Alternative Treatments for Gallstones

Alternative Treatments For Gallstones

A huge percentage of gallstones never show symptoms, but the moment a stone stops moving on its way to the small intestines from the gallbladder, trouble begins. That’s when signs start occurring, among them severe pain on the ride side of the abdomen that occasionally extends to the shoulders, chest, and back. The victim can also suffer from chronic indigestion, vomiting, and nausea. It’s recommended that the gallbladder be removed through surgery if symptoms become intense and frequent. 

 

Treatment for Gallstones

Drugs like chenodiol (Chenix) or ursodeoxycholic acid (Actigall) can be used to treat gallstones by dissolving the stones and are the best alternative to cholecystectomy, the surgical removal of the gallbladder. However, treatment with these drugs can take months and stones can still recur.

Lithotripsy is another alternative. In this case, sound waves are used to disintegrate gallstones. The procedure is recommended to patients who are not fit for surgery. It’s mostly effective with small stones (less than 2 cm. in diameter). Some of the risks incurred from this procedure include pain and pancreatitis – the inflammation of the pancreas – which can take place during the first month after the procedure. Also, some stones may not come out of the gallbladder, posing future risks and problems to patients. 

 

Relieving Yourself from Pain Caused by a Gallbladder Attack

In case intense pain occurs, drink apple cider vinegar (1/4 a cup) or apple juice (8 ounces), or a combination of the two. In as short as 15 minutes, the pain should be over.

 

The Gallbladder Flush 

On the "flush day", consume organic or spray-free apples only. The most effective ones are green apples, but you can still eat any type, and it will still work. Don’t eat any other food.

Take virgin olive oil (2/3 a cup) and warm it to body heat at bedtime. Combine it with fresh raw lemon juice (1/3 cup). At a slow pace, drink all of the mixture, and thereafter head to bed. With your right leg drawn up, lie on your right side. In a few hours, after having gone for a long call, you will have already flushed the stones as they will pass in the stool. 

For complete gallbladder and liver cleansing, the above procedures should be done severally. In general, they will help you avoid the surgical removal of your gallbladder.

Staying Healthy with Nutrients and Foods That Promote Bile Flow

The production and smooth flow of bile can be stimulated by many foods and supplements. It doesn’t matter whether you have had your gallbladder removed or still have a bad one. Here are a few suggestions that you can try:

• Extracts from beet tops & red beets. The beet plant, especially the top (beet greens), has been used by a good number of nutritional institutions to produce very effective extracts that help smooth the flow of bile. The product is further improved and enhanced by a mixture of bile salts and beet extracts. These extracts are often sold at health food stores. 
• Artichokes. The caffeoylquinic acids contained in the leaves of the artichoke plant promote the flow of bile. The fastest and easiest way to benefit from this product is by eating the plant’s leaves. Preparation and eating are both easy.
• Sauerkraut. Bile output can be promoted by the regular consumption of sauerkraut. A number of patients have benefited from sauerkraut juice by taking a cup of it one or two times a week prior to having breakfast. The process of making the juice is very easy.

Ensure that you don’t take in lots of fat, particularly toxic and unnatural fats such as those in soy, canola, and hydrogenated oils. Preferably, you should train your body to take in natural fats like butter. However, their consumption should also be moderated.

Another natural alternative treatment is to expose yourself to sunlight. The sun will convert the cholesterol kept in your skin to vitamin D-2. The converted cholesterol is later on turned into vitamin D-3 by the liver. Sunlight is perfect for boosting the body’s immune system. 

Consume lemonade, apple juice, and apple cider vinegar regularly.

Some of the risk factors for gallstones include diabetes, a diet high in fat, pregnancy, liver disease, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, and some types of anemia. Most individuals get gallstones and never realize it. However, when a gallstone blocks the bile duct, it may result in symptoms such as severe pain, particularly in the abdomen’s right side, bloating, chills, back pain, vomiting or nausea, indigestion, and stools that are clay-colored. Pain caused by gallstones is severe and may go on for a number of minutes to several hours. Treatment must therefore be immediate. Visit your physician right to get the right diagnosis and treatment.

 

The Symptoms of Gallstones

It is thought that the majority of individuals with gallstones do not know they have them. Different individuals will have different gallstones symptoms and the severity and duration may vary. On one hand, a number of individuals with gallstones never experience any pain or symptoms. Some of them will only discover they have gallstones during a CT scan for another condition. On the other hand, others experience severe pains and have their normal functioning disrupted.

Depending on the location of the stone, symptoms can vary. Gallstones usually develop in the gallbladder, although they can get dislodged in some cases and go to other locations such as the bile duct, the small bowel, or the junction of the small bowel and the pipe.

If a stone develops in the area of the drainage pipe that links the bile duct to the gallbladder, bile can be obstructed and you may experience pain when the gallbladder constricts and has no place to discharge the bile into. Pressure builds up and the gallbladder, which is normally soft, may get taut and tense. This can also result in inflammation of the pancreas and liver.

 

What Happens When Your Gallbladder Is Removed?

The liver will continue producing bile, although there will be no place to store it. Bile will therefore continue to slowly trickle down to the intestines. If you consume fatty food, there will be an insufficient secretion of bile into the intestines, which means the fat will not be well digested. As a result, a majority of individuals who consume fatty food will experience nausea, diarrhea, indigestion, and bloating.

Poor fat digestion means you have no capability to digest essential fatty acids, including omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. It also implies that taking in fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins E, D, K, and A will be difficult. A majority of the antioxidants found in vegetables are fat soluble. Lutein, carotenoids and lycopene are fat-soluble. If the bile you produce is insufficient, these vital compounds will not be absorbed by your body efficiently.

 

What You Need to Know if Your Gallbladder Is Removed

The following are the crucial functions of the gallbladder in the body:

• Helps in the elimination of cholesterol from the body
• Enables the digestion of fat
• Aids in the elimination of toxins from the body
• Assists in the absorption of vitamin E, A, K, and D, and fat soluble antioxidants

Although you can live without a gallbladder, you have higher chances of getting health complications if it has been removed. Some of these complications include indigestion, a fatty liver, and problems related to deficiencies in fat-soluble nutrients and essential fatty acids.