Gallbladder Cleanse
The gallbladder cleanse plan below is specifically designed to enhance the results of natural liver, gallbladder and gallstones flush protocols. A key focus is given to safety to minimize potential side effects. We included easy to make gallbladder cleanse recipes using natural ingredients such as apple cider vinegar, lemon, olive oil, liver and gallbladder cleanse herbs, colon cleanse protocols and more.
We hope this guide will help you enjoy the many benefits of doing a natural liver gallbladder cleanse properly while minimizing the side effects.
Gallbladder flush
Gallbladder diet and supplements plan summary
| 5-6 day liver flush | Details & Recommendations |
|---|---|
| Gallbladder diet |
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| Gallbladder & liver cleansing herbs |
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| Oxygen colon cleanse |
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| Flush day | |
| Fluh day protocol |
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Before starting your gallbladder cleanse
If you experience gallstones symptoms such as abdominal pain, yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes (jaundice), fever, gallstone pain or any other signs of gallstones, you should always consult your doctor in order to identify what causes gallstones in your body, the types of gallstones you may have and the suggested treatment.
If you are looking for a natural liver, gallstone or gallbladder cleanse, below you will find the top home remedies for gallstones as a part of a liver, gallbladder and gallstones natural treatment. To get back to the main table above, click on the orange arrow on the right bottom part of your screen.
How do you cleanse your gallbladder?
Liver and gallbladder cleanse
Gallbladder cleanse and liver flush protocols are popular home remedies claimed to get rid of gallstones naturally while supporting healthy liver and gallbladder detoxification.
Most liver and gallbladder flushes are based on the late Dr. Hulda Clark liver cleanse protocol that was also published in Andreas Moritz liver and gallbladder flush. Gallbladder cleanse protocols typically include a 7 day liver cleanse diet, where the last day known as the flush day, is where you pass the gallstones.
5-6 day liver cleanse diet
Also known as gallbladder diet cleanse, the main objectives of the diet are:
Soften and dissolve gallstones
Consume liver cleansing foods and herbs known to:
- Soften and dissolve gallstones.
- Relax the bile duct making it easy for the gallstones to pass.
- Support liver and gallbladder health and detoxification.
Gallstones foods to avoid
As a part of the liver gallbladder cleanse, the protocol requires to avoid eating foods that can aggravate gallbladder or cause gallbladder attacks, especially:
- Fatty or greasy food.
- Food high in cholesterol, saturated fat, trans fatty acids.
- Refined sugars.
- Junk or processed foods.
- Fried foods.
- Dairy products high in fat such as high fat milk, cheese, ice cream, butter.
- High fat meats.
- Large meals, overeating.
It is also important to pay attention to food sensitivities food intolerance and food allergies as they may aggravate gallbladder symptoms (1). You may also want to avoid overeating and eat relatively light during this week.
Gallbladder friendly foods
According to research, a high intake of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats in an energy-balanced diet is associated with a reduced risk for gallstone disease in men (3). The suggested strategy to include these gallbladder friendly fats is to replace bad fats such as animal fats or fats coming from processed junk foods with good fats, fruits and vegetables. Gallbladder friendly foods include:
- Omega 3 polyunsaturated fats are found in oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines as well as in flaxseeds, chia seeds and hemp seeds.
- Monounsaturated fats such as found in cold pressed olive oil, avocado, raw nuts.
- Raw fresh fruits and raw or steamed vegetables and leafy greens (4, 5, 6).
Cleanse the colon
When the body dissolves gallstones, they are flushed out of the body throughout normal bowel movements together with other toxins that are eliminated from the liver and gallbladder during this process. Accumulated waste buildup in the colon can cause these toxins to circulate in the body longer making you feel sick. This is common and known as a healing crises.
Removing the toxic waste buildup before and after the gallstones – gallbladder – liver cleanse by doing an oxygen colon cleanse (Oxy-Powder) was shown to make a significant difference in minimizing many of these side effects and is considered a common best practice in most protocols.
The overnight colon cleanse recipe is a good example, and it is designed to cleanse your colon quickly and safely by removing these toxins and accumulated waste buildup as you sleep. Ideally you should do the overnight colon cleanse every night during the 5-6 day liver cleanse diet, and also the morning after the flush day.
Flush day: one day gallbladder cleanse
Also known as the flush day or the one day liver flush, in this last day of the gallbladder cleanse, a special protocol is required in order to increase the bile flow which may trigger the release the gallstones, as well as to relax the bile duct, making it easy for the gallstones to pass.
