Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Welcome to the Gut Instincts podcast! I’m your host, Amber Daul, the Accessible Herbalist.
If you’re ready to re-connect with your body and spirit to create a healthier, more embodied life—this podcast is for you.
In this podcast we will dive into everything from holistic healing and herbal medicine to spiritual growth and personal transformation.
Together, we’ll explore how to tap into your intuition, embrace natural remedies, and unlock your fullest potential.
If you’re ready to live a life that feels aligned, empowered, and in harmony, you’re in the right place.
Welcome to the Gut Instincts podcast. I'm your host, Amber Doll, the accessible herbalist. If you're ready to reconnect with your body and spirit to create a healthier, more embodied life, this podcast is for you. Inside this podcast, we will dive deep into everything from holistic healing and herbal medicine to spiritual growth and personal transformation. Together, we'll explore how to tap into your intuition, embrace natural remedies,
Speaker 2:and unlock your fullest potential. If you're ready to live a
Speaker 1:life that feels aligned, empowered,
Speaker 2:and in harmony, you're in the right place.
Speaker 1:Hey. Hey. Hey. Welcome back to the Gut Instinct podcast. So today, we are gonna talk all about your gallbladder.
Speaker 1:Whether you have a gallbladder or you had it removed, we're talking about it today. So I just wanna be clear about something right from the start, and that is that there are times when people need to have their gallbladder removed. That's okay. Obviously, it's an organ we can live without. Ideally, would it be best to keep it?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. But some people suffer with gallbladder attacks and gallstones and all other things gallbladder related that make you feel miserable. So taking them out sometimes has to happen, and that's okay. The biggest thing to know is if you're on the fence about having your gallbladder removed and you're like, oh, my doctor's telling me to do it. I don't really want to.
Speaker 1:Whatever. Make sure you're listening to yourself first. Okay? If the pain is so severe from the gallbladder attacks and they're becoming more and more frequent, just have it removed. Don't put yourself through the pain of dealing with the gallbladder attacks, to be honest with you, because you just you don't deserve to be in that much pain.
Speaker 1:Okay? There are ways to live. Obviously, people live without their gallbladder every day. I'm one of those people. I had it removed because my doctor said, oh, it's gonna fix all of your gut issues, and you're gonna feel so much better.
Speaker 1:It didn't happen that way, but I know I talked about that already. So I'm not harping on anyone that has had it removed or hasn't had it removed. You do you. Okay? So in case you don't know what your gallbladder does.
Speaker 1:So your gallbladder literally helps to store and release bile into your stomach to help digest food. Now something that I didn't know until years after I had my gallbladder removed is that if you do have it removed, it can cause your liver to continue continuously drip bile into your digestive system, which can cause stomach pain, feeling sick, bloating. You could also grow very intolerant to fatty and greasy foods. You can also experience more heartburn, diarrhea, and random stomach pains. And since there's no place for the bile to collect, now it's gonna be a lot harder for you to digest your foods.
Speaker 1:So the side effects of having your gallbladder removed might not show up for months or even years later. Like, my for instance, like, my own experience with this is that it was about six months later before I really started to notice that I was having more pain, more bloating, diarrhea, like all of the things. Like I said, it wasn't like the next day. There's still an adjustment period between having it removed and your body figuring out what the heck's going on because you just took out an organ. But I hear it time and time again.
Speaker 1:And, honestly, it's it's like an everyday thing that I hear someone say, I had it removed. I had to, or the doctor told me to, said it was my only option, so I did it. And now I have nausea, heartburn. I can't eat anything. I can't eat the things I wanna eat that's dairy or gluten or alcohol or anything that's fatty or greasy.
Speaker 1:I can't do it because I feel like crap. Or all of a sudden you have terrible gas and you never experienced that before. Or the bloating. Oh my gosh. The bloating is probably one of the top three things that I hear most often is how severe the bloating got after they had their gut their gallbladder removed.
Speaker 1:You could develop diabetes. You have a higher chance of developing diabetes after having your gallbladder removed. You might have little to no energy like you used to. And you can also have a really hard time losing weight and keeping it off. And a lot of times, it's your stomach area that will gain all the extra weight.
Speaker 1:So I wanna talk about this because so many people, like I said, message me. I get comments, everything like, how do you do it? How do you feel better after you had it removed? Or what do I do? I have gallstones, and the doctor said to take it out, but I don't want to.
Speaker 1:I wanna try something else first. So let's start with the gallstones. Gallstones most likely form because there's an overabundance of cholesterol in your bile. Okay? So it creates these gallstones.
Speaker 1:And then when the gallstones get big, when they get to be too abundant, that's when the doctors are like, you gotta take it out. You can't do this. You know, you're gonna be in all this pain. But if you're not to that point where you're aware of having gallstones, but you're like, man, I'm still willing to try anything else first. I highly suggest doing that because your body is trying to tell you that there is something out there that can help you.
