Let's Talk Thyroid
Let's Talk Thyroid
Understanding Gallbladder Health whether you have one or not! | Olivia Haas | 106
Have you still got your gallbladder? Many with Hashimoto's don't. I had mine removed 17 years ago. Whether you have yours still or not, this is a conversation I've been wanting to have on the show for a long time because it really is so important for your liver and thyroid health too.
I'm thrilled speak today with Olivia Haas, integrative nutritionist specialising in gallbladder health. Many people with gallbladder issues are often unaware of the vital connection between this organ and thyroid health. Olivia brings her personal journey alongside her professional expertise to the table, offering a holistic approach on how to navigate gallbladder disease, and its potential links to hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's.
This episode takes us on a deep exploration of the bi-directional relationship between the gallbladder and thyroid, and how hypothyroidism can increase the risk of gallbladder problems. Olivia, with her practical advice, shines a light on the role of lifestyle and diet in managing gallbladder health and provides support strategies for those who no longer have a gallbladder. The conversation also extends to the importance of liver health in relation to gallbladder problems, illuminating the interconnectedness of these crucial body parts.
We also delve into the topic of hormonal changes during pregnancy and postpartum and their potential impact on gallbladder health. In addition to all this insightful information, Olivia leaves us with her top tips on supporting gallbladder health. We also consider the steps that you, can take right now, to start improving your gallbladder health based on the information Olivia has shared. This episode is an essential listen for anyone seeking to unravel the mysteries of gallbladder health and its impact on their overall well-being.
Connect with Olivia Haas
@gallbladder.nutritionist on Instagram and Pinterest
gallbladderdiet.com
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Annabel Bateman | Let's Talk Thyroid 2020-2024
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Welcome to episode 106 of the let's Talk Thyroid podcast. I'm your host, annabel Bateman, and before we get into talking about gallbladder health with my beautiful guest today, I want to give you a bit of a personal family update before we get into the show, because you know, there's always stuff that's going on in people's lives, right, and mine included. But I want to give you a bit of background. So about 30 years ago my husband started a electronics business out of the packing avocado packing shed of his parents farm up on the Sunshine Coast and over the last 30 years it's grown into a massive enterprise employing 120 staff. About 17 years ago he took on a business partner who is incredible. They've worked amazingly as a team together to build this. Really what is one of our state's top, if not the top, high tech electronic manufacturing and design businesses and they're incredible. They win awards there. You know they're amazing.
Annabel Bateman:Well, we got a phone call that no one really wants to get at 2 30 on Saturday morning saying there was a fire in the factory and which is really their manufacturing and main office building. That call had come through to these business partners so we went up there. There's fire trucks everywhere, you know there's. It was covered in fire trucks, in, you know, obviously, emergency services personnel, you know ambulance, not that anyone was injured, I think they're just that standard police energy. It's the whole thing. But the long and the short of it is is there's been a massive fire that's gone through the factory. There's going to be a massive, you know. It's just massive Basically. You know it's been devastating, you know, for Lee and Peter and but obviously for all of us more broadly. So it's going to take a bit of time, obviously, to sort of answer questions and work out what's going on. It's, it's a mess, but but there are good things that have come out of it and we have great faith that God will bring us through it, that he will bring beauty out of ashes and restore, you know, restore what was lost. We do have that faith, as does Lee's business partner. So you know, if you are a prayer, we would really appreciate your prayers. We would definitely appreciate your prayers.
Annabel Bateman:So I just want to thank you for being part of my community and and as things come up, I suppose even you know, in a fire retail space. That's what we're here to listen to. You know, obviously that's a stress and even though it's not my business and I don't work in the business. Obviously you know it is our business. Business, that is our. You know our big thing, our lives together. So that will impact on my thought. You know I will be careful about managing those stress levels to impact on my thyroid health.
Annabel Bateman:But you might hear bits and pieces of story over time. So I thought I might just give you a bit of a snapshot as to what has happened in the last couple of days. It's going to be unfolding. I'm not going to give you an update every week. I'm sure that would be boring, but it's more that you know it's it's happened. You're part of my world. I wanted you to know there's nothing anyone can do. They're just, they're amazing team of business partners and staff and you know they've got great professional support around them. They're engineers. So they you know engineers in their best are good at problem solving and fixing things. So they are incredible at doing all of that. But it's going to be a long, hard road for them and I guess then, for those of us that are supporting them. So, yeah, if you would pray for us, we would really appreciate that.
Annabel Bateman:Welcome to let's Talk Thyroid. I'm your host, annabel Bateman. This podcast is here to offer you hope and strategies for your own thyroid health. I'm a thyroid coach, author and patient. I've had Hashimoto's for well over 25 years and I'm very much on this thyroid friendly lifestyle journey with you. For more information, go to Let'sTalkThyroidcom Right. So now I have actually just this morning interviewed my guest, olivia Haas, today about gallbladder health. Now you'll hear a bit about my gallbladder story in this in this interview. I had my gallbladder removed 17 years ago when Ben who's now 17, was six weeks old, so it's a topic that I've actually wanted to cover on the podcast for quite some time.
Annabel Bateman:I came across Olivia, who is known online as the gallbladder nutritionist. I really liked her holistic approach to gallbladder health. She actually is an integrative nutritionist. You'll tell from this. She really has a passion to educate people and help people both with gallbladders and without gallbladders and support their liver health as well. She has struggled with gallbladder disease personally and she's found that that integrated approach through nutrition and lifestyle. So you can see nutrition and lifestyle come out very much in this conversation. As you'd be familiar on this podcast more broadly, she's now a board certified nutritionist. She helps people specifically in the field of gallbladder health, to save their gallbladder or to restore their health after gallbladder removal.
Annabel Bateman:So if you whether you have a gallbladder or not then this podcast will be of interest to you, because we do cover questions that relate to both people with gallbladder with a gallbladder and without and, of course, the connection in with thyroid health. So, yeah, enjoy this podcast. Okay, well, welcome Olivia Haast to the let's Talk Thyroid podcast. We've been wanting to have this chat all about gallbladder health for a little while, and so obviously now is the perfect time to be having it. I love sometimes how time just works that way. So we've kind of been in communication for a little while about this, and so I'm really it's a conversation I've been wanting to have for a long time that we haven't actually had it all on the show. So I'm really thrilled that you're here and you're going to help us all about gallbladder health. So thank you very much for joining us today.
