The real reason why you have Gulf Stones. Did you realize that every single year 700,000 people have their gallbladder removed? That is insane. We treat the gallbladder as an extra organ that we don't need. But at the end of this video, you're going to have a much greater appreciation for your gallbladder, what it does and what you need to do to salvage it. And unfortunately, a lot of people that get the surgery have similar or the same symptoms as before the surgery and sometimes even worse. And this video is not about getting you not to get the surgery, it's just to giving you all the facts of what the gallbladder is, what causes a gallstone and how to prevent them. When most people think gallstones, they think the person is eating a lot of greasy foods, too much fat, and that fat is triggering a gallstone. That's what they think. High cholesterol equals gallstones. That's another thing that people talk about. But I bet you never heard this. Low fat diets are one of the single biggest triggers of gallstones. The gallbladder is a little sack. It hangs down from the liver. Your liver makes something called bile. It trickles through these little tubes called bile ducts and it goes into the gallbladder and the gallbladder actually stores the bile. It concentrates the bile and it regulates how much bile is extracted from the gallbladder into the small intestine. And so it has a purpose. It's not an extra organ at all. It's super important in helping you break down fats. Why do we need to break down fats? Well, number one, to extract the fat-soluble nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K. Without bile, we can't extract those key nutrients from our food. Also, what about omega-3 fatty acids? That's really important. Without bile, we can't extract that. So what the gallbladder does is it concentrates the bile to make it a lot stronger. So that way, when it's contracted, you have just the right amount of bile to break down the fat at a certain point. So then the pancreas can release its enzymes to take it to the next level. So the pancreatic enzymes and the bile work together to make these little fat particles small enough to get absorbed in the small intestine. And some common myths that people have, they think the gallbladder makes cholesterol. No, it's made by your liver and it drains down into the gallbladder because the gallbladder is just a little sack. And also, this bile that's made by the liver, guess where it comes from? It's made from cholesterol. And what a gallstone really is, it's a combination of too much cholesterol and not enough bile salts. That's what it is. So it's a super concentrated cholesterol stone. Why? Because there's not enough bile. So there's an imbalance with the cholesterol and the bile. But even before you get a gallstone, there's something that has to occur first and that is bile sludge. And it kind of plugs up in these little ducts and these tubes and it backs up pressure into your liver. And then it can cause pain on your right shoulder through here that can radiate back through here, up through the neck, right through here. They think it's a problem with the right shoulder. So they get that evaluated and they get that treated. But really, it's being referred down here by this sludge that's in these little ducts. And sometimes even an MRI won't pick it up because it hasn't formed into a stone yet. And so what is the elephant in the room? The elephant in the room is that the bile salts are missing. You're not producing enough bile for the amount of cholesterol that's going on right here. And then what happens when you remove the gallbladder? Now we lost the storage of bile. So we don't get the concentration anymore. So then the bile has a weaker effect on the fat that's coming in from the diet. And also there's not a regulation anymore. And then the other complication is there's too much bile flowing through here. And so the person gets diarrhea. So too much bile is diarrhea and not enough bile is constipation. So a lot of people ask me, what supplements do I recommend? Now of course, I'm not biased of my own high quality supplement line. But if you go to Amazon and type Dr. Berg supplements, you'll find more information. But the big confusion that people have is they think gallstones are created by too much dietary fat. That is not true. You get more gallstones when you're on a low fat diet. Why is that? Because fat is one of the things that triggers the production of bile coming from the liver and also the contraction of that bile into the small intestine. So without that fat, you don't have that trigger. And so now everything kind of backs up. So it's not the dietary fat that is the problem. So what is the real villain to this? Well, right here, sugar or hidden sugars is starch and too much insulin. Okay, high carb diets. Why? Because when you're on a high carb diet, you're going to make a lot more cholesterol. And you're also going to inhibit the production of bile. Like I just mentioned right here, going right into the sludge into a stone. This is why pre diabetics and even diabetics have a