How To Do A Natural Gallbladder Flush
The gallbladder is an important part of your body. It is located just under your liver and its primary function is to store the bile produced by the liver. This bile helps in digesting fats and oils taken from the food that we eat. Having noted these important facts, it is crucial that we take care of your health by doing a natural gallbladder flush.
One natural way in maintaining a healthy gallbladder is doing a gallbladder flush, most commonly known as a gallbladder cleanse. It might sound complicated to do, but rest assured that it is very easy and you can do it even at your own home.
What is a Gallbladder Flush?
A gallbladder cleanse makes use of a special diet to help prevent or treat existing gallstone formation. Gallstones are hard deposits that developed in a person’s gallbladder and cause symptoms such as nausea and vomiting as well as pain, especially when the stones are big enough to block one of the ducts in the gallbladder.
A gallbladder flush is performed so that the stones are eliminated.
How To Do A Natural Gallbladder Flush: Step-by-Step Process
This gallbladder flush that I recommend is the best that I’ve tried. There are many gallbladder flushing remedies that people use, and some of them greatly differ from each other. However, there is no wrong or right answer. Some people are just comfortable using other ingredients than what others are using. As long as they are effective in gallbladder cleansing, then there is no reason why not to use them except for underlying conditions and allergies.
Without further ado, here is the best natural gallbladder flush that I found and tested to work the finest. This is based on Christopher Hobbs’ Natural Liver Therapy published in 1993.
Day 1:
Eat only non-fat whole and unrefined foods for the first 24 hours.
One hour before you go to bed, mix ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil (cold-pressed) and ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice. Drink the mixture every 15 minutes until you finish a total of 1 cup of olive oil and lemon juice.
Alternatively, you may also replace lemon juice with fresh grapefruit juice. For the grapefruit juice, you may add ¼ to ½ cup each time you drink resulting in a total amount of 1 to 1 ½ cups of grapefruit.
When you go to bed, lie on your right side. This position will improve circulation throughout your liver. You may feel a bit nauseous after drinking a large amount of olive oil, especially when there are a lot of gallstones trying to come out. This feeling will likely disappear on the third day of your cleanse or as soon as your body eliminates the stones.
Day 2:
Upon waking up, drink 1 litre of warm distilled water with 2 tsp of unionized sea salt. If you do not want to use sea salt, you may substitute a freshly-squeezed juice from half a lemon.
This mixture provides a laxative effect and assists your intestines to discharge accumulated stones.
You are only allowed to eat softly cooked veggies and broth for the whole day.
Important Key Notes to Remember
In cases when this flush doesn’t work the first time, you can repeat the olive oil and lemon juice mixture for a second night. Loose stones might have gathered around your common bile duct, but there wasn’t enough force to push them out from the body entirely. Hence, you can repeat the procedure so that it can create more momentum to force the stones out.
But if everything works out fine the first time, you do not have to repeat the procedure soon. The interval between gallbladder flushes should be between 1 to 2 months to allow for compacted stones at the back of the gallbladder a chance to move forward for extraction.
The minimum flushes required to clean out the gallbladder is around 3-4 times. You can continue flushing until few to no stones are coming out. You also need to do maintenance flushing once or twice a year after your first gallbladder series has been completed. This is to ensure that no new stones will form.
Other Natural Remedies to Remove Gallstones
Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum)
Milk Thistle is one of the trusted herbs when it comes to getting rid of gallbladder stones and other digestive system problems as well.
Recipe:
- Crush 3 seeds of the plant.
- Add them to 3 cups of water and boil.
- Cool and strain.
Dosage: Drink the tea 2 to 3 times each day.
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
Dandelion may be a weed, but it sure does offer a lot of many health benefits to the body. It strengthens and improves the function of your gallbladder too.
Recipe:
- Mix 1 tsp of dried dandelion flowers in hot water.
- Steep for 5 minutes and strain.
