Dr Hagmeyer Explains importance of Your Gallbladder in Hormone Metabolism

The Importance of your Liver and Gallbladder in Hormone Metabolism

How important is the gallbladder? I mean really?

Nearly half a million gallbladder surgeries — removal, or “cholecystectomy” to be precise — are performed each year in the US. Many of the people who give up their gallbladders to such surgery appear to be fine, and the pain of their gallbladder attacks are over.

Oddly enough, for many others, gallbladder “attacks” continue even in the absence of a gallbladder – in fact, one authoritative source indicates that Post Cholecystectomy Syndrome (PCS) affects at least 10 to 15% of people who have had their gallbladders removed!

Are the people who have had their gallbladder removed really “ok”? even though their pain might be gone? What are the long term consequences of having the gallbladder removed or having poor function of it? What effect will poor gall bladder function have on your digestion, or your hormone metabolism? Can it cause weight gain? Why do others continue to have pain in spite of removal of their gallbladder?

Conventional medical doctors make no attempt to help people “save” their gallbladders when stomach or other symptoms is believed due to gallbladder attacks. Every year many gallbladders are removed even when scans fail to show anything wrong with the gallbladder. Because there is no attempt to preserve this organ in conventional medicine, and because many people do feel better after surgical removal of their GB, people mistakenly believe that the gallbladder is an expendable organ and that living without it makes no difference. Unfortunately, this viewpoint is incorrect and can be downright unhealthy.

Let me just say for the record that my wife had her gallbladder removed when she was 16 yrs old. She suffered terribly with the pain and finally after many years her gallbladder was so diseased that it had to be removed. I don’t think anybody wants any of their organs to be removed.

One of the questions that never gets asked is WHY?

Why did this happen and what could have been done to prevent it?

The health and state of your hormones are vital. Many women like my wife experience terrible PMS, and in the world of conventional medicine, instead of asking why you have PMS and addressing the cause, you go on synthetic hormones called birth control pills. I firmly believe that birth control pills cause estrogen dominance and estrogen dominance leads to thick, sluggish bile. Parasites, such as liver flukes ie the Chinese liver fluke will also cause this.

Is My Gallbladder Really That Important?

The gallbladder actually plays a very important role in your body. And while many people do seem to live a “normal life” without it, many others have health issues that are due to their gallbladder being removed. But most people aren’t aware that their health issues are related to this.

To better understand this, let’s take a look at the function of the gallbladder. The gallbladder is a small organ that stores the bile produced by the liver. After a fatty meal, the body releases a hormone known as CCK that signals the gallbladder to release bile. Then the bile flows down the bile duct into the small intestine to emulsify and digest fats.

If have your gallbladder removed, then this will affect the bile, and your body will have problems breaking down fats, which will also interfere with the digestion of fats.

This is why people who undergo gallbladder surgery usually experience digestive symptoms (bloating, gas, indigestion, constipation, toxicity etc.) when eating a lot of fatty foods.

So why is this such a big deal? Well, the fats and oils you consume are part of the building blocks of many of the hormones in your body. And so if you don’t have a gallbladder, then your ability to synthesize and breakdown hormones becomes significantly impaired.

So if you have a malfunctioning gallbladder then you can expect to have problems with hormone breakdown and clearance. Unfortunately this becomes a vicious cycle!

Postcholecystectomy Syndrome—Symptoms to Consider

New symptoms may arise following a cholecystectomy. This is known as a postcholecystectomy syndrome (PCS). It is estimated that 10-20% of cholecystectomy patients develop PCS.  Without the function of the gallbladder in place, some of the problems patients experience range from annoying to life-threatening, ex. abdominal pain, bile diarrhea, bile reflux, gastritis, IBS, pancreatitis, liver disease,

Estrogen Dominance And Your Gallbladder

If you’ve been following my posts and articles for awhile, then you know that from time to time I’ll mention estrogen dominance, which is a condition involving a hormone imbalance between estrogen and progesterone. If your just joining us, Estrogen dominance can occur at any age in a women life. Estrogen dominance can even occur in menopause. Estrogen dominance can be defined as an imbalance in the ratio of Estrogen to progesterone.

Gall Bladder Hormone Connection

Female sex hormones adversely influence bile secretion from the liver and gallbladder function. Estrogens increase biliary cholesterol saturation (the main ingredient for gallstones) and diminish bile salt secretion, while increased progesterone may lead to inhibition of the contraction of the gallbladder, reducing bile salt secretion and impairing gallbladder emptying. Due to fluctuating hormones women experience during pregnancy, it is not uncommon for women to develop gallstones during this time or shortly thereafter.

You can learn more and read more about how estrogen dominance is also related to thyroid problems here.

Estrogen dominance causes bile to become thick and sluggish, which will cause problems with the emulsification of fats, and therefore impair hormone metabolism. In other words, it’s very common for someone who is in a state of estrogen dominance to have gallbladder issues. So what can you do to help eliminate this stress on your body? A gallbladder flush might be of help but you will also need to address the estrogen dominance issue.

What can you do if you have already had your gallbladder removed? Obviously there is nothing that can be done to permanently correct this problem. However, there are certain supplements people can take to help with the emulsification of fats. Minimizing and going on a low fat diet will only cause problems with hormonal production. (In another blog I will discuss the dietary recommendations for people who have had their gallbladder removed.)

In summary, even though people can live without a gallbladder, this doesn’t mean this organ serves no purpose to your health. Without a properly functioning gallbladder, not only will this affect the ability to break down fats, but it will also affect the formation and metabolism of hormones. So if you’re looking to follow a Natural Hormone Treatment protocol, it is essential to have a properly functioning gallbladder. If you have had your gallbladder removed, you then need to receive the necessary nutritional support.

If you suffer with Female Hormone Problems, Thyroid Problems, PMS, Fibroids, Fatigue, Depression, Weight gain, Estrogen Dominance contact our office today and find out if you are a good candidate for our Metabolic Program.

More articles on Estrogen and it’s effects on Thyroid can be found here

Natural Progesterone. Is it good? Is it Bad? Learn more here

Here is an article on foods and household chemicals that are toxic to your thyroid here

Till next time….

For Better Health Naturally

Dr Richard Hagmeyer D.C.