Olivia Haas:Thank you for having me and giving me the opportunity to spread more education about gallbladder health, so I'm so appreciative and happy to be here.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, great, and so where are you from, olivia?
Olivia Haas:So I'm located in the States, in California actually.
Annabel Bateman:Aha, okay, so you're in the sunny part of America. I'm in the sunny part of Australia.
Olivia Haas:Yes, yeah, beautiful Australia is one place that I really want to visit one day.
Annabel Bateman:One day it is beautiful. I have been to California just before all the COVID craziness, actually in the end of 2019. We were there on a family holiday. Oh, that's awesome, I hope you guys had a good trip. We had a fabulous trip and I'm so glad we did it when we did.
Annabel Bateman:actually, well, you know, in hindsight, I'm glad we did it when we did it and it was, but we had a great time sort of driving up the coast and I mean we were a little bit more than just California, but yeah, we really enjoyed it. So you live in a beautiful part of the world too. You're always welcome here in Australia. Let me know if you can.
Olivia Haas:Yeah, thank you.
Annabel Bateman:All right, so we're going to talk about the gallbladder, which you may or may not think if you're listening. What has that got to do with thyroid health? Well, I think you'll discover soon a little bit that it's more connected than you think it might be connected. It's certainly more connected than I realized it was connected when I had mine out 17 years ago. But we'll come back to that. I'm just wondering, just to completely go back to basics, can you just explain what the gallbladder is and does?
Olivia Haas:Yeah.
Olivia Haas:So the gallbladder, I always say, is like this small but mighty organ and sometimes extremely painful organ.
Olivia Haas:That is, almost it sits like kind of right below your liver, so it's in the upper right abdomen and really it main function is to store and concentrate biol. And so bio is like the soapy, like substance created by the liver and it's stored in, concentrated in the gallbladder, and specifically bio, the main function of it is to help with the digestion of fat. So when we eat a fatty meal or a large meal, there's a hormone that signals your gallbladder to hey, you know, help us out here, help us to digest on these fats. It releases the bio and it starts the process of fat digestion. So that's the main role, like high level. But what we do know is the gallbladder really plays a role with bio metabolism and bio serves so many different functions outside of just fat digestion. It's really important for Detoxification, it's important for helping to protect our microbiome, help us have healthy bowel movements. So the gallbladder, you know, as often deemed as an unimportant organ, we're learning more and more that it really plays an important role with your digestion, in your metabolism.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, that's interesting. I didn't know that, not fully. And I, yeah, our body is so complicated, isn't it? And I, you know, I love that. We, just, like you said, still discovering more and more. It's like, I think, recent, recently I mean I don't know what recently is, but you know, everyone thought that the appendix is a useless, you know, piece of the body that you can just chop out, and I think there's been research showing that, no, it actually does, you know, I don't know what it does, but that it does actually have a function. So there's nothing, nothing's there by accident right, so we.
Olivia Haas:It's always like the organ was in your body for a reason right, and your body can function without a gallbladder, just like your body can function without appendix. We just support the body different without the gallbladder and we just want to make sure people are educated Properly on what to do and we can talk about some of that. Some tips for some of the individuals without a gallbladder too.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, yeah. So what can go wrong with the gallbladder, like that's that, that's it's sort of high level and its purpose? I mean what, yeah, what typically can go wrong with it and how would you know if you, if something was going wrong?
Olivia Haas:Yeah, so typically, what can happen? So I'll talk about the most common forms of gallbladder disease. So that would be gallstones, gallstones, specifically cholesterol gallstones. They account for more than I think, like close to 90% of Gallstones. Gallstones are extremely common today and they often are a result of Some controllable and uncontrollable factors. And what I mean by that is uncontrollable are things like, you know, genetics. Females are higher risk, females that are in their, like, fertile years menopause, perimenopause there they have a higher risk. Even age is a factor. And Then you have, you know, your controllable factors that are often due to diet and lifestyle causes. But specifically cholesterol gallstones, they they occur from inflammation the body, from Cholesterol supersaturation. So this poor cholesterol metabolism that occurs in your liver and it can cause the cholesterol to be extra supersaturated. And when it sits in the gallbladder, often due to, like, poor gallbladder rotility, on top of that it will form the. The Bio becomes very thick and when it's not moving nice and well throughout the gallbladder or out of the gallbladder, it will eventually form sludge and then into stones at some point. So that's the most common form of gallbladder disease.
Olivia Haas:The second one that's becoming very common is called biliary dyskinesia. Biliary dyskinesia is a functional disorder of the gallbladder. It's basically when the motility is impaired or it's poor functioning, so it's not contracting well, and that is often. Biliary dyskinesia, which is the diagnosis I had, is very common with individuals with Hashimoto's and hypothyroidism, because what we've learned is there's a huge connection of your hormones to your gallbladder function, specifically your thyroid, and so your thyroid and we'll dig into it a little bit further but it does play a big role in controlling the contraction of the gallbladder. So biliary dyskinesia is a second big diagnosis. I would say gallbladder sludge and then you have gallbladder polyps. Those are the most common ones and Often when individuals have symptoms of poor gallbladder dysfunction, I would say the number one symptom that occurs is they start to notice intolerance to fats, even healthy fats.
Olivia Haas:They'll start to notice they might get some digestive issues like bloating, cramping following fatty meals, gas, maybe chronic diarrhea, like the sense of urgency, or we call bile dumping, conception, sometimes heartburn and then with stool it could be loose but it could be like sticky, very stinky, light colored stool. And then we have non-digestive issues with females that they might start to experience, like dry skin, brittle hair, maybe some Vitamin deficiencies, like vitamin D, because of that gallbladder playing a role with your digestion of fats. So those are like the typical Symptoms that occur and the tricky part is is like a lot of gallbladder dysfunction. Gi symptoms can overlap with other Conditions, so it's really like like.
Annabel Bateman:Hypothyroid, all of that, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.
Olivia Haas:That they overlap, that you kind of want to rule out, and so it can be kind of misdiagnosed for years until the individual is like, ends up in the ER with what we call like a gallbladder attack, and the gallbladder attack is, you know, that's a hundred percent, the gallbladder and gallbladder attacks. They aren't fun, they're extremely painful.
Annabel Bateman:a lot of.
Olivia Haas:Yeah, you could speak to it a lot of clients to say that it's worse than labor. But it basically occurs when the gall, the gallbladder function could be poor, a stone gets stuck, there's bile ducts are blocked, there's inflammation or infection in the gallbladder, and gallbladder attack symptoms typically will. It kind of varies on the individual, but Sometimes it it's vomiting, diarrhea, maybe heartburn, and then they get this intense upper right quadrant pain. And the upper right quadrant pain can sometimes sit in the middle sternum. For some people it feels like a heart attack and it can kind of overlap, wrap around the back into your upper right back into your upper right shoulder, and the pain can last anywhere from 30 minutes all the way up to several hours.
Olivia Haas:So I typically always recommend for individuals that Are having a gallbladder attack, one if it's your first one most likely you're gonna go to urgent care because you're not gonna know what's going on with your body and then two if the attack is lingering for longer than normal or if you're getting other signs like jaundice, vomiting with water fever. These are signs that you should go to urgent care right away. So the gallbladder attacks are not fun and those typically do occur when someone's pushed it with a super fatty meal like, let's say I'd say most people will say it's after eating. You know, french fries, a cheeseburger, nachos maybe, even sometimes individuals are sensitive to sugar, so, like a really sugary meal, a really heavy meal can do it too, and they typically occur in the evening and it's usually due to most of us eating larger meals in the evening. Stress eating in the evening or just a combination of things throughout the day yeah, they definitely are not fun. I've had my fair share of attacks. Have you had? Did you ever experience attacks as well?
Annabel Bateman:Well, I really just had one big attack that then led to getting my gallbladder removed. So I don't know, and for me, so my story was so. This all happened when my middle child, who's just turned 17, was six weeks old, so I'd had. So here's my second caesarean section. I had a almost three year old and a two year old. My mum was still staying after, you know, she had come to visit, to stay and Be here while, you know, help out, while baby was little. So she was still staying and I think I might have picked up.
Annabel Bateman:My Thought process was like I thought I had the yeah, the pain, almost exactly as you described, you know, that pain I can't quite remember where it was now, but it was probably where you described and and I was thinking, ah, I'd pick, I think I'd picked up my you know toddler and I thought maybe I've ripped some internal stitches. That's what I thought. You know, I've got this new baby, I've had a caesarean, I'm doing pretty well, like six weeks later, you know, you kind of almost Getting back to being able to lift a couple of things, like a kid, you know, and I thought I'd Taunt something. I didn't feel like that, but I didn't know what else it could have been and that was the first sign for me that Anything was wrong. But I look back and I was very sick with that pregnancy, like that was my three babies. I was the sickest, but I was craving fatty food and you know, like was the only time I would have eaten KFC, which is I don't know if you have that in America is like deep fried chicken, you know, and I would never eat that now I hadn't cleaned up my like, I certainly wasn't eating the way I eat now for my thyroid health.
Annabel Bateman:Like I knew I had Hashem Hadoff's for pretty much forever, so I knew about that, but I wasn't on this kind of managing diet and lifestyle perspective either. I don't know what I did in that night, but we ended up in the emergency in the middle of the night with a baby in the cradle and I was breastfeeding. Here I was. It was a disaster and the first hospital said just gave me some anti spasmodics, go home, you'll be fine, you know. And then, if the next day it all came back again. And then I was different hospital who actually did a scan like an ultrasound. They could see a gallstone stuck in my bio duct.
Annabel Bateman:Okay yeah, and I was told at the time I mean, so this was 17 years ago, so things might have changed. You know that's a fair while ago in terms of medical development and then even what I know About health. You know it's very different to what I knew then to, but I was pretty much, yeah, told what we've just got to take it out. I mean, I was in excruciating pains. It was worse. I mean, I guess I've had to, had had to go on the full, the full birthing process, but the first one was Emergency season. So I feel like I got, you know, the worst of the worst and it was. It was really painful and, yeah, it was just weird, but you had been really looking back, been really sick during that pregnancy in a way that I wasn't with the other two. So I do think that there probably were signs that I just wasn't clued into and that's what it's going to say.
Annabel Bateman:But I was told that you know how everything stretches when you're pregnant and then starts to shrink again after. Apparently it's quite common In that post, you know, post, part and period, for exactly what happened to me to happen, because you buy a duck's stretch like everything else does, and then they shrink and so if you've got a goldstone there and it can get stuck because it yeah, so that was that was interesting, so, yeah, it was pretty, so it was then just obviously taken out in that emergency situation. I've never well I've never had a goldbladder, attacks in stone, have a goldbladder, but certainly lots of ongoing issues which we can cover down the track to. But, yeah, so that a lot of what you just said fits with my story.
Olivia Haas:Yeah, definitely, and I think you know the goldbladder attacks. They will stop you in your track and I think most people remove their goldbladder for the reason of the attacks right, and that's what surgery is there for. If individuals you know are in emergency situation, like you, or they just can't handle the attacks, you know they're. They're not easy and I would say managing the gallbladder with goldstones or any gallbladder disease is very hard. It's extremely hard. It requires a lot of change, a lot of dedication and commitment.
Olivia Haas:When individuals go on this journey to try to save their gallbladder, I always tell people you have options with gallbladder disease and you should know your options. Is that One you can take more like an integrative approach, if you are a candidate for it, where you can work to save your gallbladder not everybody is. Some people they need their gallbladder removed, right, and then to your option B is to do surgery. So you always know you have the option there. And then, obviously, there's emergency situations where you do need to get the gallbladder moved, and that's okay. We just support the body the right way and support the body properly without the gallbladder and you're fine.
Olivia Haas:So, yeah, it's a. Yeah, I've had my fair share of our visits as well. So and I think that's where most people learn they're like I never knew what the gallbladder was, and I I'm the same way. I wasn't in my education at this point and with the first time, like when I went in, I didn't know what the gallbladder was. Most people don't, so they're kind of in shock and it's just that's why I say it's a small, mighty organ, because it is so painful when it wants to be. I'm just wondering if we can talk now a bit in, a bit more.