The liver flush protocol may vary between one source to another, although the general guidelines are usually the same and include:
- Noon – 2 PM: Breakfast & Lunch: you should eat light per the gallbladder cleanse guidelines, preferably soft easy to digest foods such as fresh fruits on an empty stomach for breakfast, and soup for lunch. Avoid protein or fat rich foods. If you are not hungry, do not eat. In any case, do not eat after 2 -4 PM. Drink only water and only if you are thirsty.
- 7 PM: Epsom salt: mix 1 tablespoon of epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) in 8 ounces of warm spring or distilled water. You may want to be near a bathroom as epsom salt may cause liquid stools to some people.
- 9 PM: Liver gallbladder flush olive oil drink: also known as the liver cleanse drink or liver flush drink:
pour ½ cup olive oil into a glass jar. Mix with ½ – ¾ fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. Shake well. Visit the restroom if you need to. Drink the liver cleanse drink. The taste of this drink may be tricky for some people. Many people find that having the grapefruit cold may improve the taste. Others prefer to drink using straw. If you haven’t eaten anything since 2 PM or consumed a lot of liquids, you may find this liver cleanse drink somewhat…refreshing. Weird, but true. Some people prefer oranges over grapefruit, this works as well. What about lemons? based on our testing, lemons with olive oil work great for salad dressing. Drinking it as a liver flush drink however, produces one of the worst tasting cleansing drinks we have ever tried. And we have tried many… - Lie down immediately: immediately after drinking the olive oil – grapefruit mix, go to bed and lie on your right side with both legs close to the abdomen for 30 min. Many people prefer to have the drink in their bedroom to make this more effective. All protocols stated that this is a critical point – lie down immediately after drinking the liver flush drink.
- Go to sleep: After the 30 min, choose any position you are used to and try to get a good night sleep. If at any time during the night you feel the urge to make a bowel movement, do so. If based on your previous flushes you found it hard to sleep, Dr. hulda clark recommended to take ornithine supplement with the olive oil drink. Based on our practice, research and the gallbladder cleanse reviews we gathered, we found research data suggesting that L-ornithine supplementation has the potential to relieve stress and improve sleep quality related to fatigue (8). Most people that did the liver flush however, didn’t notice a big difference with or without ornithine. Most people agree that sleeping during the liver flush is something you need to get used to.
- Next morning: upon waking, take 4-6 capsules of Oxy-Powder to help your colon and intestinal tract flush the gallstones released from the liver and gallbladder during the flush. Expect to have a series of bowel movements during the day, so you may want to be near a bathroom.
Gallbladder cleanse results
Are these gallstones?
Perhaps the biggest controversial element of the liver flush protocol is the presence of gallstones in stool the day after the flush. Most people who follow the liver flush protocol above did report passing many green-brown stones with their bowel movements. Are these gallstones? research data is lacking in this area. Analyzing the thousands of anecdotal evidence, testimonials and reviews however, suggest that most people did feel much better after the liver and gallbladder cleanse, regardless of the number of stones they saw that came out of them. This is an important observation that sometimes tend to be overlooked with all the excitement of seeking stones in stool.
To summarize our findings:
- Benefits from the liver and gallbladder cleanse are typically achieved after a series of cleanses and flushes.
- Maintaining the gallbladder cleanse between flushes is very important and typically improve the benefits of the flushes.
- The number or appearance of the stones do not indicate the effectiveness of the flush. Many people reported significant improvements in many symptoms without passing many stones.
- Many people reported that the number of stones they pass reduced from one flush to another.
Herbs for gallbladder cleanse
When it comes to the best herbs for gallbladder and gallstones issues, a common practice is to use a combination of herbs known to dissolve gallstones, with liver cleansing herbs, especially herbs for liver and gallbladder detoxification, regeneration and health. This is done for two main reasons.
One is to improve the effectiveness of the gallstones, liver and gallbladder cleanse; the other is for safety reasons. Certain herbs for gallstones, gallbladder and liver cleansing herbs have the ability to relax the bile duct, helping the body to pass gallstones more easily, minimizing the chances that of a gallstone get stuck. Using liver cleansing herbs can also help the body to better handle the released toxins from the gallbladder and liver, and support the regeneration of damaged liver tissue. The liver is one of the primary organs in the body that breaks down and removes toxins. When you dissolve the gallstones, it is common to have increased toxins released from the liver as well.
The best most commonly used liver cleansing herbs that are typically combined together include chanca piedra (phyllanthus niruri), milk thistle seed (silybum marianum), chicory root (cichorium intybus), dandelion (taraxacum officinale), greater celandine (chelidonium majus), yellow dock root (rumex crispus) and turmeric (curcumin).
