Bodies Like Spring Cleaning Too!
Feeling a bit sluggish or irritable? Having a hard time crawling out of bed in the morning? It’s time for Spring cleaning!
Our body naturally makes an effort to cleanse itself in the springtime, making it an ideal time for a gallbladder cleanse.* Once the gallbladder is flushed out (sometimes including the elimination of gallbladder stones), then the liver and other organs in the body are free to release additional toxins. This further reduces the burden on the body.
The gallbladder aids in the digestion of fats, and stores and releases bile. It’s a small organ that sits on the right side of the body directly under the liver. It releases bile into the digestive track helping to stimulate peristaltic action – the process that helps the body move waste through bowels for excretion. Bile is made of several substances including cholesterol, lecithin, and bile salts (minerals).
Healthy gall bladders contribute to healthy elimination. Factors that contribute to stagnation in the gall bladder, and even the creation gallbladder stones, include stress, unprocessed emotions, environmental toxins, poor dietary choices, a lack of healthy fats, a lack of food-based sodium (from fruits and vegetables, and real unrefined sea/Celtic salt) and an overload of unhealthy fats and certain mineral deficiencies. It's not unusual for gall bladder symptoms to surface as the season moves into Spring.
The following symptoms may indicate that your gallbladder is in need of a cleanse:
Feeling sluggish in the morning
Emotional symptoms, including feelings of anger, irritability, resentment, bitterness, or an excessive need to control situations
Nausea, chronic indigestion and vomiting
Back pain between your shoulder blades
Pain in your right shoulder
Chest pain symptoms can mimic those of a heart attack or angina (Still, get that kind pain checked out!)
You have a wide variety of options to help maintain a healthy gallbladder and liver! **
Start each morning with a tall glass of fresh warm water (or at least room temp, ideally not cold) with fresh squeezed lemon.
Use ACV (apple cider vinegar) to alkalize the body and encourage the release of gallstones; best if organic, unfiltered, and unpasteurized. Use in salad dressings or make a refreshing drink by adding a tsp of ACV to purified water.
Avoid heated oils - this includes nearly all vegetable oils, chips cooked in oils (even organic), high-heat fried foods, and by some accounts, any oil heated past body temperature. Yes, this is very different for most of us. One colleague swears that restless legs disappear when cooked oils are eliminated from the diet. Try roasting, broiling, baking, or steaming, and then adding olive oil or butter for serving.
Use the supplement Curcumin* (an active component of tumeric), 900 – 1100 mg daily. Curcumin will increase the solubility of your bile; choose a product standardized for it’s curcuminoid content.
Consume foods high in vegetable sodium, such as okra, celery, raw goats milk and grapefruit.
Replace refined table salt with high quality Celtic salt (such as Eden’s, Selina’s) or unrefined salt such as Redmond’s.
Support healthy gallbladder & liver function with a diet rich in beets, beet greens, dandelion greens, endive, yellow dock, watercress, ginger and burdock root.
Release stored, suppressed and unprocessed emotions that can cause stagnation or blockages within the body and often contribute to physical ailments. Flower essences can support processing of emotions that disrupt the gallbladder (and the liver, the two work hand-in-hand), which may include suppressed anger, bitterness, or depression.
Flower remedies as effective agents to support emotional release. For anger release look to blends like ‘Keep Cool’ from NSP, or Back Flower singles such as Mariposa Lily, Pine, Scarlet Monkeyflower, Centaury, Fuschia, Pink Yarrow, Goldenrod, Calendula, Snapdragon, Impatiens, Vine, Willow, Holly, or Tiger Lily.
Essential oils such as geranium or fennel are good places to start, which may be applied diluted topically over the gallbladder area.
Enjoy herbal teas Cleavers and Chamomile.
And, utilize your kitchen! Here’s a delicious soup that gives the whole family a little boost.
Gingery-Beet Spring Soup
Ingredients:
6 beets (peeled & cubed) & tops (well rinsed & thinly sliced)
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 c. chopped onion
8 carrots, chopped
2 Tbs. shredded fresh ginger
2-4 Tbs. minced garlic
8 Cups vegetable stock or bone broth
2 tsp. organic, unpasturized apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. sea salt
Pinch of pepper
Saute’ the onion in the olive oil until translucent, then add in the ginger, garlic, and carrots.
Cook until the carrots are warmed through.
Add the beets, stock, salt, pepper, and 1 Tbsp. of the apple cider vinegar; cover and cook gently for an hour.
This soup can then be pureed in a blender or food processor if desired.
Add in the 2nd TB of vinegar, stir in green shreds (can sauté lightly first if you prefer them softer), and adjust salt & pepper to taste.
Serve hot or cold, and if you can’t resist, top with a dollop of grass-fed, soured cream from your local dairy farmer.
You’ll know it’s effective if there is plenty of (mild) elimination and cheering up!
Happy cleansing. Happy Spring!
* Products discussed here are gathered together in a convenient protocol in Fullscript account. This is my natural pharmacy where you can browse in all areas, receive 15% off and free ship over $50 after establishing an account with just email + password. NO selling of info! Check it out here.
*PREGNANT OR NURSING? DO NOT CLEANSE RIGHT NOW, because your cleansing will release products (toxins etc) which will also be circulated to some degree through your baby. Nourish your gallbladder and do your spring clean more gently through BUILDING instead - meaning food and diet elements as suggested above, and the lemon water is wonderful through-out. Midwife Beth does long-distance health consultations if you'd like an individualized approach.
**READ THIS: We believe that you are your own best expert, and that your common sense and intuition are valuable aspects of your health care team. Please pay attention to them when trying out any new health approaches. As with all supplements and diets, consult your trusted health care professional about your individual medical situation; this is for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnosis, treat, cure, or prevent a disease. Gall Bladder cleanses are not suggested for breastfeeding mothers, pregnant women, or people with high blood sugar.