Annabel Bateman:I mean, you mentioned before the thyroid gallbladder connection, but maybe we could go into that in a little bit more detail for the audience to really understand that a bit better, and then we'll come into some of those. But what can we actually do for our gallbladder health? Yeah, definitely yeah. So one huge miss, I think just with gallbladder disease in general, especially for females, is not talking about the hormone connection.
Olivia Haas:Thyroid is one big hormone that plays so many different roles with the gallbladder and there's actually a bi-directional relationship between the gallbladder and thyroid, so I'll talk about both. So it is important and this is something I always do with all my clients, as I do make sure we do a full work up on the thyroid and we always make sure that we're supporting it when we're doing A gallbladder management protocol or even after gallbladder surgery, if someone has known thyroid issue. So I'll talk about the main points and then how the gallbladder function can also cause Affect the thyroid. So the biggest connection is between the lack of T for is seen with hypothyroidism can really increase the risk of gallbladder issues through kind of four main ways. One that we talked about, that poor cholesterol metabolism, so decreased liver cholesterol metabolism, so that lack of teeth for can lead to this decreased liver cholesterol metabolism and this can alter the composition of bile and, as what we talked about earlier, bile is produced by the liver. It's stored in concentrate in the gallbladder, so At the top layer this bio becomes very saturated and it becomes thick. This again increases the risk of cholesterol gallstones. Another issue that can occur is that decreased bio flow and then pair digestion from poor thyroid function, the increased risk of constipation. So constipation Can lead to further risk of gallbladder or gallstones specifically. So there's that connection. And then we also look at the gallbladder motility so that thyroid function has been linked to gallbladder motility. So as we talk about the gallbladder, so as I mentioned, individuals with biliary dyskinesia it's very common they have a history of maybe a diagnosis of high Hashimoto's, a hypothyroidism or maybe not. Yet there's also poor sphincter of Audi function so that lack of T for can affect the sphincter of Audi. So your sphincter of Audi is kind of a muscular valve that helps control the flow of bile into your small intestine and sphincter of Audi issues can present very similar to gallbladder symptoms and they again prevent that normal bio flow.
Olivia Haas:So when we look at like trying to work to save the gallbladder, a large focus is really on optimizing the bio production and the bio flow. The more that you improve that bio quality in the liver, you make sure the bio moves nice and well throughout the gallbladder, less likely that it sits saturated in the gallbladder and there's less risk of the gallstones forming the sledge forming. Individuals with biliary dyskinesia are higher risk of developing gallstones and sledge because their gallbladder is not contracting well. So in the case of biliary dyskinesia individuals, we really want to do things to get that gallbladder contracting and making sure it's moving well. One of the things that we focus on is your thyroid and then in turn, if your gallbladder is not functioning well and we have this impaired bio flow, it can also affect your thyroid. So one is through poor fat digestion absorption due to poor gallbladder function or maybe not having a gallbladder so not absorbing like our fat soluble vitamins well, vitamin A, d, e and K and these vitamin deficiencies, fatty acid deficiencies, can really impact your hormone health, thyroid function and that conversion of T4 to T3. Poor detoxification. So what we've learned through colostusctomere gallbladder removal is gallbladder plays a role with bio metabolism and one of those is bio serves a purpose of detoxification in the body. So with gallbladder issues, toxins can build up in the body, in the body, because your liver and gallbladder play this role in digestion and removal of the waste. So those increased toxins because of it not getting pulled out from the body, maybe due to impaired bio flow, can really disrupt thyroid health and maybe a cause of a lot of cases for individuals with Hashimoto's Poor gut health, again from that impaired bio flow, either due to the gallbladder not contracting well, or impaired bio flow without a gallbladder, can lead to bacteria imbalances, specifically in the small intestine.
Olivia Haas:So it's very common individuals with gallbladder issues or history of having their gallbladder moved have SIBO. So small intestinal bacteria overgrowth and anything, as we know, in the gut can play a big role with that thyroid conversion right. So we want to make sure we optimize our gut health with gallbladder issues. And then obviously our gut is really essential for absorption of minerals needed for thyroid health. So your iodine, selenium, zinc, iron we need all those to help convert the T4 to T3. So these are different connection points of just some high level ones of how your gallbladder and your thyroid are really connected, and so it's really important with individuals that do have a gallbladder diagnosis, that we do look at the thyroid health but also be aware for individuals who have removed their gallbladder, do they have a history of a thyroid issue and how can we support both?
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, yeah, that make. Well, that makes sense because you think, from a hypothyroid perspective, if you don't have enough thyroid hormone, then how is the gallbladder going to be able to contract and keep that bio flowing? And you know so, even just on that single pathway. You know, I know it's more, there's more connected pieces to that, but it just it makes sense. If you don't, every cell of your body needs thyroid hormone to function properly. So if it doesn't have that, then how is it going to do its job properly? Yeah, so, just even on that super high level, it it makes sense when you understand about those different connections. So what about? Do you know if there's Gallbladder issues that typically happen with overactive thyroid, hyper or graves, or is it much more underactive?
Olivia Haas:Typically underactive, but it can totally happen with hyperthyroidism as well and clinically speaking I would say it's mostly with underactive.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, yeah, okay. So if if you're listening and you and you maybe we'll talk to a few different groups of people that are probably listening, so maybe we start with those who still have a gallbladder. So if you are listening and you still have a gallbladder, whether it's healthy or not, well you could probably listen, to go back and listen to some of those beginning bits where a little he was talking about the signs and symptoms. But what should someone who obviously has a thyroid condition that that's my audience and still has a gallbladder, what should they be doing to support their gallbladder health? Like? What would you recommend to that group of people?