Speaker 1:You just you don't need to remove the organ. You don't need to go to some extreme measure right off the bat if you're able to tolerate the pain that you have. Okay? There are multiple herbs out there. Like, milk thistle is a really, really good herb for dissolving and preventing gallstones from forming and just dissolving them in general.
Speaker 1:But one thing I will say about anything with herbs is to make sure that if you are on a prescription or multiple prescriptions to always do your homework first and make sure that herb is not gonna interact with any of the prescriptions that you're on. Some of them will. And my best advice is to either talk to someone like me, to an herbalist or a naturopathic doctor that can help you figure out if it's gonna interact with the drugs you're on. If you don't wanna get ahold of an herbalist or naturopathic doctor, call your pharmacist. Doctors don't always fully understand the way prescriptions work.
Speaker 1:They are more of the middleman in promoting them and selling them in that aspect. I mean, they'll know some of the side effects, and they'll know how it works to a point. But your pharmacist has to know, like, the chemical constituents of the prescriptions. So if you call your pharmacist and say, hey. I'm on this prescription, but I really wanna try taking this herb.
Speaker 1:Is that gonna be okay? 90% of the time, your pharmacist will be able to tell you. And if not, reach out to, like I said, an herbalist or a naturopathic doctor, and we can help you find the information that you need so you can safely take herbs. So that being said, if you've had your gallbladder removed and you are experiencing one or more of those symptoms or something totally different, I mean, you could be having other symptoms that are due to an unhealthy gut, but were triggered when you had your gallbladder removed. Okay?
Speaker 1:When you remove your gallbladder, it literally changes how your bile moves through the body, and it creates this laxative type effect. Now I want you to think about when you take a laxative. What happens? You get gassy. Your stomach hurts.
Speaker 1:You get bloated. You get diarrhea. But now your body is doing that on its own, and that's what's causing the bloating, the gassiness, the diarrhea. And your body's trying to figure out what's going on, so now you have no energy. You're not sleeping good.
Speaker 1:You got a stomachache all the time. And, honestly, the worst part is that when those symptoms are not addressed, they're more than likely gonna keep getting worse, and they can last months or even years. And it's so many people live with it. And it just breaks my heart because you don't deserve to live in this pain. You shouldn't have to always know where the nearest bathroom is because you're afraid you're gonna shit your pants.
Speaker 1:Like, plain and simple. That sucks. Like, that really sucks. And I just want you to know there are remedies out there to help you navigate and heal and feel better. Okay?
Speaker 1:And I wouldn't believe in it as much as I do if I wouldn't have done it myself, if I wouldn't have had hundreds of people go through my programs and work with me and find their own ways to heal themselves naturally and actually have the results that they want. Another key point I really feel like I need to mention is that you did not become this way overnight, so don't expect it to be healed overnight. Okay? Anytime you're using any natural remedy, I don't care if it's energy work or acupuncture or an herb or whatever it may be, it's gonna take time. You're probably so dysregulated and imbalanced that your body needs to catch up and figure out what the heck is going on.
Speaker 1:So just give yourself that space, feel what you gotta feel, but just don't give up on yourself. Okay? It's so that is just it's so important. So with having your gallbladder removed, I do wanna offer a couple other suggestions besides for the gallstones with the milk thistle. Typically, when you remove your gallbladder, it throws your whole digestive system off.
Speaker 1:Right? I mean, you literally you just removed an organ that your body was trying to use. I mean, even if it wasn't working right, it was still trying to use it. So, obviously, it's gonna throw everything else out of whack. So when you work on healing your gut, you're gonna work like, that's gonna help address all of these symptoms that are showing up.
Speaker 1:It's gonna help to reverse them, prevent them from happening, all of that. That's why healing your gut, even if you don't have a gallbladder, is so, so, so important. Now if you're listening to this and you're like, Amber, I had my gallbladder removed fifteen years ago, and it was the best decision I've ever made. I feel great. I've never had any of these problems.
Speaker 1:I am so happy for you. Like, hats off to you. That is absolutely amazing, and I'm happy that it works so well for you. But there are so many people that suffer every day that aren't that lucky. So this advice is for you guys.
Speaker 1:Okay? So work on healing your gut. Another thing you can try if you haven't already is taking a digestive enzyme when you eat any heavy meals. And heavy meals, I'm meaning you eat a sandwich, you eat a steak, you eat ham hamburger, you eat pasta. Anything that's heavy on the stomach, take a digestive enzyme with your first bite.
Speaker 1:This is gonna be a huge, huge, huge, huge help when you have your gallbladder removed because what a digestive enzyme does is it helps to break up the food so it's easier to digest. And, honestly, I still like, I have a bottle in my car. I have one in my purse. I have one in my house. Like, I take it with me everywhere because sometimes I go out to eat or I'm at a friend's house and we're having, I don't know, hot dogs and hamburgers.
Speaker 1:And I know it might hurt my stomach because it's still greasy. If it's super, super, super greasy or really, really fatty, like, I'll still get a stomachache sometimes if I don't take that digestive enzyme. But to be honest with you, since healing my gut and keeping it healthy and supporting it, I really don't get that very often. Like, it's not very often that I have to turn down food because I know it's gonna hurt my stomach. Not anywhere near what it used to be.
