Believe it or not, shoulder blade pain (mostly on the right side) is a typical symptom of gallbladder inflammation. Your gallbladder is located under the right rib cage. When there is inflammation from gallstones or getting clogged up, this can place pressure on the right phrenic nerve creating nerve pain that can travel up to the shoulders.
Your Gallbladder plays an important role in your health but what does it do?
Primarily your gallbladder stores bile which breaks down fats and takes out toxins–both of which are essential for your health.
First, your body can’t absorb vitamins A, D, E and K without fat. But the trick is that fat must be broken down into really small like-globules to get absorbed into cells.
Think when you are washing a greasy pan, it’s almost impossible to clean it with just water, so you use soap to help emulsify the grease, to break it down so it gets clean. That’s exactly one of the functions of bile so healthy and essential fats get into our cells thereby escorting important vitamins as well.
Secondly, bile takes out toxins. Think about taking out your trash in garbage bags. Your body “gets rid of much of its trash” via bile. However, when our gallbladders are not performing well, this function is slow and sluggish. Think of your garbage bags becoming so full that they move slow and it becomes harder to move out that trash.
So, now we know the importance of our gallbladders, what are some symptoms of an under functioning gallbladder?
- Pain the shoulder blades (typically on the right side)
- Achiness just below right rib cage
- Floating stools or fatty stools
- Skid marks in the toilet or underwear
- Needing to wipe more than 3 times
Sorry about the toilet talk, but stools are a big indicator of gallbladder problems as it can be easy to detect if fat is not being digested. Hint-fat should have been broken down and absorbed into the cells instead of just being excreted out via stool.
There are also blood tests that your doctor can run that can also detect weakened or inflamed gallbladders:
- AST (skeletal muscle),
- ALT (more liver but gallbladder impacted)
- alkaline phosphatase (can indicate low zinc also)
- White Blood Cells
- GGT,
- bilibruin (backed up GB bile issues)
- CBC (complete blood count)
- CMP (complete metabolic panel or profile)
So, now we know what our gallbladder does, what if we see it is inflamed and under functioning. Do we need to remove our gallbladder?
While removal of gallbladders is actually very common practice, most times it is not necessary. I always look at finding the root cause to an under functioning gallbladder which can result in sludgy, slow moving bile and gall stones include the following:
- inflammatory foods like processed foods
- hidden food allergens
- too much sugar in the diet resulting in insulin resistance/ high levels of insulin
- low stomach acid
- gut infections such as giardia and H-Pylori
- low fat diet
Some of these may or may not be surprising so let’s talk about how to start healing your gallbladder so you can get that bile moving and grooving so you can break down those fats and take out the trash.
Start by eliminating processed foods and sugar to control blood sugar levels and insulin. Be sure to eat good quality fats such as avocado, coconut oil and olive oil. However, if your stools are floating and obvious evidence of not being able to break down fats, don’t eliminate fats from your diet but don’t overdose on them either. Just be sure they are healthy fats and not vegetable oils or canola or soybean.
There are also common hidden food allergens related to gallbladder issues that should be eliminated such as eggs, pork and onions. It is so surprising how quickly some people heal when eliminating these foods.
Low stomach acid is also a major factor and affects much more than your gallbladder. This can result in malnourishment as the body is unable to break down minerals and food and can’t defend itself against bugs and pathogens.
Apple cider vinegar can be very helpful by taking 1-2 Tbsp in 8 oz water before eating. Digestive enzymes are also very helpful in helping break down food so it is more readily absorbable.
There are also some gut bugs that love to burrow themselves inside the gallbladder wreaking havoc. Stool testing can determine if bugs such as H-Pylori, giardia, crypto spiridium, blasto cystis hominus or candida. I have cutting edge stool testing available if you would like to pursue this common root cause.
Finally, estrogen dominance can also greatly impact gallbladder health by gunking up your bile reserves. It is getting more and more common with overuse of the Pill and even environmental factors such as water bottles and plastics.
Now, if you no longer have your gallbladder, fear not as there are supplements you can take to help move your bile along and be able to digest your fats.
Digestive enzymes such as lipase to aid in the emulsification of fats
Oxbile salts to help create more bile
So, be good to your gallbladder and dig deep to find the ROOT cause if it is not at its optimal level.
All material in this newsletter is provided for information only and may not be construed as medical advice or instruction. No action or inaction should be taken based solely on the contents of this publication;instead readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well-being. The information provided has not been approved the Food & Drug Administration and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any illness or disease.