Olivia Haas:Well, the good news is is most things you're probably already doing to improve your thyroid health are also gonna be great for your gallbladder health, right? Because, at the end of the day, your body's connected, and so we want to look at what can we do to support this organ, and it's not just focusing just on the gallbladder itself. So we want to. When we look at diet. We really wanna support your liver and your gallbladder. A lot of people believe gallbladder disease is actually a disease of the liver, so we really wanna do things that support the liver, and the best thing is is that anything we do to support the liver will also support your gallbladder. And to simplify I'm always about simplifying nutrition A lot of the dietary recommendations for thyroid health will apply for gallbladder health as well, and the foundation is making sure that we're nourishing our bodies well with eating whole foods as much as possible. So when we look at gallbladder problems, the diets that increase risk of gallbladder issues are diets that are high in refined sugars, low quality fats, a lot of those vegetable oils, a lot of processed fats, trans fats, and diets that are low in fiber have all been linked to gallbladder issues. So when we look at trying to remove out stressors from the body or remove out stressors on the gallbladder near the liver. We wanna emphasize eating real foods. I just like to keep it simple, not complicated, and really try to eat, prioritize these foods over processed foods. In a gallbladder diet, if you do have gallbladder issues, the biggest foods that are no-no are usually what I call no-no's is fried foods, because typically, as you know, those are asking for a gallbladder attack to occur, as I mentioned diets that have been linked to gallbladder issues. So we know fiber is a critical piece in a gallbladder diet. So we really wanna make sure we maintain adequate fiber in the diet because this helps to bind to any excess bile, excess cholesterol, excess hormones, remove them out from the body. So it's a critical piece for making sure we improve that bio quality, we remove out toxins, so less stress on the body as a whole and your liver. And then fiber is also great to boost your gut health right. So it's also all-encompassing, really great to prioritize in the diet.
Olivia Haas:A big piece that is important with thyroid issues is trying to make sure we avoid constipation as much as possible. So we wanna make sure we're doing everything to keep our bowels moving. So through diet, through lifestyle support. If that stuff is not helping, then dig a little deeper and look at the cause of your constipation so a lot of things to support you with thyroid, but also looking at what's your gut health, the health of your stomach, what we can do to help improve that.
Olivia Haas:There are obviously what we call key supportive foods for your gallbladder and liver health and that help promote healthy bio, and those are things like bitter foods. So things like dandelion, radish, radicchio, anything that's bitter to your palate, parsley those are things that we wanna have fun with in the diet Dandelion, artichoke, beets, turmeric, playing around with different herbs. Herbs can be a great addition to help promote that bio flow, support the bio quality and production and the gallbladder contraction. I always recommend working with a practitioner when it comes to herbs or local herbalists to help you. There's tons of great herbs that help support the gallbladder and liver. So number ones that you probably have heard about are things like dandelion, artichoke and milk This'll, but there's a ton of other ones and you always wanna check on contraindications. So that's why I recommend that you work with a practitioner there.
Olivia Haas:Make sure you hydrate and we hydrate smart, because bio is made up of 90% water. It's also got some minerals in it phospholipids, cholesterol, to name a few things. So hydration is really important to maintain and improve that bio quality and adding minerals sometimes to your water can be a great addition, sometimes doing like lemon with some sea salt or lemon and some trace minerals in it but the hydration is really important to help improve the bio quality as well. So those are some key things that I would recommend for individuals with thyroid issues to help protect their gallbladder health. With your history of gallbladder disease as well, are there any things that you would kind of add to some of those points?
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, that's a good question. Look, I certainly think, like I said before, from when I had my gallbladder issues to now, for different reasons I mean, I didn't immediately even clean up my diet. I certainly immediately probably reduced, I don't know. I mean, obviously I was much more conscious of not eating the fatty foods and the fried foods and immediately afterwards, and probably about maybe about four or three or four or five years after that, I made a significant change to my diet. That's when I really started changing my diet for my overall thyroid health. So, and I would say now, I mean in that time, like I've worked with you know naturopaths and I've had the same doctor for all of that time she's wonderful integrative health doctor and I'm always taking different things to support my liver because I mean, the way I understand it is, yeah, when you've had and we'll come to this when you have your gallbladder removed, your liver picks up a lot of the slack and already your liver is, you know, it's converting to your T4, to T3 or a large proportion of that. It's all your detoxification. So I figure my poor little liver is working over time and so you know, I'm usually on some sort of I'm often taken certainly on and off over the years, taken milk thistle. I'm not sure about dandelion, but, like, definitely there's always some liver support supplement that I'm taking, recommended by my doctor or the naturopath or both. I mean I really, I mean I would say 95% of the time I'm only eating healthy fats. So I mean, if I go out, would I have some French fries chips probably from time to time, but I'm not eating battered, deep fried fish and chips or things like that. I guess that's the challenge, isn't it? Because when the whole fried foods, they're fried in crap oil. That's your cheap vegetable oils and soy oils probably. I don't know if you have corn oil there I think you do much more corn in the states than we have here generally so they're the worst of the worst. So not only are you getting all the fat, but you're getting all the bad fat. They're not deep fried in coconut oil or olive oil, or I mean you probably wouldn't want that either, but you definitely. So I think.
Annabel Bateman:For me, I've been conscious of that Over time. I suppose I dip in and out of consciousness. I have times of thinking oh yeah, that's right, I don't have a gallbladder. Oh, that makes sense. Why, at the end of yeah, like I probably notice more like things, like I may get the occasional bit of heartburn or reflex, and that's usually after a heavier, fattier meal and dessert and the glass of wine, like it's those whole package deals, because I don't like to eat that every night. But if you are at an event or you've got people over and you're having a special occasion, you tend to have the richer food and dessert and the wine, and so it's those times when I'm like oh, yeah, okay all right now, I've tipped over.
Olivia Haas:Yeah, definitely, and you brought up a good point that something that is important for people to know is the type of fats you eat make a big difference for gallbladder issues too. So, long term, you know, the standard recommendation is to follow a low fat diet with gallbladder issues. And, yes, a low fat diet can be helpful, especially if you are dealing with chronic attacks and pain or if you just had an attack. But long term, if we're working to save our gallbladder, we really shouldn't be on a low fat diet Because there has been some research that shows that that can cause lead to further of that poor bio quality, but also the type of fats that you eat. So, as you mentioned a lot of these vegetable oils and we can go on a whole topic about that but the vegetable oils can also impair your bio quality. It can lead to inflammation in the body, really tough on your liver when we eat too much of these in the diet, and those types of fats are the types of fats that have been linked to gallbladder issues.
Olivia Haas:So when we're working to save our gallbladder, it is important we emphasize healthy fats. We work to do things to support your gallbladder, your liver and that bio quality. Over time, the more that support you do for these functions in the body, the more individuals are able to enjoy healthy fats without having digestive symptoms and gallbladder symptoms. Just to show you like how powerful just the type of fats you eat on a gallbladder diet, I had a client that just removed all the vegetable oils these low quality was like very strict about it and all of her gallstones were gone. So just from that switch and she just emphasizing the fiber in the diet. So you know it sounds silly to simplify nutrition and just focusing on whole foods and healthy fats, but that's what it is. You know, it's just giving your body the simple tools it needs to do its job and heal. So emphasizing whole foods and healthy fats is just as important in a gallbladder diet.
