How Bile Salts Help in Detoxifying Toxins
Bile salts are a very important component of healthy digestion. As the name suggests, bile salts play an essential role in breaking down fats and other substances in food before they are absorbed into the bloodstream. This makes bile salts an ideal supplement for people who find it difficult to digest meat or dairy products because of their fat-like properties.
Bile salts, more commonly known as TUDCA, are a water-soluble, fat-soluble bile salts, which unlike regular bile salts, confer a gel-like, detergent like effect and are in contrast to normal bile salts, possessing only fat-soluble vitamins. This is ideal for the body's biological function (emulsifies fats in the stomach to aid with absorption) but if the fats back up in the bile duct, a severe clinical condition known as gastric reflux, occurs. Tubal ligation is the common procedure for removing large amounts of fat from the stomach. When the amount of fats ingested is too large, the process of tubal ligation is not successful.
Bile acids are amino acids that are produced by the breakdown of amino acids in foods and are naturally found in the gut. Normally, the taurine is transported to the liver from the gut through the blood stream. In the case of gastritis, where the production of taurine is affected, this transport is inhibited. It is possible to prevent this from occurring in patients by taking supplements that contain taurine. However, it must be noted that taurine cannot be absorbed alone, it needs to be mixed with carnosine in order to be absorbable. When carnosine is unable to be absorbed, the patient will experience symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea and abdominal discomfort.
Cholesterol is another important factor that is affected by bile salts and its production. When there is too much cholesterol in the body, it can lead to various complications such as gallstones, liver disease and cardio vascular problems. The production of bile acids is stimulated by cholesterol but when the body has too much cholesterol, it can interfere with the normal functioning of the liver. It may accumulate in the bile ducts and result in serious conditions. Patients may experience abdominal pain, vomiting and jaundice. Liver failure and a form of autoimmune disorder have also been reported.
The fat-soluble vitamins A, D and E are normally stored in the liver; however when the liver is unable to produce the needed amounts, it can take up bile salts from the intestine and use them as a source of energy. It releases lipids into the bile salts, which are then transported through the bloodstream. This causes an increase in the cholesterol levels in the blood, which results in increased deposits of fat on the liver surface.
It has been observed that gallbladder issues are often aggravated by the presence of bile salts in the body. The gallbladder produces bile which gets accumulated in the large intestine. There is an imbalance of electrolytes between the gallbladder and the intestine; this leads to excess production of bile salts. When these salts find their way back into the bile duct, they cause inflammation of the gall bladder and inflammation of the bile duct itself. This can cause acute and chronic disorders of the gall bladder.
It is believed that bile salts help in digestion because the material gets collected in the small intestine. The material is carried out of the digestive tract by splashing water, which prevents the solid wastes from being compacted. Hence, the gallbladder has to work a lot harder to digest the fat soluble vitamins like A, D, and E. Apart from these fat-soluble vitamins, the gallbladder also synthesizes vitamin K, which helps in making the connective tissues strong. Vitamin K helps in the formation of new bile salts that can replace the old ones that have been flushed out of the digestive tract.
Bile salts help the body in getting rid of a variety of toxic substances. These substances include cholesterol, mucus, phlegm, and tar. It is observed that when bile salts help in cleansing out these toxins, they also help in excreting the toxins out of the body in normal fashion.