Have you had your gall bladder removed?

This incredibly common surgery (one of the most common of all operations performed) often promises to alleviate the painful digestive distress that comes with a malfunctioning gall bladder.

Unfortunately, many people who undergo gall bladder surgery continue to have symptoms after the operation.

Symptoms after gall bladder surgery can include:

• Bloating
• Gas
• Diarrhea
• Digestive pain

There is no doubt that avoiding gall bladder removal is preferable to surgery, but if you’ve already had your gall bladder taken out because of gall stones or gall bladder disease, you can feel better and enjoy improved digestive health by following some simple Body Ecology guidelines.

If you have not had gall bladder surgery and want to learn how to keep your gall bladder in tip top shape, then read:The Gall Bladder: What It Does, How to Tell if Yours is Sick & How to Get It Healthy.

SUPPORT YOUR LIVER

Once you have had your gall bladder removed, the health of your liver becomes especially important. You see, your liver and your gall bladder (and your small intestine too) are intricately connected.

Our gall bladder is the storage container for the bile (the greenish-yellow liquid) that our liver produces. After we eat, our gall bladder secretes the concentrated and stored bile into our small intestine (next to where the pancreatic duct also enters our small intestine). Here the bile can:

• Help regulate the levels of beneficial microflora
• Destroy pathogenic organisms
• Help you digest fats
• Stimulate the peristaltic or muscle action that helps move waste out of your body

But once your gall bladder is gone, bile travels from your liver directly into your small intestine.

This might not seem like such a big deal, somewhat like eliminating a pit stop along the way; however, if your gall bladder is diseased and/or you have had gallstones that lead to gall bladder surgery, it is likely that your liver is also not functioning optimally either.

And, as we all know very well, our liver is a very important organ. It filters toxins, processes hormones, secretes bile, helps with digestion and is essential for immunity.

When your liver is forced to deal with toxic substances it makes toxic bile that is secreted right into your small intestine, creating a host of other problems including leaky gut. Leaky gut can be the cause of your painful digestive symptoms, before and after your gall bladder surgery.

But now that your gall bladder is gone, it’s even more important to heal and give tender loving support to your liver’s health.

SEVEN STEPS TO RESTORE BALANCE

While it is always ideal to avoid surgery, if you’ve had an operation to remove your gall bladder, it is important to move on and rebuild your health from exactly where you are now.

Just because you have had gall bladder surgery does not mean you have to suffer from painful digestive distress for the rest of your life!

The Body Ecology system of health and healing will help restore balance to your digestive tract even if you no longer have a gall bladder. By strengthening the remaining organs in your digestive system, your body can begin to compensate for its lost organ and you can enjoy renewed vitality.

Here are seven excellent tips to nourish your liver and heal your digestive system after undergoing gall bladder removal surgery:

1. Reduce stress. Practice deep breathing go for walks, laugh, and yes…cut down on work. Do whatever it takes to live a more relaxed lifestyle. Stress hinders your body’s ability to digest food and it seriously harms your liver. So decreasing stress alone can make you feel much better.
2. Follow the 80/20 rule. After surgery, it’s imperative that you listen to your body and follow the 80/20 rule 80% of your food should be vegetables: cultured vegetables, raw or cooked vegetables and sea vegetables. The other 20% of your meals could be either organic animal proteins OR nourishing grain-like seeds. Another part of the 80/20 rule is to make sure you only fill your stomach to 80% capacity. Eat until you are almost satisfied, but never completely full. Always leave 20% of your stomach empty so there is room for digestion.
3. Consider becoming a vegetarian. You may find you do much better if you eliminate animal proteins from your diet. At the very least be sure you eliminate the cooked saturated fats naturally found in animal foods. You won’t be able to digest this fat. They, too, have probably contributed to the demise of your gall bladder.Animal foods are more difficult to digest than vegetarian proteins, yet to be truly healthy we do need a lot of protein. We need it when we are growing, but we also need it as we age so that we don’t develop sarcopenia (muscle wasting).  Be sure you digest your proteinsby cooking them properly…eating them rare or even raw (sashimi).Try to combine them with cultured veggies and take digestive enzymes. Protein is a vital nutrient so you now must be mindful that you find sources for vegetarian proteins. Undenatured whey protein, hemp seed meal, soaked, sprouted or lightly steamed superfoods (like quinoa, millet and amaranth) ground seed and nut pates are outstanding sources of vegetarian protein.

   Our Vitality SuperGreen with its fermented algae blend, cereal grasses and flaxseed meal is an excellent and alkalizing source of protein as well. Vitality can be taken as a meal replacement and you can drink some with a meal to add more muscle mass and weight if you need to.

4. Only eat healthy fats. Once your gall bladder is removed you will find it even more difficult to digest fats and oils in your meals. But the answer is not to avoid them completely. That would be a mistake since the right kinds of fats and oils are essential to your over-all well being. Eating poor-quality fats (like refined, bleached, deodorized fats and oils) and foods that contain trans fatty acids is most likely a key cause of the weakening and eventual disease in your gall bladder. Now more than ever it is essential that you eat small amounts of the finest-quality, organic, unrefined oils. Choose to use extra virgin olive oil, cod liver oil, coconut oil, raw butter, and the wide variety of seed and nut oils (like hemp, flax, pumpkin, MacNut oil). However, enjoy them in smaller amounts throughout the day–watching closely to see if you are digesting them. “Refined” oils are harmful to your liver.
5. Use digestive enzymes religiously. Ox Bile (like in a product called Bile Acid Factors from Jarrow Formulas) must now become an essential must for you at every meal where you eat fats. Bile is important to stimulate peristaltic movement so that food continues to move along your digestive tract and is eliminated in a timely manner. (12 – 18 hours). The enzymes lipase and pancreatin can digest fats too. Look for enzyme formulas that are high in lipase. Pancreatin is available in all health food stores.
6. Embrace fermented foods and drinks. Healing cultured vegetables and Young Coconut Kefir are a great way to nourish your liver. They are powerful cleansers of toxins. They keep your intestines clean so that your other organs and cells stay cleaner too. They also populate your intestines with beneficial microflora, the good bacteria and yeast that aid digestion and enhance your immunity. If all of us were raised from babyhood on a diet of fermented foods and drinks, few gall bladder surgeons would be performing cholecystectomies.If you’re new to fermented foods and drinks, start out with a 2 oz. shot of InnergyBiotic twice a day. A small juice glass of a fermented liquid (like cultured veggie juice, InnergyBiotic, Cocobiotic, DongQuai, Young Coconut Kefir) at a meal will greatly enhance digestion. Fermented foods and drinks, like InnergyBiotic, are the best way to introduce probiotics into your digestive tract and help your body break down food.
7. Take LivAmend. LivAmend is specially formulated with three powerful natural ingredients that are proven to support your liver, enhance elimination and detoxify your organs.As you support your liver, you’ll notice that your digestion and overall health will improve too!

If your gall bladder has been removed, it’s critical to support your liver. You can support and detoxify your liver and encourage healthy elimination with  LivAmend. This natural formula combines artichoke extract, sarsaparilla extract and wasabi powder to improve your digestive health.Read more about LivAmend and order yours today!

BUILD YOUR IDEAL HEALTH

It is never too late to enjoy better health. Even if you have had your gall bladder removed, you can regain better digestive health by suporting and nourishing the other organs in your body, especially your liver.

Just follow the Body Ecology principles for digestive health) and you’ll be on your way to feeling even better than before, and maybe better than ever!