Annabel Bateman:So, Olivia, what would you say are the healthy fats that people should focus on?
Olivia Haas:Yeah, so typically in a gallbladder diet, people can handle olive oil, more coconut products, coconut oil, animal fats, fat like some fish, Depending on the individual. If their gallbladder is sensitive, they may be more sensitive to things like ghee, nuts, seeds, avocado, eggs. It just depends on the individual. But if they are sensitive to lie these healthy fats, in a lot of cases, like I said, if you do support for your gallbladder, your liver health and that bile, they can reintroduce some of these healthy fats in. So people can almost be on, you know, enjoy all of these fats with flexibility and not have problems with their gallbladder. It just depends on the individual.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, okay. So I'm just wondering then is the next group of people that ones that don't have a gallbladder? We've kind of done that, you've got a gallbladder. I suppose, if you maybe there's the interim, I was like, well, maybe we've covered this, but if maybe this is the opportunity, if there's something you think we haven't covered, you know you've got some gallbladder problems and you are actively trying to, you know, look after it. Is that what we've just been talking about, or is there something else? You know that somebody in that category that maybe they've had, you know, some gallbladder attacks but haven't had it removed. You know what would you say? Is there anything different to?
Olivia Haas:say to that person. So I so working with individuals who are trying to work to save their gallbladder, a lot of those tips apply. So just focusing on the whole foods, making sure you prioritize healthy fats, maintain adequate fiber in the diet, avoid constipation, support healthy bio flow and make sure you hydrate these are kind of like the key I call like pillars or foundations of a gallbladder diet. I dig further into all of this too in my Gallbladder Saber Society membership. If anyone needs further help. We go over how to establish a sustainable gallbladder diet, work on getting some of those more fats in the diet and as well as like kind of addressing the cause of gallbladder disease so you can work to save your gallbladder. Typically like.
Olivia Haas:So there's a case two of individuals who have removed their gallbladder right and you know what. What should they do in this case, and a lot of times individuals even without the gallbladder. It doesn't change that much. A lot of the stuff that you do before gallbladder surgery is kind of the same, even post stop. The difference is, I think, post-op individuals can play a little bit more with their diet and push it a little bit more without having gallbladder attacks, but not saying they're not going to deal with GI issues. As you mentioned, like when you overdo it with the diet, you do have issues with GI symptoms. That can be very typical for individuals after gallbladder surgery is having those sensitivities. But you know, with as we talked about your, if you're an individual that has had your gallbladder moved, you can still function without a gallbladder. We just make sure that we do long-term digestion support to help. So we, what we've learned through colisosectomy is that, or gallbladder surgery is that gallbladder plays this very vital role with bile, and so what we want to do post-op is support this bile and really support your liver is really key. So doing a lot of long-term liver support and at the root of that again is your diet and your lifestyle choices. That is the foundation that's going to support your liver health right. So making sure, again, you focus on eating a whole foods diet, removing out stressors as much as possible through the diet, removing out or avoiding things like the refined sugars, refined flowers and the low quality vegetable oils as much as possible. Obviously, we can't avoid those all together and I'm all about balance, just as you are, so we may enjoy some of those things from time to time, but we want to do some liver support there and again.
Olivia Haas:Fiber is really key after gallbladder surgery for many reasons. Again to make sure that the bile is bio-quality, staying it's remaining in a good quality, right or and we're moving out toxins from the body, we're supporting our gut. A large part of digestive symptoms after gallbladder surgery are often tied to that change of bile, but also your change in your microbiome and your gut health. So fiber is a key to help boost your good gut flora, avoiding constipation. Again, even post-op, still doing a lot of liver supportive foods, bitters, the herbs, dandelion, artichokes, beets, turmeric, ginger that all stays the same Hydrate. Make sure we do that.
Olivia Haas:One thing that can occur for individuals without a gallbladder is that change in the concentration of bile or some individuals struggle with too much bile getting dumped at once. So for individuals without a gallbladder, if they're on the spectrum of where they're dealing with the loss of concentrated bile, so they probably will deal with more sticky stool constipation. We may use some functional supplements to help in this case. So, depending on the individual, the standard supplements that you may hear on the market are things like ox bile or tadka For individuals with thyroid issues. It is important that you monitor your symptoms if you are taking these products or work with a practitioner to help you. But those supplements ox, bile or tadka are often used after gallbladder surgery to help support that bile the loss of the concentrated bile, specifically for individuals who are struggling with more of the fat, melabsorption, constipation issues, sticky stool, other things. Artichoke is an excellent herb that can help support the bile but also help support your liver, so it's kind of getting a twofold. There can also help with estrogen dominance, so I like to use artichoke a lot and then phosphatidol choline as well helps to support your fat digestion without a gallbladder. So those are some times some functional supplements that we may use.
Olivia Haas:In the case of someone without a gallbladder is around meal time, just helping them to optimize the digestion of fats, because that's what can typically occur without the gallbladder is the change in fat digestion, the change in the digestion of fat soluble vitamins, and so those are things that you want to monitor.
Olivia Haas:There is cases where individuals without the gallbladder struggle with too much bile getting dumped at once and this can be quite irritating to the intestines and this is like the number one post op symptom that I deal with clients with, so it can be called bile dumping, bile acid diarrhea, bile acid melabsorption, where there's just basically too much bile getting released at once from the liver, creating a laxative effect. So in this case individuals wouldn't necessarily want to do things to stimulate more bile or using bile salts. Those can be quite irritating when they're struggling with a lot of dumping. But focusing on the foundations first, with making sure we have a good diet in place, we're getting enough fiber in there, we're watching our type of fats that we're eating, and being mindful to about stress, because typically the stress can be a big component of bile dumping. After gallbladder removal so I know you've had your gallbladder removed, correct? So is there anything that, like you've learned from your journey of not having your gallbladder that you felt was really helpful or that helped you?
