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What you need to know BEFORE you have your gallbladder out

Gallstones are NO PICNIC.  They are a sign of some seriously bad BODY CHEMISTRY.

But……………. a snip snip here and a snip snip there, can bring relief.

The official name for the procedure that removes the gallbladder, is a cholecystectomy – it uses keyhole surgery, to remove it.

It’s the go to way, to deal with symptomatic gallstones…… it solves the problem and it’s SAFE.

Well that’s the current thinking.

Things still work

Despite not having a gallbladder,  you still have a bile acid pool, in the normal range and dietary fat absorption, is more-or-less, unaffected.

But your body chemistry IS affected.

And not in a good way.

To summarize what happens – you’re more insulin resistant.

So what’s the story ?

Digestive power

The gallbladder’s job, is to concentrate and store bile.

This means, water and ions are removed and the concentration of bile salts, is amplified.

So when the BIG SQUEEZE happens……

Prompted by cholescystokinin, a digestive hormone, released in response to fat in a meal.

A big load of bile acids and FGF19, is released into the duodenum.

And fat digestion begins in earnest……

Whispers and screams

Now it actually doesn’t take a truck load of bile, to get fat digestion sorted.

But, it does take copious amounts of the stuff, to shift body chemistry.

The  bile acids, let “everyone” know, there has been a grocery delivery…..

Upon receiving the message, the liver shift gears,  ceasing to be a glucose producer, instead it becomes a glucose consumer.  Shuttling the fresh supplies of sugar inside, to replenish it’s glycogen stores.

This helps minimize sugar spikes….

No reservoir, no spike

When the gallbladder is missing in action, there is no bile salt spike.

Instead, bile trickles into the duodenum……………….. CONTINUOUSLY.

The trouble with this arrangement, is the liver does not get the “heads up” about the grocery delivery, so it keeps churning out sugar.

It’s the “right” thing to do.

No glucose would constitute a potentially fatal,  ENERGY CRISIS.

But a feeding frenzy, is also an ENERGY CRISIS,  just NOT THAT KIND of an energy crisis !

Now at this point, insulin is meant to ride in, like a knight in shining armour, to save the day.   Insulin should arrange for the glucose gates located in the liver, muscle and fat cells, to swing open……

The sugar should leave the circulation.

But, WE KNOW, this doesn’t always happen, according to script.

And the effects, can have disastrous consequences.

Insulin the usual fall guy

Now, when there is a sugar problem, we typically blame the pancreas.   The beta cells, never came to the party, to produce ENOUGH insulin.  BAD beta cells !

But in all fairness…………..

the beta cells are expecting,  a little reminder, from GLP-1.

And, who helps to get GLP-1 out and about ?

You guessed it, the bile acids.  Eish !

Processing nutrients is a TEAM sport….

A “man” down

Any time a team is missing a player, the team is clearly at a disadvantage.  A body without a gallbladder, is metabolically disadvantaged.

The gallbladder is not just a great fat digestion aid,  it is a metabolic orchestrator.

Without it…..the processing of dinner, doesn’t proceed as smoothly.

The consequences of a cholecystectomy

The aftermath of cholecystectomy is not talked about much….. but it typically includes weight gain, plus an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Do what you can to keep yours !

And help your gallbladder,  to do it’s job. Dine don’t graze , so you create bile spikes, not bile trickles.

Further reading

 

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