Methylation, Digestion, and the Gallbladder

There is a connection between poor digestion and methylation that involves the health and function of our gall bladder.

The Liver and Gall Bladder play a major role in optimum digestion and is directly related to methylation and the MTHFR genes. Methylation problems alone aren’t going to give you a digestive issue; but MTHFR and methylation issues will weaken the function of your gallbladder.

Once that starts, then your digestion can really fall apart. In the modern world of stress, toxins, and malnutrition, gallbladders are being destroyed at a higher rate than 50-60 years ago.

What is Bile?

Bile is a substance in the gallbladder that is released into the small intestine. It breaks up the fats in your diet and sort of acts the same way as dish soap does – cleaning the grease and fats off of your dishes. Bile is also capable of cleaning the bacteria off the lining of your small intestine. This is one big reason why people with bile problems, which comes from the MTHFR and methylation problems, can also develop SIBO.

Lack of this bile is why fat and bacteria build up in the intestines, and this can be a big issue for folks who are trying to overcome gut infections like SIBO, Candida etc. This makes it much harder to get rid of the overgrowth, heal their guts, and get it working efficiently.

Bile is made out of cholesterol which is produced in the liver and sent into the gallbladder for storage. When the bile reaches the gall bladder it is mainly a mixture of water, bile salts, fats, and a half dozen other minerals and salts.

This is what’s supposed to be released when we eat foods containing a lot of fat. However, we all know too well, that it doesn’t always mean its’ going to happen that way. High stressful lifestyles, low stomach acid, estrogen dominance, toxin and pesticide exposure - can all stop the bile from being released. All these things not only hurt our methylation cycles, but it hurts our gallbladder as well – and impacts our digestive systems.

The gallbladder doesn’t just help with breaking down fats or clearing out any bacteria in our intestines; it also has a big influence on our ability to DETOX. That is an absolute necessity in order to help keep our bodies clean from bacterial overgrowth; or other toxins from building up in our intestines that will then be absorbed or leak into our bloodstream. The gallbladder plays a major role in helping our bodies to detox.

The liver cleanses our entire volume of blood approximately 7 times per hour. If we’re being exposed to allergens, toxins, fatty foods and other unhealthy items, you can imagine how much toxins the liver collects. And if you have a methylation issue, it can hamper that ability or cause too many toxins in the liver. When it’s time to empty the liver, it then dumps it into the gallbladder. If you’re gallbladder isn’t releasing those toxins regularly, the toxins in the gallbladder can create this “toxic stew” and cause inflammation, pain, and damage the gallbladder. The gallbladder can actually wind up getting pretty sick.

What so harmful about the bile?

The gallbladder contains many toxins to include:

1. Harmful Toxins:

Bisphenol A, flame retardants, pesticides, glyphosphates, glyphosate, etc

2. Hormones:

Thyroid, estrogen etc, -

3. Heavy Metals:

Mercury, lead, cadmium, etc

Obviously, if the liver filters out the toxins and dumps it in the gallbladder, it can carry some nasty stuff; and many of these toxins NEED methylation to be fully detoxified. Folks with methylation issues or the MTHFR are going to run out of methyl groups faster, and when that happens it affects their biochemistry and starts causing the gallbladder to malfunction.

As long as the bile is runny and healthy (like the dish soap - you know how slippery that stuff is), it will leave the gallbladder and run down into the gut quickly. That will make sure the toxins our liver filtered out of our blood stream, leaves our bodies during digestion. When the gallbladder gets “sick” it becomes thick and sticky like molasses.

Estrogen is NOTORIOUS for causing gallbladder problems and women are far more susceptible, especially with a methylation issues. Remember, estrogen needs methylation in order to be detoxed out of our bodies. The more estrogen that builds up into our bodies the more methyl groups and B-vitamins we need to get rid of it. A whole lot of estrogen from pregnancy, toxins-including lavender and tea tree, and long-term usage of birth control pills; creates a higher need for more methyl groups.

But as we know, not everyone can methylate properly, so we usually have damaged guts, or other genetic mutations that can hamper our ability to absorb B vitamins from our diet. These folks tend to develop gallbladder problems unless they get their diet and methylation cycles balanced.

If we run out of methyl groups to provide sufficient methylation, then the body (liver and gallbladder) will start to use sugar to complete the detox. This in turn, makes our bile sticky like molasses. Bile this thick can not get out of the gallbladder!! (Hello gallbladder inflammation and pain.)

Believe it or not, many folks find out they have a sludgy bile via ultrasounds. But for some reason, no one tells us it’s from the body using sugar to detox instead of methyl groups. As the sticky sludge sits in the gallbladder day after day, to weeks, months and years… it begins to inflame and damage the gallbladder. This when the bile gets dehydrated and starts to crystalize and form gallbladder stones. Not only does this sticky situation prevent adequate detoxification of bile, heavy metals, hormones, drugs and other toxins we need to remove; it will eventually disease the organ itself.

We can help prevent that by optimizing our methylation cycles by increasing taurine, phosphatidylcholine (form of choline), folate B12, and Betaine (TMG).

Taurine is produced by the methyl cycle, and when they tested rats with gallbladder sludge, they found that taurine will make their bile get slippery again and rescue their livers from damage.

The methylation genes PEMT and BHMT are found in the liver and they make choline phospholipids which are necessary to keep the bile flowing. Choline protects the liver and gallbladder from damage from the “dish soap action” and promotes the movement of cholesterol into the bile so it can be removed from the body. When we run out of choline, cholesterol and fat literally get stuck in the liver and muscles, leading to fatty liver disease and muscle damage.

These items can give your gallbladder the methylation support it needs to take better care of your digestion. Taking care of it will help support and protect the gallbladder and we would see less cases of SIBO, gallbladder removals, and healthier folks.

In Conclusion:

Support your methylation, keep the bile running smoothly, and your gut, gallbladder and the rest of your body will thank you.

Love and Light,

Happy Healing