Annabel Bateman:I think just really the biggest thing that I've learned is just that for me is that then my liver really needs it's what we were just talking, what you were just talking about my liver just really needs the extra support, and I think over time I mean, it's been 17 years, so that's a long time my body has adapted to not having a gallbladder, and probably if you had asked me 16 years ago, you know, obviously the answers probably would have been different, because it is a long time ago and I wasn't managing my health in the same way. But now I think I know For me, when I get stressed or if my body is detoxing a lot like, for example, I was taking some supplements maybe I was last year that was really encouraging a whole lot of detoxification, which in theory is good, but my liver couldn't quite cope with it, and so that then meant that it pushed me into hypothyroidism again. I just say it blew my thyroid out because it was like I hold on. Now my liver's got all this kind of toxic burden to dump, get rid of, and it could only cope with so much, and so then the whole body goes oh, we're just going to slow everything down again, then we're going to just give it all a slow down, and so that certainly happened for me on and off over the years, and so I think that's just that the liver just has that extra load to carry and so for me it doesn't take a lot to tip my liver over the edge of being able to cope, and so for me that's being aware of yeah, like if I'm going to be doing anything that's deliberately kind of detoxing, do it very, very slowly, really support the liver.
Annabel Bateman:So in the last probably six months or so, being deliberate about, like you were saying before, with the hydration and taking extra electrolytes, like electrolytes in my water for that extra absorption of the water, staying hydrated, I've got ox bile in my box of supplements.
Annabel Bateman:I don't take it all the time, but probably more recently, if I know I've had a pretty heavy meal, I will take one with that, but that's probably every once a month maybe, like it's not that often, but they're there if I need them. But I think it's the biggest thing really is for me it's understanding that the liver carries the load and the liver is so important to your thyroid health, so important to detoxification. We were talking in last week's podcast about methylation and the MTHFR gene and all that process in the liver and I've got that gene and so I think, okay, well, my methylation pathways aren't that great. So I've just done a lot of liver support, which is also the diet support and all those things that you've just talked about. I think, yeah, if I had have known even that when that first happened or beforehand, well, who knows. But that's life and it is what it is, and I've certainly functioned without a gallbladder, but it's not been without its challenges for sure.
Olivia Haas:Yeah, I think that's the one thing with gallbladder surgery is that it's definitely needed at times, but it only treats one organ and it's not looking at the big picture. And if anyone, one thing I would take from this podcast is, if you do struggle with gallbladder issues, you have to ask yourself why, but also what other functions in the body have maybe have contributed to this issue. And the number one thing I would always recommend to anyone is stop focusing on just this one organ. Look at your whole body and specifically really support your liver, no matter if you keep your gallbladder or if you're post-op. Your liver is a beautiful organ and it supports so many different functions in your body and one of them is really playing a big role with gallbladder issues, but it also, as you know, takes a big stress after gallbladder surgery. So the more that we can do things to support the liver and the better energy, longevity, longer health that we have, so it's good and I'm really glad that you brought that up too and found that along your journey.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, I've got one quick question and then one question that I should have asked at the beginning that I didn't. So the quick question is when you were talking about the herbs before, like the dandelion artichoke, you mentioned a couple of other things. Do you mean artichoke, the vegetable that you eat, or is there a separate herb that is like a medicinal thing that is artichoke? Are we talking about the vegetable that you cook?
Olivia Haas:Yeah, so it's both actually.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, so it's both Okay, right Okay.
Olivia Haas:So artichoke is cool because it's got what we call like it's got colagog and coloretic properties. So in herbal medicine coloretics they help support the liver and colagogs help support the gallbladder. So that's why I like artichoke, because you kind of get a two for one, and so I typically use a lot of artichoke personally on myself.
Annabel Bateman:Okay, but yeah, so I wasn't sure if that, because sometimes, yeah, like you say there is that, like you might get it in a herbal tincture or a supplement, but there's also the vegetable. So you're saying it's both, it can be both. Okay, all right, that clears that up. My other question was when we were talking at the beginning about, well, how much you know if you've got a gallbladder, like the symptoms, like can you be tested, like without being in the emergency room and having a ultrasound and discovering gallstones, like are there any kind of tests you can have done or you know that sort of Definitely.
Olivia Haas:Yep. So diagnostic testing is really important. So if you suspect you have gallbladder issues, like you're fitting some of the clinical symptoms, it is important you do testing. I always recommend work with a gastroenterologist if you can, but some primary care can run the testing for you. So the standard protocol is doing an ultrasound first and maybe some blood work. So the ultrasound of your upper right abdomen, so looking at your liver and your gallbladder. Some doctors like if there's other GI symptoms present, they would do an endoscopy, an MRI or CT scan. So that's typical for diagnosing gallstones or sludge. If the individual comes in and they present gallbladder symptoms but their ultrasound is clear for gallstones and sludge, then they may follow up with the highest scan and I'm actually not sure if this is a common test in your country, but in the US it's the highest scan with ejection fraction and that's typically done to test the function of the gallbladder. So that would diagnose, okay.
Annabel Bateman:I don't know, I haven't heard of it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist here. I'm not too sure.
Olivia Haas:Like in the UK they don't really do highest scans that often or it's tougher to get it done. The highest scans will diagnose biliary dyskinesia, so either poor function or what we call hyperkinetic, which is a gallbladder that contracts very fast or spasms quite frequently. So those are the standard conventional testing. And then in like functional or integrative medicine we have our own testing to kind of look at the gallbladder function. So you can look at typically like comprehensive stool analysis and look at the fecal fat in the stool, or sometimes we'll run like an organics acid test as well and that will also give a good picture of you know your liver.
Olivia Haas:Some of the nutrients needed look a little bit high level about your gut and digestion. So those are typical. That will kind of run. And then the further thing I would say is blood work. In functional integrative medicine we would probably run more extensive testing with the blood work. So looking at your thyroid function is one vitamin D level, sometimes looking at some of your minerals for testing there, Doing in some cases and HTML is great too to look at some key nutrients that play a role with your gallbladder health and liver health. So, but typically speaking it would be an ultrasound and blood work is a standard form of diagnosing gallbladder problems.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, yeah, no, that's good. So if you're listening and you think, oh yeah, maybe some of these symptoms I've got are related to gallbladder, well you can go to your doctor and start at least start that process, or because often it is a process of these sort of things to be determined.
