🌿 Cultivating Flow: Thyroid, Gallbladder, Bile & Statins
Let’s Connect the Dots Behind Reflux, Fatigue, and Digestive Struggles.
Many women in this community may share a common and frustrating combination of health challenges:
💔 Autoimmune thyroid conditions like Hashimoto’s ✂️ Gallbladder removal (cholecystectomy) 💊 And statin medication for cholesterol
Individually, each of these can affect your energy, digestion, and nutrient levels. But combined together, they can create symptoms like acid reflux, fatigue, brain fog, poor fat digestion, and inflammation.
Let’s walk through what’s really going on — and how you can gently begin to support healing.
🔁 Your Digestive Flow Relies On a Delicate Balance
Healthy digestion depends on a few key things happening in sync:
1. Thyroid hormones keep the liver and intestines moving 2. The liver makes bile from cholesterol 3. The gallbladder stores and concentrates bile 4. Bile is released when you eat to help digest fats and absorb fat-soluble vitamins
🚧 What Happens When These Systems Are Disrupted?
1️⃣ Autoimmune Thyroid Disease (like Hashimoto’s)
•Slows your metabolism, digestion, and bile flow •Causes bile to become thick and sluggish •Increases gut inflammation and permeability •Slows liver detox → toxin and hormone buildup
🧠 Result: You’re tired, bloated, constipated, and foggy — and your bile isn’t doing its job.
2️⃣ Gallbladder Removal (Cholecystectomy)
•Bile drips constantly instead of being released at mealtimes •It’s diluted, so it can’t break down fats effectively •Leads to fat malabsorption, reflux, loose stools, or nutrient deficiencies
🛑 Without the gallbladder, your body lacks the rhythm and potency to move bile efficiently.
3️⃣ Enter Statin Drugs
•Reduce cholesterol, which is needed to make bile •Lower CoQ10, essential for energy in the liver and heart •May worsen fatigue, brain fog, and hormonal imbalances (since hormones are made from cholesterol too) We’ve already discussed this 😉.
💊 So now the ingredients to even make bile are low — on top of already sluggish flow and poor storage.
🔥 The Reflux-Fatigue Cycle
When bile is sluggish or poorly delivered, fat can tend to sit undigested in the stomach and small intestine. ➡ This causes bloating, reflux, gas, and nutrient loss. ➡ The thyroid slows down further due to stress and inflammation. ➡ And statins reduce your ability to bounce back — creating a loop of low energy, poor digestion, and frustration.
🌱 What You Can Do to Support Healing
Even with this challenging trio, healing is possible — with the right support for your unique biochemistry.
✅ 1. Support Bile Flow
•Take ox bile or bile salts with meals (especially if they contain fat) •Use digestive enzymes that include lipase to break down fat •Try phosphatidylcholine (sunflower lecithin based) for bile fluidity •Add taurine and glycine (amino acids that help make and move bile). These are also available through bone broth, not just supplements.
✅ 2. Rebuild Nutrients Statins Deplete
•CoQ10 (ubiquinol, beef liver) to restore energy at the cellular level •Sun exposure for Vitamin D •Magnesium (foot soaks, oral, topical, sprouted pumpkin seeds) •Omega-3 fatty acids for hormone and brain support (COD Liver Oil, Sardines, Fatty Fish)
✅ 3. Strengthen Your Thyroid
•Get enough selenium, zinc, B12, and heme iron (ALL of these are in Beef Liver. Eggs are a good source of selenium and iodine) •Consider going gluten- and dairy-free to lower autoimmune flares while healing. **Beware of toxic ingredients in packaged gluten free foods and dairy free foods •Support gut repair bone broth or Paleo Valley’s bone broth powder, Probiotics from a little sauerkraut or kefir, and possibly utilize Colostrum.
✅ 4. Eat to Support the Liver
•Eat bitter greens (arugula, dandelion, endive) to trigger bile flow •Drink warm lemon water before meals, a Tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar or a teaspoon of Digestive Bitters •Avoid refined sugars, processed foods, and inflammatory oils •Do not drink coffee on an empty or near-empty stomach. At the same time, do not drink coffee on a very full stomach that hasn’t had a little time to start breaking the food down.
Final Word:
You are NOT BROKEN. Your body can heal with care, knowledge and grace. Healing isn’t always about doing more, sometimes we just have to understand our body’s original design and make small intentional shifts that restore the flow.
🦢