Tips to Improve Gallbladder Function

Written by Samantha Mainland, Naturopath, B.Nat, BMedsMgmentProfHonsCM

We all know healthy eating is important. However, if you want to go a little further and enjoy a diet specific for healthy gallbladder and health liver function, consider the below.

7 lifestyle and dietary habits for a healthy gallbladder and healthy liver functions:

• Include your bitters – Consuming bitters foods with your meals, or ideally before your meals, can prepare your stomach for the food that is coming. This triggers your stomach acid production, creating the acidic environment needed to further trigger bile release. Bitters include apple cider vinegar, sauerkraut, pickles, radicchio, rocket, lemons and more.
• Eat fermented foods (unless you’ve been told otherwise by a health professional) – Fermented foods, such as sauerkraut and kefir, support your prebiotic and probiotic environment, working hard to keep the gut microbiota balanced. This can ensure healthy bile and liver function.
• Don’t skip on the fibre – Don’t make your liver and gallbladder do double the work. Fibre is needed to ensure that the toxins in your colon are bound up and removed from the body, and not reabsorbed for additional ‘processing’.
• Take it easy on the portion size – Smaller portions are easier to digest and take less stomach acid and bile to complete the process. Thus, smaller portion sizes place less pressure on the gallbladder.
• Balance your fats, carbohydrates and proteins – Don’t follow low fat diets long term. A long term low fat diet is almost certainly going to affect gallbladder function in the long run. Enjoy healthy fats.
• Try not to snack in between meals – Aim to have a break from eating for 1.5-3hrs to allow the digestive system to rest. During this time, the small intestine can undergo a detoxification process which helps clear out toxins and prevent dysbiosis.
• Relax, and enjoy your food – Make sure you are sitting in a peaceful environment when you eat your meals. Eating on the run doesn’t create the best environment for your parasympathetic nervous system to perform proper digestion and optimal bile flow.

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Set yourself up, be proactive and enjoy your foods.