Olivia Haas:Yes, it's always better. In your case, you experienced it going to the ER, right, it's better to know. If you suspect gallbladder problems is just to have it checked sooner than later before having, hopefully, an ER visit as your first diagnosis.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, absolutely Look at it. Yeah, totally Like you know, like I think I think probably for me a lot of it was mass with pregnancy. That's really what I think was you know I was, you know some of that. You know, the nausea vomiting like I was always, like I was, you know, hard to know, like I just thought I'm having a sick pregnancy, you know. But I do think in retro, in hindsight, some of that was probably connected to my gallbladder health during that time.
Olivia Haas:But yeah, your gallbladder and your liver gets just assumed that it was being pregnant. Because of the connection with your hormones not just your thyroid but your sex hormones, your progesterone and estrogen really impact your gallbladder function and that the cholesterol saturation during pregnancy and postpartum. So it's very, very common females are diagnosed with gallbladder issues during that time and postpartum, like you experienced. So typically people will start to experience symptoms close to that, like almost month two, all the way up to four months, and then potentially when they wean.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, which was so good to know. I was pretty standard. Yeah, it's not fun.
Olivia Haas:It's like you just pray for it to a baby, or you're trying to carry a baby and this is the last thing that you want to stress about.
Annabel Bateman:Oh my gosh, it was because you think. And then it was horrible. I just remember being in hospital too, like you know, pumping breast milk and throwing it away because it had all the anesthetic in it and like trying to keep the baby. Oh, it was just like oh my gosh, yeah, you bought, yeah, a six week old baby. And then in hospital with surgery was just not a good. It was not a fun time, but we got through it. We got through it. We got through it. Olivia, I think we've covered a lot of ground. I think you've given some really helpful information. Is there something I haven't asked you that you think that audience needs to know, or a parting kind of word that you'd like to say to anybody?
Olivia Haas:Yeah, no, I think we covered most of the high level of some tips for gallbladder issues. Also how to support the body without a gallbladder. If you have further questions, I mostly on Instagram at gallbladdernutritionist You're more than welcome to reach out to me on there. I have loads of resources for individuals who are working to save their gallbladder or who are struggling with DI issues after gallbladder surgery. But just as kind of to leave you with some top tips for any listeners here to support your gallbladder health.
Olivia Haas:Again, as we talked about, keep it simple with nutrition. Focus on eating real foods. Avoid or limit some of those gallbladder disease promoting foods as much as possible to process foods, vegetable oils, refined sugars. Make sure we prioritize enough fiber in the diet and then support your bio flow through some of the key bitter foods artichokes, beets, lemon, turmeric, dandelion and just various herbs. There's so many things that you can add in the diet to help support your gallbladder and liver health, but those are some key points that can be helpful for anyone Listen who has their gallbladder or who has had their gallbladder removed.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, excellent. Yeah, well, I think that's really helpful. I think, right, I've never cooked an artichoke. There you go. That's my challenge After this is go get some artichoke and work out how to cook it and start incorporating that into my diet. So I think that there's lots of different things you could do, but yeah, I'm thinking, okay, I'm going to learn how to cook artichoke.
Annabel Bateman:Olivia, if people wanted to work with you. Obviously you're on Instagram. I'll put all the links in the notes below. But if someone wanted to work with you, tell us a bit about who you work with, what you offer and where should people go to find you outside of it. Or is it just Instagram?
Olivia Haas:My website is simple it's gallbladderdietcom, so it's easy to find. Like I said, I'm mostly on Instagram at gallbladdernutritionist, or on Pinterest at gallbladdernutritionist. If you are working to save your gallbladder, I have an awesome membership called the Gallbladder Savers Society. That includes everything you need to know about establishing a gallbladder diet and how to work on the cause work to shrink gallstones, reverse sledge and improve that gallbladder function. If you are struggling with symptoms after gallbladder removal or you just want to know how to support your body without a gallbladder, I have a self-paced course called the Gallbladder Removal Reset and then, for any individuals who really like more individualized recommendations and support, then that's where I help support them through one-on-one. So I have loads of resources. So I would, as I mentioned, check out. Probably the best place is through Instagram at gallbladdernutritionist, or my website, gallbladderdietcom.
Annabel Bateman:Yeah, perfect, excellent. Well, I will make sure. Yeah, so go check those places out.
Annabel Bateman:I think what I've found through this podcast and all the beautiful guests like you that I have willing to share knowledge, is that we're a broad health community that just loves to educate and help people, and so there's usually a wealth of knowledge, a wealth of information, but we are here as people to help hold your hand as well, and I think that's what you're saying is, if you need that bit of extra help, then you're there to help hold their hand, to get that help and to really make sure that you're implementing the things that you need to. So I think that's yeah, it's great. So, yeah, go check out Olivia's things and work with her if you feel like that would be helpful for your health. So thank you so much, olivia, for all your time, for your generous information, your kind spirit. I think you'd be a very gentle, lovely person to work with. Thank you, you've just got that nice kindness I'm kind of gentle softness about you, so I just yeah, thank you for being with us today.
Olivia Haas:Yes, and thank you again for having me on here and helping me spread some Gallaudetter education. I really appreciate it, okay.
Annabel Bateman:All right. So this is the Kislyrode coaching questions at the end of the segment. Just to help reflect back on what you've learned or heard. And, as you've just heard, like I'm thinking, ah, artichokes all right, I'm going to cook with artichokes now, which that's a really small thing in terms of gallbladder health, but you might want to have a think about like.
Annabel Bateman:So, obviously, depending on whether you have a gallbladder or don't have a gallbladder, or whether you know you've had some gallbladder challenges and still have your gallbladder, your response to this podcast will be different.
Annabel Bateman:But, yeah, this is your opportunity just to stop for a minute and think okay, do I need, what do I need to do about this? Do I need to change my diet and lifestyle more broadly, just as an overall support? Do you need to go get your gallbladder checked out and have some of those tests run or talk to your doctor or integrative health practitioner about that? If you don't have a gallbladder, you know, are you actively helping to support your liver? So, what you know, what action are you going to take as a result of what you've heard today? Just want you to have a think about that and take that action. See you next time. Bye this podcast, whether you're listening or watching, is intended to be positive and practical coaching style information, but it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, including any thyroid disease, and it should not be used as a substitute for proper advice from a qualified professional.