You may not give much thought to bile production. Bile doesn’t get a lot of limelight, but it is just as crucial to your digestive system as your saliva, stomach acid, and gut bacteria. And it needs to be discussed as it’s very important!

Bile is a digestive juice made in the liver and stored in the gallbladder. It is made up of mostly water, bile salts, phospholipids, cholesterol, and electrolytes.

Because water and oil (fat) don’t mix, bile’s job is that of an emulsifier. It helps to break down the fats from food so they become water-soluble and can be used in the body’s cells.

Bile allows you to:

• Digest fat
• Absorb fat into your cells
• Absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K
• Removal of toxins and metabolic waste, including excess cholesterol
• Encourage detoxification of heavy metals
• Helps keep the gut bacteria in balance
• Lubricates the colon, allowing the food to go through the digestive tract easier

Your body depends on bile for nutrition, detoxification, hormone health, mineral balance, and much more.

If you have digestive symptoms, you might not be producing sufficient bile.

I’ve found that many of my clients are not producing enough bile  – and we’ll talk about what symptoms are associated with that and what you can do about it in a few.

Before we get into that, let’s just talk about what the gallbladder is.

This is a sack that stores the bile that is created in the liver. While many do get it removed (about 500,000 in the US annually), it is useful and is worth keeping it healthy.

If yours has already been removed, you do still create bile – it just drips into the digestive tract. It’s just as important for you to maintain healthy bile production.

In a future post, we’ll explore signs your gallbladder function may be decreased and what to do if yours has already been removed.

Here’s a quick look at a diagram of this area:

There are many signs that you might not be producing enough bile, and these include:

• Trapped gas
• Stomach cramps
• Pain under the rib cage, on the right side
• Nausea after eating fatty foods
• Floating stools
• Heartburn
• Bloating
• Vitamin deficiencies (especially A, D, E, and K)
• Bad-smelling gas
• Pale-colored stool
• Constipation
• Trouble digesting fat
• Unexpected weight gain
• Fatigue
• Gallstones

If some or all of the above resonate with you, there’s a chance that your body is under-producing bile.

Poor bile production can point to poor liver health or gallbladder problems. If you go long-term with little to no bile production, you will end up with more than just poor digestion. You might also experience a myriad of symptoms.

The reasons why someone is creating less-than-ideal amounts of bile can range. These include: