Anyone who has ever suffered from gallstones probably doesn’t want to relive the pain of that experience, but what are these hard little substances produced by our bodies that can cause us such grief?
Gallstones are called that because they are a stone-like substance manufactured in the gallbladder, which, as any student of basic anatomy would know, is where the bile is collected. Bile? That’s the green or yellow liquid secreted by the liver that aids in digestion.
Why gallstones are created no one really knows, but they start their life as tiny, solid particles in the gallbladder and grow until they become solid, pebble-like masses.
By themselves they do no harm, and people can, and do, live for years with gallstones without suffering any mishaps. It is only when they decide to move around your body and get stuck in the tiny passage that is the bile duct, that the agony and inconvenience really hits home.
When the gallstone gets stuck in the bile duct it can block the flow of bile completely. The result is biliary colic which is responsible for probably the most severe pain a human can experience, including childbirth! Other symptoms are nausea, vomiting and agonizing pain that shoots up across the upper right side of the abdomen. The patient may also develop jaundice and inflammation of the gallbladder and duct.
Just reading that makes me want to sit down and have a cup of tea.If it has the same effect on you, make sure the drink is one of the mixtures listed at the end of this article! Sensible diet can go a long way to defeating the effects of gallstones. Fruit, vegetables and wholemeal bread should form the foundation and most of the walls of your diet, and you should avoid rich, fatty foods that can bring on colic.
For any malfunctioning of the gall bladder, the juice of fresh, peeled radishes mixed with hot peppermint tea, taken morning and night for between six to eight weeks, is supposed to work wonders. *
Five or six flowering dandelions a day, washed and chewed, is another ancient cure for gallbladder problems. If your problem is specifically biliary colic, the following mixture can be recommended:
- 50 g Agrimony
- 25 g Camomile
- 25 g Peppermint
Directions: Place the above herbs in an airtight container, mix and shake well, and store the mixture in a dark place. Infuse one heaped tsp of herbs with one cup of boiling water for approximately three to five minutes and strain. Drink 2-3 cups daily.
* Six-week course with fresh radish juice
Peel the radishes (Chinese or European) and run them through a juice extractor. Start with 100mL of juice a day, increasing the quantity slowly to 400mL by the end of the first three weeks. Reduce the quantity again after this, cutting it down progressively so that you reach 100mL a day by the end of the second three weeks. Always drink the juice on an empty stomach.
(This treatment is not recommended for people who have gastric or intestinal disorders).
Find out more about herbal remedies for gall bladder issues through enrolling in our Online Herbal Medicine Course today!