Speaker 1:It used to be I couldn't eat diddly squat because everything hurt my stomach. So give a dig digestive enzyme a try. I literally just get mine off Amazon. It's, like, $20 per bottle, and that's that's what I do. But you do you.
Speaker 1:K? Another thing you can try if you experience a lot of diarrhea is chamomile tea. Chamomile is really, really good for treating diarrhea in general, plus it's a relaxing herb, so it helps relax your digestive system and stop the diarrhea from happening so frequently. You can also try taking a pro and prebiotic. So what this is gonna do is it's gonna help put the good and the bad bacteria into your gut.
Speaker 1:And yes, you do need the good and the bad bacteria. The biggest thing is they need to be in balance. If you have more bad bacteria, it's gonna cause your gut to be unhealthy. Okay? You need to have both types and have them in sync with each other.
Speaker 1:You can also try cutting back on those high fat foods, greasy foods, alcohol, things that you know hurt your stomach. Cut them out for a little bit. I know it's hard. I know it sucks. I know you don't wanna do it.
Speaker 1:Throw fit and do it anyways. Because sometimes even just cutting them out for a few months will help your gut reset that you might be more tolerant for those foods. I had to do this personally with dairy and gluten. I was noticing that everything hurt my stomach. I cut them out for, like, six months.
Speaker 1:It was hard the first month, but once I figured out, like, foods that I could eat with my family where it wasn't me making my own meal, it made life a thousand times easier. And now it's not very often I eat gluten or dairy, to be honest with you. You can always look up on Pinterest or Facebook different recipes that are, sheet pan recipes because those are gonna have a lot of your it's gonna have a lot more of, like, the chicken and veggies, and you just cut them up and throw them in the oven. Like, super easy. Your kids can eat it.
Speaker 1:Your husband, your dog, I mean, whatever. Whoever's eating with you can eat it. And then you don't have to worry about it having gluten in it, and it's less processed. So that's always a plus. And the last thing you can try is eating smaller meals.
Speaker 1:I know a lot of places it's normal to eat three big meals a day. I personally like eating smaller meals because then I don't feel so blah. I mean, honestly, it's just like, like, you feel so heavy after you eat a giant meal in the middle of the day or especially at night before you go to bed. So try eating smaller meals. And, again, include your family.
Speaker 1:If they're if you're a stay at home parent and you're trying to eat smaller meals, do the same thing with the kids. Who cares? They'll probably like it, honestly, because they're getting more food during the day. So include them. It just makes life a lot easier to have someone doing these things with you.
Speaker 1:Okay? And the last thing I wanted to talk about is how removing your gallbladder can also disrupt your hormones and your metabolism. So two things on this. It disrupts your metabolism, which makes it easier to gain weight and makes it harder to lose it. And, again, a lot of times people without gallbladders are gaining that weight in their stomach area.
Speaker 1:And your metabolism's all out of whack because, again, you're missing an organ. Like, we need to retrain it, what to do, and we need to heal your gut so that your metabolism can stay where it's supposed to be. There's so many things that can ruin your metabolism, like yo yo dieting. You know, that means, like, going from diet to diet, whatever. Whether it's going from, like, a keto diet to a shake diet, back to eating whatever you feel like eating, like, that just your body doesn't know what to do with that.
Speaker 1:Okay? As far as your hormones, taking out an organ throws your hormones out of whack. And if you have hormone issues, and you can just tell, like, women, you would have, like, irregular periods, really bad PMS, you're going into menopause early, things of that nature, and you have these hormone problems, I can almost bet, and I'd be willing to bet, that you probably also have some type of digestive issue. Because most of the time, if you have hormone imbalances and hormone issues, you have an unhealthy gut because your gut and your hormones are so intertwined that if your gut is unhealthy, it can't create healthy hormones, and it's gonna throw them out of whack, and you're gonna notice it. So that's just kind of my little tidbit for that.
Speaker 1:Honestly, if you do have hormone issues and you're like, well, shit, Amber, I do have digestive stuff going on too. Focus on healing your gut first and see what happens. It might not get rid of all of your hormone issues right off the bat, but I have found that by healing your gut first, the hormone issues will become less and less and less. And then once you're like, oh, man, like my gut feels good. I'm regular.
Speaker 1:I'm not, you know, having to sit two feet away from the bathroom door because I don't have diarrhea. I don't have stomach problems. Like once you're in the clear as far as that goes and you feel confident and good about what your gut health is like, then you can focus on your hormones. Like if you still are having painful periods or irregular periods, then let's focus on that. Let's keep your gut healthy and support it.
Speaker 1:And then we'll address those specific things that you're navigating with your hormones and bring that back to where it's supposed to be. So I hope that helped, and I hope I've answered a lot of your questions. And we have a couple more episodes to go, and I will see you in the next one.