- Adding honey for sweetness is an option.
Dosage: Drink the tea 2-3 times a day.
For people with diabetes, you may need to consult your doctor about taking dandelion tea as it can affect your blood sugar levels.
St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
St. John’s Wort is a great herbal remedy for anxiety, depression, and stress. But did you know that it also has a great effect on gallstones?
Recipe:
- Put 5 fresh leaves of the plant into 1 cup of boiled water.
- Steep for 5-10 minutes.
- Strain and drink.
Dosage: 2-3 cups of this tea a day will surely make a difference.
This tea is contraindicated for pregnant and breastfeeding women, and those with heart disease or taking heart medications.
Peppermint (Mentha x piperita)
One of my go-to herbal remedies will always be peppermint. It has a lot of health benefits including taking care of your gallbladder. It has terpenes that can directly dissolve gallstones.
Recipe:
- Boil 1 cup of water.
- Turn off the stove and add 7-10 fresh peppermint leaves.
- Steep for 10-15 minutes.
- Strain and drink.
- You may add honey for taste.
Dosage: A cup a day is a good start for a healthy gallbladder.
Vegetable Mix Juice
We’ve been told since we were kids how healthy vegetables are. A glass of vegetable juice a day will keep gallstones away.
Studies have been conducted that show people who eat veggies on a regular basis are less likely to undergo gallstone surgery.
Beetroot is one of the best vegetables for gallbladder health.
Recipe: Blend 1 beetroot, 1 cucumber, and 4 carrots every day.
Dosage: Drink this juice on a daily basis, preferably every morning.
A gallbladder flush is a natural way to cleanse your gallbladder for better health.
It can take a long time to complete an entire flushing series that can remove all the stones from your gallbladder.
However, the time you spend on doing it is all worth the effort in the end.
However, there is no reliable evidence yet and few studies are done about gallbladder cleansing with the use of natural remedies. While there are proponents of gallbladder flush who swear that this is effective, it is still essential to ask your doctor’s permission especially if you have other underlying medical conditions that you need to take into consideration. There are some ingredients that might not be suitable for your health.
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The olive oil, lemon juice and epsom salt flush is the worst thing you can do for your gallbladder. Oil and fats are what caused the gallbladder problems in the first place.
Agreed! I did it. Worst thing ever. I caused more damage than good. The best thing is to follow the medical medium. Been drinking 32oz of celery juice every morning. Best thing I could’ve ever done! This site has a lot of very good info but I’d do a hard pass on this recommendation.
Did the celery juice on an empty stomach help get rid of the gallstones?? Very interested
Hi Scot,
Fatty acids support liver health, according to a January 2018 review published in Endocrine, Metabolic & Immune Disorders. Liver Protective Effects of Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Interaction between Its Chemical Composition and the Cell-signaling Pathways Involved in Protection: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29141573/
xAnother research paper, which appeared in the journal _Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatolog_y in August 2019 (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17474124.2019.1634544?journalCode=ierh20&), suggests that olive oil, when used as part of a Mediterranean-style diet, may slow the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and protect against metabolic disorders. This dietary pattern emphasizes the consumption of whole foods, especially fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fish and seafood.
Furthermore, ingesting 20 grams of olive oil (about 1 1/3 tablespoons) per day for three months may reduce the severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and decrease body fat mass, according to a clinical trial published in the journal Nutrition in January 2019. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0899900718301023
In working with clients over the last 12 years, prolonged use of olive and other oils and fats will cause gallstones, sludge and debris and an overall slowing of the metabolism due to the buildup that occurs. Unless there is an adequate supply of fiber in the diet this will occur. This being said, the average American is only getting about half of the fiber they need to keep their digestive system on track. There are better and more mild remedies to dissolve stones, sludge and debris and get the balance back into one’s digestive system.
I just found out that I have .6mm of gallstone but no symptoms at this time. Doctor said it will not be able to pass. I’m looking for something that will help reduce the size and pass it. Could you kindly give me more information about milder remedies to dissolve the stone? Much appreciated..
