Detoxification: The Importance of Moving Bile with a Bigger Bitter
Bile. It doesn’t have the best reputation. You know it as that bitter fluid you burp up on occasion. It’s also a synonym for spite and malice. As an adjective—bilious—it means spiteful and ill-tempered.
So, you might be surprised to know that bile is, metabolically, like precious gold. The smooth flow of that dark green to yellowish brown liquid produced by your liver and stored in your gallbladder is a key player in detoxification, proper digestion, an intact gut lining, healthy small intestine flora, normal cholesterol and blood sugar levels, and perhaps even the proper function of neurons in the brain
.1,2,3,4 Bile salts can modify lipids, destroy bacterial endotoxins, and function as an antimicrobial.
5,6 In many people, however, bile flow is impaired, leading to stagnation.
7 That stagnation can have profound health consequences. Stagnant bile flow impairs the movement of toxins, which flow with the bile out of the liver into the gallbladder, and then into the digestive tract for excretion.
8 The lack of bile flow can also contribute to gastrointestinal dysbiosis and small intestinal bacteria overgrowth (SIBO).
9,10 Endotoxin, associated with dysbiosis and gram-negative flora, irritates the mucosal lining of the gastrointestinal tract and increases inflammation.
11 An inflamed and “leaky” gut then lets bacterial and other toxins slip into the bloodstream, triggering a systemic inflammatory response.
12 That inflammatory response can further impair liver and gallbladder function and inhibit bile flow, contributing to what is known as cholestasis.
13
As if that’s not enough, endotoxins downregulate critical pumps (called Phase III transporters) that transport toxins out of our cells.
14 This stepwise buildup of toxins depletes our most potent antioxidant, glutathione--further stressing the liver, which relies heavily on glutathione in detoxification reactions.
15,16 In addition, a gut inflamed by endotoxin renders the liver more susceptible to damage by xenobiotics, chemicals foreign to our body, found in our environment.
17
Let it flow, then. Bile flow is supremely important to overall health. And if there is one simple and powerful way to assist the healthy flow of bile, it is the classic bitter herbs that have been part of our medicine chest for centuries. These herbs long ago migrated from the apothecary to the cocktail bar, transforming into cherished aperitifs and digestifs that are taken before or after meals to stimulate appetite and digestion. These bitter substances offer the body not only support for digestion, but have an impact on the function of many other systems. Receptors for bitter cover not only the back of the tongue, but are also found in the lungs, ovaries, pancreas and other tissues. They can trigger numerous biological processes including regulation of blood sugar and activation of the immune system in response to infections.
18,19,20,21 Bitters inherently turn on the digestive processes, but there are some bitter herbs that are more targeted for supporting the movement of bile, and toxins, from the liver and out through the gallbladder. Here are four such bitters:
*
Dandelion (
Taraxacum officinale). Dandelions produce bright yellow flower that turn to wispy puffs. The leaves are grooved and the brown roots fleshy, filled with a bitter, milky material. The pleasant (to some!) bitter taste in the leaves and root are due to molecules called sesquiterpene lactones that increase bile production and stimulate digestion.
22,23 Dandelion stimulates the flow of bile into the duodenum (cholagogue) and simultaneously stimulates the production of bile by the liver (choleretic). It increases the activity of glutathione (GSH) and GSH-related enzymes in the liver.
24 It is a diuretic and supports elimination of toxins through the urine.
25 The long-chain saccharides in dandelion also have anti-inflammatory effects, possibly due to its inhibition of nitric oxide production and COX-2 expression (cyclooxygenase, or COX, an enzyme that produces prostaglandins that promote inflammation, pain, and fever).
26,27 *
Gentian (
Gentianinae, family of 400 species). Well known as one of the strongest bitter herbs—or the most bitter bitter—gentian stimulates digestive secretions of all kinds, including saliva and bile flow.
28 It modulates stomach acid secretion, increasing it in a state of deficiency, yet protecting stomach tissues against gastritis or gastric ulcers, possibly by regulating inflammatory prostaglandin pathways.
29 Gentian is hepatoprotective, and as a liver protective agent has been observed to increase levels of catalase, superoxide dismutase and reduced GSH.
30 Gentian has been observed in animal studies to increase GSH, GSH peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase levels in the setting of alcohol or acetaminophen-induced oxidative damage—and in this way, supporting and protecting the liver.
31,32
*
Goldenrod (
Solidago canadensis) is a classic herb that supports the urinary system, promotes urination and thus the elimination of toxins.
33 This helps support the liver, as some toxins, once conjugated, may be more efficiently drained through the kidneys. At the same time, flavonoids from solidago help activate GSH-S-transferase, a critical enzyme in phase II detoxification, which also brings relief to the liver.
34 *
Myrrh (
Commiphora myrrha). Myrrh is a resinous exudate from trees of Commiphora species. It contains many highly bioactive molecules such as terpenoids and sesquiterpenoids as well as furanosesquiterpenoids, which have antifungal, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and smooth-muscle relaxing action.
35 Myrrh strongly promotes healthy bile flow, and it has microbial-balancing qualities as well.
36,
37 Myrrh is popular in both Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, and is considered a primary detoxifier that is both tonifying and strengthening. Its reputation for moving stagnant blood, including menstrual blood, leads to its popular use as a female remedy.
38 Myrrh, like its popular Ayurvedic herbal cousin guggul, contains molecules called sterones that have impressively diverse biological activity. They can increase iodine uptake in the thyroid, and inhibit the inflammation triggered by endotoxin-induced nitric oxide production, having even more potent activity than curcumin.
39 Just as significant, these sterones help turn on the bile salt export pump (Bsep).
40 Bsep is located on the cell surfaces which connect the hepatocytes (liver cells) to the bile canaliculus, which drains bile from the liver to the gallbladder. This is one of the mechanisms by which guggul may have cholesterol-lowering effects, as the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids in the liver helps eliminate excess cholesterol, but also supports the movement of bile out of the liver, reducing cholestasis.
This
blend of bitter herbs (dandelion, goldenrod, gentian, and myrrh) brings together the traditional use of bitters from multiple medicine systems, supported by research, to support gastrointestinal function and the processes of detoxification, more strongly than any other bitter combination. It’s bigger. It’s better. It’s badder. It’s bitter!
References:
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