starvation, the gallbladder is able to absorb (absorb) up to 90% of the liquid component of bile, concentrating and preserving it. Eating stimulates the gallbladder, and bile begins to flow into the lumen of the duodenum (section of the small intestine), participating in digestion.

HIPPOCRATES ABOUT BILE, OR WHY DO WE HAVE BILE?

Bile is produced by the liver and is, on the one hand, an emulsifier (solvent) of fats, and on the other hand, the cleansing medium with which the liver and our body get rid of substances we do not need – toxins (cholesterol, antibiotics, heavy metals, hormones , alcohol).

In terms of chemical composition, bile consists mainly of water and electrolytes (salts), as well as organic substances (cholesterol, bilirubin, bile salts).

Even Hippocrates spoke about bile as one of the forms of the internal environment of the body. He introduced the concept of human temperaments and concluded that if a person has a lot of bile, then he is prone to irritability, irascibility and anger. No wonder there is such an expression as “a bilious person.” Such “bilious” people are prone to heart and vascular diseases, hypertension, strokes and heart attacks. He referred to this type of people as choleric. With an excessive amount of “black” bile, a person is prone to apathy, depression, fears, which corresponded to a melancholic temperament.

Nowadays, Hippocrates’ ideas are, to put it mildly, outdated, and today it is not bile that determines a person’s temperament (a type of higher nervous activity). However, from the point of view of psychosomatics, there is a grain of truth in his observations.

STONES IN THE GALLBLADD

The appearance of dense formations of calculi in the gallbladder is called cholelithiasis, or calculous cholecystitis. The diagnosis is made on the basis of ultrasound data. Symptoms of calculous cholecystitis: dull, aching pain in the right hypochondrium of a permanent nature or occurring one to three hours after eating, most often fatty, fried or smoked, while there may be bitterness in the mouth or a metallic taste, belching, bloating, frustration stools, insomnia and irritability. Treatment of calculous cholecystitis is usually surgical. But in some cases, treatment can be conservative – medication. For example, with small cholesterol stones, the tactics of dissolving stones with the help of bile acid preparations are used, as well as stone fragmentation – the method of extracorporeal shock wave therapy.

GALLSTONE DISEASE: WHEN TO DO THE OPERATION?

Surgery to remove the gallbladder is called a cholecystectomy. Previously, before the advent of endoscopic surgery, the gallbladder was removed, leaving gross scars on the abdomen and adhesions. At the moment, operations are less traumatic, only small punctures remain, which are barely visible on the skin.

Can a person live without a gallbladder? Yes, maybe, but there is nothing superfluous in the body, and the removal of the gallbladder is always a tragedy for the whole body. After surgery, dyspepsia, stool disorder, in the form of constipation or diarrhea may often appear. The pancreas and liver begin to suffer.

There is an opinion among some doctors that if stones are found in the gallbladder, then the operation must be done, as they say, just in case of a fire. However, Western medical literature on this issue says that if the stones are less than 3 cm in diameter and there are no clinical manifestations (pain), then it is not worth removing the gallbladder. Indications for removal of the gallbladder are attacks of hepatic colic (risk of blockage of the bile ducts by a stone) and large stones (more than 3 cm) – this condition increases the risk of developing gallbladder carcinoma.

CAUSES OF GALLSTONE DISEASE

Gallstone disease is more common in women than in men, since estrogens (female sex hormones) play an important role here. A sedentary lifestyle (sedentary work), diet violations (abuse of fatty and fried foods), irregular meals (long breaks between meals and prolonged fasting), aggravated heredity are all risk factors for cholecystitis.

BILARY DYSKINESIA

Dyskinesia (literally “impaired movement”) of the biliary tract is a violation of the flow of bile through the biliary tract. It can be hyperkinetic (excessive tension, spasm) and hypotonic (on the contrary, contractile weakness of the gallbladder). Dyskinesia occurs most often due to spasm of the sphincter of Oddi (the place where the bile duct enters the intestine), with excesses of the gallbladder, or with a violation of the diet. The most common cause of sphincter spasm is chronic stress. Dyskinesia can be the cause of the appearance of stones in the gallbladder – cholelithiasis.

Most often this disease occurs in young children due to the imperfection of their digestive system. Symptoms of dyskinesia can be abdominal pain, colic, pain in the right hypochondrium, yellow coating on the tongue, bitterness in the mouth.

For dyskinesia, the doctor may prescribe a fractional diet 5 to 6 times a day, choleretic drugs, antispasmodics or abdominal massage. Manual medicine methods such as osteopathic techniques are effective and safe.

STRAIGHT AND INDIRECT TUBE

In medical practice, there are methods of artificial drainage (removal) of bile from the gallbladder. Medical tubage (from the French word tubage “washing”) is a therapeutic and preventive measure aimed at removing bile from the gallbladder with the help of choleretic agents. It can be performed with the help of a duodenal probe (direct tubage) or without it (indirect tubage). This method is used for biliary dyskinesia, acalculous cholecystitis, inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) and duodenum (duodenitis). Many sanatoriums still use this method, which is very effective in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

LIVER CLEANING ACCORDING TO MALAKHOV

I want to warn the dear reader against various liver cleanses according to recipes from the Internet or books of “folk healers” like by Gennady Malakhov and by Andreas Morritz . Also now very popular are “enemas”, where for decent money they will starve you, stuff you with laxatives, make daily enemas and conduct a la tubage. All this is called cleansing the body. For me, this is complete obscurantism. I have nothing against alternative therapies, but I am for a reasonable approach to each person. Methods of Ayurveda, therapeutic starvation, unloading and dietary therapy have a place to be, but only under strict medical supervision and in the hands of professionals.