much higher risk of getting gallstones than people that are not diabetics. It's the sugar and the insulin that really puts you at risk. And one of the remedies that I recommend if someone has sludge and they have right shoulder pain is to actually take as a supplement some bile salts. One form that's really effective is called tutka. It is a synthetic bile, but it seems to work really good to allow the sludge to go through these ducts through here and get rid of a lot of the fullness underneath the rib cage and the discomfort that people have in this side right here. And then also with the foods, I would recommend just taking some bile salts right after you eat, not before, because bile salts are alkaline. So if you're taking it before, it could potentially neutralize the stomach acid, because one of the things that also triggers this bile salt to be created and released is acid in your stomach. So those people that don't have enough acid in the stomach can also be at risk for gallstones as well, because you don't have that trigger. The point is that if you understand what causes this, which is actually a lack of bile, part of the solution can be to just take the bile to start to undo the sludge or this gallstone that you have and make it easier for things to flow, not as the ultimate solution, but as a coping mechanism as you fix the diet, as in lowering your sugar and starches and going on a low-carb diet. And some people ask, is it possible to take enough purified bile salts to dissolve a stone? And that really depends on how big that stone is, but even in the medical community, bile salts are used as a treatment for gallstones. And the question is, why don't they recommend it more? I don't know. Doctors are not necessarily recommending things that are not prescribed as much anymore, even though I think there are prescription bile salts, but you can get them over the counter as a supplement. Now, I also want to talk about this next thing, estrogen, as in birth control pills, estrogen therapy, and even during pregnancy, the risk of gallstones goes up. Why? Because excess estrogen can increase more cholesterol and it can also slow down the gallbladder contraction. So therefore, we're going to get more of the sludge and more concentrated cholesterol. So now you know another root cause of gallstones. It could be too much estrogen. So you have to really identify what's causing your gallstones and you can just look at these two possibilities and see what makes more sense. Now, for me, I used to have a lot of gallbladder problems in college. And so because it was all clogged up, when I consumed fat, I had this contraction, but it was all blocked through here, not with a gallstone, but with sludge. And that put a lot of pressure underneath my rib cage when I ate fatty foods. But the real problem wasn't the fat, it was all the sugar and the starch that I was consuming. And the other thing is that when you're consuming a lot of refined sugars and carbohydrates, you're going to develop a fatty liver eventually, and that's going to reduce your ability to make bile. And that can also be another way that you can develop gallstones. Now, remember when I talked about your bile salts actually come from the raw material called cholesterol? Well, you need vitamin C to make that conversion. So if you are low in vitamin C, that could be potentially another reason why you might be more prone to getting gallstones. So you need vitamin C. Also, choline, which is part of the B vitamin family, helps dissolve gallstones. And if you deficient in choline, that can also contribute to gallstones. In fact, choline is a good remedy to take if you have the sludge or the gallstones. And genetically, it is common to have a problem with choline. I have the problem. I need more choline to keep my gallbladder in shape. But the other thing about choline is choline greatly helps prevent a fatty liver. So it's really a great nutrient for anything related to liver and preventing gallstones. And guess where you get choline? Beef liver and egg yolks. That's right, egg yolks. And then, of course, magnesium helps the valves. And if you're deficient in magnesium, these little valves don't work and that can create a backup of bile into the liver and then refer the pain on the right side. So magnesium is also essential for the normal contraction because magnesium is all about the relaxation of smooth muscle. And also just FYI, coffee is beneficial. It's a good thing in relationship to helping your liver make more bile and helping this whole thing work. I also want to mention hypothyroidism. If you have a slow thyroid, your ability to produce bile and have this thing all work, where the bile being released by the gallbladder is going to be sluggish and you're not going to be able to have this system work as well. Now that you know the real reason for the gallstones, there is an amazing, non-surgical technique that you can learn to quickly get rid of any residual referred pain from not just a stone, but this sludge right here. And I created a video on this topic right here. Check it out.
