If you’ve never had gallstones or worried about getting your gallbladder removed, you may not understand just how important it is. Not only do we need our gallbladder to properly digest and absorb fats in our diet, but we also need it to get rid of estrogen and toxins. We get rid of those in our bile. Bile is also antimicrobial and can prevent bacterial overgrowth like SIBO. There’s also a link between bile and blood sugar metabolism. A change in bile production or composition is associated with insulin resistance. Once you start to learn about exactly how the gallbladder functions, it’s easy to see why it is so important for our hormones.
One of the most common hormone imbalances that contributes to gallstone formation is estrogen dominance. Estrogen increases the amount of cholesterol to bile salts, which can cause thicker bile. This is a precursor for gallstones. This is why it is known that pregnancy, HRT and hormonal birth control all increase risk of gallstones. Excess estrogen during the third trimester can lead to saturated bile and impaired gallbladder function–increasing the risk of gallstones. Gallbladder disease is one of the top reasons for hospitalization after birth for the mother. During pregnancy, estrogen and progesterone levels high, after birth the levels drop significantly. You can see more gallbladder symptoms pop up 2-4 months postpartum due to the changes in these hormones and for some rapid weight loss (another common cause of gallbladder symptoms).
Progesterone also impacts gallbladder function since it can impair the function of the sphincter of oddi, which interrupts the flow of bile. If we combine a poor functioning gallbladder and saturated bile (from excess estrogen), then you have the perfect recipe for gallstone formation. A lot of women will see shifts in gallbladder symptoms around ovulation and/or during the luteal phase, which makes sense since this is when we see an increase in estrogen and then progesterone.
If you’ve been getting my newsletter and in this community for a while, you know I am obsessed with thyroid health. I struggled with my thyroid health for a long time and after learning about the connection to the gallbladder from Olivia (this week’s podcast guest), I’m incredibly grateful I never dealt with gallbladder issues as a result of it.
How exactly does our thyroid impact our gallbladder and vice versa? Our thyroid health has a big impact on cholesterol metabolism. Hypothyroidism can lead to high cholesterol and poor cholesterol metabolism for many. This disruption in cholesterol metabolism leads to saturated bile and reduces bile flow. This leads to an increased risk for gallstones as well as bacterial overgrowth. The downstream impact of this is possible SIBO, inflammation in the gut, gallstone formation, and impaired gallstone function.
On the flip side, our gallbladder also has a big impact on our thyroid function and specifically the amount of available T3 (active thyroid hormone) available in the body. Our gallbladder releases bile into the digestive system. This is essential to breakdown and absorb fats and fat soluble vitamins. Vitamin A is important for activating thyroid hormone receptors. Fat soluble vitamins, in general, are important for converting T4 to T3 (active thyroid hormone). Having a healthy balance of gut bacteria and a functioning digestive system is also important for converting T4 to T3. We also need to move bile easily so that we can get rid of estrogen and toxins otherwise they recirculate, which can lead to less available thyroid hormone and hypothyroid symptoms.
You might be wondering if there is anything you can do for your gallbladder if you already have gallstones and are at risk of needing gallbladder surgery. There actually is a lot you can do to prevent having surgery. Olivia went through four major steps that she uses with clients in our episode. Let’s get into each one.
The first step in shrinking gallstones and avoiding gallbladder surgery is to address inflammation, especially in the gut. The gut connects to the liver through the gut-liver axis. Inflammation and stress in the gut will also lead to a higher toxic burden and further disrupt gallbladder function and hormone balance. This is all a recipe for gallstone formation since it alters bile composition. Helpful areas to assess for this:
When you restore bile to its normal composition, this can start shrinking gallstones. This means you need to get to the root cause of what’s causing the bile to thicken in the first place. Is it cholesterol metabolism, poor thyroid function, estrogen dominance, overgrowth in the gut, or poor diet?
When you normalize the composition of bile, this helps ensure it will leave the gallbladder and be excreted into the digestive system. Toxins and estrogen also leave the body in bile. When we are not having regular bowel movements and/or have saturated bile we can reasborb toxins and hormones.
The previous three steps will improve bile composition and begin to shrink gallstones, but there are two types of herbs that can also help:
Nutrition is also key. A gallbladder diet is very high in fiber, leaner protein, colorful fruits, vegetables and of course healthy fats.
I did a great podcast episode with @gallbladder.nutritionist, where we discuss that many gallbladder issues are the result of a hormone imbalance. You can listen to the episode here!
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