Wish I knew of this over 20 years ago!! Before it was removed. 🙁
I agree that this is not a good idea for a flush. Eating a mediterranean diet and using 1 1/2 TBS of olive oil a day is a big difference form taking 1/4 cup of olive oil at one time, it is just overloading the liver. I don’t know why this olive oil flush has become so popular, I definitely haven’t read anything that actually supports this process.
Worked for me
I did the flush over 20 years ago and lost 30 lbs. fast.
Dear team, Thanks thanks thanks so much. My mom and I tried the flush (this would make round two for both of us in the past 10 years). Mom ended up throwing up and it didn’t work for me. We loved the results of the flush 8 years ago when we both did it the first time and decided to do the remaining suggestions because neither of us wanted to drink the EVOO and the lemon juice a second time. We started with the Milk Thistle Tea. Your instructions say to use 3 seeds per 3 cups of water. May I use more seeds? Like a teaspoon? The water and 3 seeds taste like nothing.
<3 You guys are the best! <3
What will this do if you have a really large gall stone? The doctor has told me that I have a really large one that will no longer fit in the duct so I don’t have to worry about it getting stuck there, but it is huge and takes up a good portion of the gall bladder. Will this dissolve it, make it smaller or will this just aggravate the whole thing?
Intermittent fasting will definitely get the gallbladder and liver in line. I also take a Milkthistle and dandelion root extract.
Billy: I have been faithfully doing Intermittent Fasting for probably 6 years now. So far, I still have fatty liver disease due to taking antihistamines for allergies, which depletes choline from the liver/gallbladder. Once you get a choline deficiency, WHAM, you’ve also got NAFLD! BUGGER! So far, after 6 years of doing this, I have had close to zero improvement in my liver nor gallbladder functions. I have read that Intermit. Fasting is not good for some older women, and I guess that is me…. I am very discouraged, even though I do SO MANY of the suggestions for liver and gallbladder!!! Nothing seems to work for me, but that may be because of the heavy metal poisonings I have never been able to overcome. My liver just doesn’t seem to be able to handle the heavy metals, no matter what! I have tried many suggested Heavy Metal detoxes, but they always re-poison me, rather than leave my body. The only thing that helps me SOMEWHAT is glutathione I.V.s, but those are expensive!
The epsom salt flush worked for me, liquid meals, herbal teas like burdock root, Oregon grape and gentian really helped me a lot , also castor oil patches were a life saver for me , there are a lot of natural remedies for the gallbladder that actually works.
Any ideas on how to get rid of bile in the stomach when the gallbladder has Ben removed?
Worked for me. I did a similar flush to this 6 times and I have passed more than 1000 stones!
My husband and I do the Andreas Moritz’s The Amazing Liver Cleanse. Longer prep time (drink 32oz apple juice every day for 6 days) to soften up the stones and then drink epsom salts in water before and after the oil mixed with fresh grapefruit juice (our preference) or lemon juice to open up the bike ducts. I have done a series of them a decade ago when my 37 year old sister died from her gallbladder and now that I am married my husband and I are starting them again. You should flush every month until stone free. I don’t want to give any more specific details on how to do it because you should read Moritz’s book so you can do them safely and you’ll understand the why behind each and every step.
Yes that is the one I did multiple times as well and passed sooo many stones!
I did something very much like that – possibly identical – a few years ago, and was wondering why this one did not include the apple juice preparation (or alternatively apple cider vinegar, which doesn’t have the risk of constipation that apple juice does due to all that sugar). The cleanse worked brilliantly and I passed dozens of stones. I repeated it once a month for a few months – very few stones the second time, but a lot of cholesterol. The third or fourth time it was pretty clear, so I stopped. I’m planning to do it again now, though I have no symptoms. (Didn’t have any symptoms the first time either.)