MASSAGE OF THE INTERNAL ORGANS, OR HOW CAN OSTEOPATHY HELP WITH DYSKINESIA?

In the arsenal of modern medicine there are safe but effective methods for eliminating functional problems – dysfunctions of internal organs, including the gallbladder. The osteopathic doctor, with the help of his sensitive hands, will diagnose and identify zones of limitation and tension of the internal organs. With the help of hands, the doctor will delicately relieve the spasm, drain the bile and restore the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. Such gentle osteopathic techniques are suitable for both young children and adults with gallbladder problems. The duration of a session with an osteopath takes no more than one hour, the frequency is on average one session per week. The course of treatment can last a month.

SUMMARY

1. The liver produces bile and stores it in the gallbladder. At the time of eating, bile is secreted into the intestines and breaks down fats.

2. The gallbladder is an important organ, without which our body starts to get sick.

3. The formation of gallstones is not always an indication for surgery.

4. Regular and balanced diet, systematic physical activity and drainage of the biliary system are effective measures to prevent gallstone disease.

5. Tubage (direct and indirect) is a medical procedure, and it is not safe to carry it out on your own at home.

6. Liver cleansing by folk methods is often harmful to health.

7. Dyskinesia (impaired outflow of bile) is functional (emotional) in nature and is usually associated with spasm of the muscle sphincter. For the treatment of dyskinesia, manual therapies such as osteopathy are effective.

Be healthy!

Alexander Ivanov

The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors
The gallbladder is one of the most important organs of the digestive system, located under the liver, whose role is to concentrate and store the bile that the liver produces. Bile plays an important role in the process of digestion, it penetrates from the liver to the gallbladder through the bile ducts.

When a person takes food, then from the bile accumulated in the gallbladder through the ducts it is released into the duodenum, where it breaks down fats and activates enzymes. With the development of various diseases of the gallbladder, stone formation, in many cases it is recommended to remove the gallbladder by various methods, among which the most gentle is laparoscopy of the gallbladder.

Diseases of the gallbladder

Diseases of the gallbladder are quite diverse in their structure, causes and manifestations. In terms of frequency, they take the 2nd place among diseases of the liver and biliary tract and the 3rd place among all diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

The most common diseases:

• acute and chronic cholecystitis
• cholelithiasis
• biliary dyskinesia
• cholesterosis
• polyps
• cancer.

What is cholecystitis?

This inflammation of the gallbladder, it is acute and chronic. Among diseases of the internal organs, cholecystitis is one of the most dangerous, because it causes not only severe pain, but also inflammation, the formation of calculi (stones), during the movement of which a person needs emergency surgical care. Without timely surgical intervention, death can occur.

Types of cholecystitis

The most dangerous is the acute form of cholecystitis, which is accompanied by the formation of stones, both in the bladder itself and in its ducts. This disease is called calculous cholecystitis. First, the accumulation of bilirubin, cholesterol, calcium salts on the walls of the gallbladder form calcifications, but then with their prolonged accumulation, the size of the deposits increases and can present serious complications in the form of inflammation of the gallbladder. This can lead to severe complications, up to peritonitis, if medical care is not provided to the patient in time.

Causes of cholecystitis:

• bacterial infections
• diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (gastritis, pancreatitis)
• congenital malformations of the gallbladder, pregnancy, prolapse of the abdominal organs
• biliary dyskinesia
• alcoholism, obesity, an abundance of fatty, spicy foods in the diet, irregular meals and overeating
• Immune disorder, sedentary lifestyle
• cholelithiasis.

Symptoms of acute cholecystitis:

• acute paroxysmal pain in the upper abdomen, in the right hypochondrium, radiating to the right shoulder blade, less often the pain can radiate to the left hypochondrium.
• increased fatigue.
• fever.
• there is an intense taste of bitterness in the mouth.
• vomiting without relief, persistent nausea, sometimes vomiting with bile.
• empty belch.
• the appearance of a yellowish skin tone – jaundice.

To do or not to do the operation?

Gallstone disease is life-threatening due to its complications, which can develop very quickly – in a matter of hours. These complications can be extremely severe and incurable. There are no reliable medical methods for the treatment of cholelithiasis and the prevention of its complications.

In most cases, gallstone disease requires surgery.

It is necessary even if the pain has never bothered the patient. The first attack of cholecystitis can lead to severe complications.

Modern types of surgical interventions

Currently, special manipulators, a laparoscope and other devices are most often used through small centimeter punctures on the abdominal wall. The method of laparoscopic removal of the gallbladder is based on the use of unique modern medical equipment, which can significantly reduce the traumatization of the patient’s tissues and alleviate his condition in the postoperative period.