The Gallbladder & Liver Flush

Millions of Americans and others on a traditional diet of consistent overfeeding suffer needlessly from gallbladder disease or gallstones.  The standard medical treatment for gallstones is generally gallbladder surgery in which either the gallstones themselves or the entire gallbladder is removed.  Going through surgery and potentially losing an entire organ doesn’t sound very appealing to most people, which is why “alternative” cures for gallstones have become so popular.

What causes gallstones?

Eating a diet high in cholesterol and fructose, as well as having iron deficiency anemia, is an excellent recipe for developing gallstones.  That’s exactly what the Standard American Diet consists of though!  To avoid getting gallstones in the first place (as well as to naturally shrink gallstones), don’t consume oxidized cholesterol in the form of fried eggs and overcooked meats (opt for poached or raw eggs and lightly cooked or raw meats), consume at least ten servings of vegetables per day, decrease your consumption of fruits, and never consume high fructose corn syrup or agave nectar.  Consuming an adequate amount of iron in your diet from leafy green vegetables and grass-fed meats, as well as consuming large amounts of vitamin C, can also reduce your risk.  It’s also crucial to maintain an optimal body fat percentage because being fat is a huge risk factor for gallbladder disease.

What are the other risk factors?

In medical school we learned that the risk factors for gallstones are The Four Fs: Female, Forty, Fat, and Fertile.  The symptoms of gallstones (gallbladder colic) include abdominal pain, pain in the right shoulder, pain between the shoulder blades, acid reflux, nausea, constipation, weight gain, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, and other relatively common health complaints.  That’s a HUGE target market for hoaxsters and quacks looking to make a bunch of money off of people seeking alternatives to surgery!

The Apple Juice & Olive Oil Cleanse

Over the years I’ve noticed that just about every “holistic” practitioner promotes some variation of a liver and gallbladder flush, usually consisting of fasting for a period of 12 hours to 3 days or longer on apples or apple juice (or lemons and lemon juice), then drinking a cup of olive oil or epsom salts before bed, lying on one’s side, and then waking up the following morning to expel the gallstones through bowel movements.  And I know MANY women and men who have tried the gallbladder and liver flush themselves who believe the flush caused them to expel gallstones.

Have I Been Living Under A Rock?

I don’t promote any of these gallbladder and liver flushes, and it’s not because I’m not “in the know” on how to properly detox the body.  This is because the apple juice, olive oil, and epsom salts gallbladder flush is a scam.  Yes, I know it causes everyone who uses it to poop out hard round things that look like they might be gallstones.  Unfortunately, the hard things found in your poop on “the morning after” are NOT gallstones.  A quick review of literature in which these gallstones have been examined to find out materials they are composed of will confirm that the “stones” are composed of the concoction you drank before bed the night before you pooped out the stones.  There are two of these studies here and here, and I’m sure you can find more of them when you search the medical journals.

The best way to prevent gallstones and avoid gallbladder surgery is to lose weight, change your diet to consist of a large amount of vegetables and a low amount of oxidized (heated) cholesterol, and never consume high fructose corn syrup or agave nectar.  This is a long-term strategy that may require dramatically changing your diet and lifestyle, but it will work much better than a gallbladder flush scam consisting of a temporary fad diet.  There are no quick fixes when it comes to prevention and healing from gallstones!

I’d like to hear from you!  Have you ever tried a gallbladder & liver flush or some variation of this?  Did you poop out hard things resembling gallstones?  Post your comments below and share your experience with other readers!