Liquid liver cleansing herbs tinctures are preferred over the powdered or capsules form due to improved absorption in the body and the ease of use. The liquid extract makes it easier to use as a part of the gallbladder cleanse; mixing the liquid herbs for gallbladder cleanse tincture with teas, water and other detox or cleansing drinks.
A good example for a gallbladder juice cleanse recipe is our beet carrot gallbladder liver cleansing juice that combines liver cleansing foods & herbs: beet-carrot liver cleansing juice.
Herbs for gallbladder cleanse
Livatrex uses the spagyrex® extraction process that preserves the complete nutritional profile and freshness of the herbs. Livatrex formula combines organic wildcrafted gallstones, gallbladder and liver cleansing herbs specifically designed to help the body to naturally soften and dissolve gallstones, detoxify fatty deposits and buildup in the gallbladder, and promote overall liver health and regeneration.
Livatrex has also been included in our gallstones, gallbladder, and liver cleanse and other toxins elimination protocols for a long time with great results in terms of effectiveness, ease of use and safety.
Gallbladder cleanse recipe apple cider vinegar
Apple cider gallbladder cleanse
Here is a very popular gallbladder cleanse recipe with apple cider vinegar many people consider as a liver cleanse recipe staple during the 5-6 days of the gallbladder cleanse, and also between flushes:
- Squeeze the juice of ½ organic lemon and add 1 teaspoon of organic raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar into 16 ounces of distilled or spring water.
- Add 1 dropper of Livatrex.
- Drink 2-3 times a day, always on an empty stomach. Many people find this drink as a good alternative to flavored water or other beverages.
What not to eat when you have gallstones?
when you have gallstones, you may want to avoid eating foods foods that aggravate gallbladder or foods that can cause gallbladder attacks, especially:
- Fatty or greasy food.
- Food high in cholesterol, saturated fat, trans fatty acids.
- Refined sugars
- Fried foods.
- Dairy products high in fat such as high fat milk, cheese, ice cream, butter.
- High fat meats.
- Large meals, overeating.
It is also important to pay attention to food sensitivities food intolerance and food allergies as they may aggravate gallbladder symptoms (1).
Gallbladder friendly foods
Gallbladder friendly foods that may include:
Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats
According to research, a high intake of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats in an energy-balanced diet is associated with a reduced risk for gallstone disease in men (3). The suggested strategy to include these gallbladder friendly fats is to replace bad fats such as animal fats or fats coming from processed junk foods with good fats:
- Polyunsaturated fats (PUFA), especially omega 3 polyunsaturated fats are suggested by a few studies as a possible option to prevent formation of cholesterol gallstones (2). Omega 3 polyunsaturated fats are found in oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines as well as in flaxseeds, chia seeds and hemp seeds. If you decide to get your omega 3 from fish, always prefer wild small fish only such as wild alaskan salmon (sockeye), flounder and others and watch for the mercury content.
- Monounsaturated fats (MUFA) such as found in cold pressed olive oil, avocado, raw nuts. To get the most benefits, use these on their raw cold state. Do not heat the oil or consume roasted nuts. Heating may alter the chemical compositions of the fats which can actually backfire in some cases.
Fruits and vegetables
According to the medical literature, increased consumption of vegetables and fruits may decrease the risk of gallbladder cancer (5) and extrahepatic bile duct cancer. Folate, vitamin C, and insoluble fiber found in vegetables and fruits might be key contributors to the observed protective effect (4).
A study that analyzed the eating habits of 77,090 women, suggested that high consumption of fruits and vegetables such as green leafy vegetables, citrus fruits, vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables and cruciferous vegetables may have a protective role against risk of cholecystectomy in women. Cholecystectomy is the surgical removal of the gallbladder in cases of gallstones and other gallbladder conditions (6).
Gallbladder Cleanse: References
- Alternative Medicine Review Volume 14, Number 3 2009 Nutritional Approaches to Prevention and Treatment of Gallstones Alan R. Gaby, MD (1).
- Biliary Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Telocytes in Gallstone Disease (2).
- The effect of long-term intake of cis unsaturated fats on the risk for gallstone disease in men: a prospective cohort study (3).
- The relationship between vegetable/fruit consumption and gallbladder/bile duct cancer: A population-based cohort study in Japan (4).
- Diet and gallbladder cancer: a case-control study (5).
- Fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of cholecystectomy in women (6).
- Effect of different olive oils on bile excretion in rats fed cholesterol-containing and cholesterol-free diets (7).
- Randomised controlled trial of the effects of L-ornithine on stress markers and sleep quality in healthy workers (8).