Unlocking the Liver-Gallbladder Connection

The Berne Podcast with Dr. Sam Berne

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Keywords

liver health, gallbladder, eye health, detoxification, herbal remedies, nutrition, holistic health, acupuncture, wellness, vision

Summary

In this episode, Dr. Sam Berne explores the intricate connection between liver and gallbladder health and its impact on vision. He discusses the liver’s multifaceted functions, the role of the gallbladder, and how liver health directly influences eye health. Dr. Berne shares various detoxification strategies, herbal remedies, and a comprehensive seven-day detox program to enhance liver and gallbladder function, ultimately supporting better vision and overall wellness.
Takeaways

The liver is a detoxification organ with over 500 functions.
Liver health is crucial for eye health and vision.
Bile production and fat absorption are essential for nutrient uptake.
Herbs like milk thistle and dandelion root support liver health.
Hydration and bitter greens stimulate bile flow.
Emotional health can be affected by liver congestion.
A liver gallbladder cleanse can improve vitamin absorption.
A balanced diet is key for liver and gallbladder health.
Spending time in nature can enhance overall well-being.
Regular detoxification can lead to better eyesight and energy levels.
Sound Bites

“Milk thistle helps in liver regeneration.”
“Bitter greens help stimulate bile flow.”
Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Liver and Gallbladder Health
01:51 Understanding Liver Functions
03:15 The Role of the Gallbladder
06:04 Connection Between Liver Health and Eye Health
07:56 Detoxification Strategies for Liver and Gallbladder
12:12 Seven-Day Detox Program Overview

Hey everybody, it’s Dr. Sam and I’d like to welcome you to the burn podcast today. We’re to be talking about the liver gallbladder connection as it relates to vision. Before we get to that. I want to remind people about my membership. Dr. Sam burn membership. This has exclusive content things you won’t see on social media my online courses and other very interesting opinions.

That I don’t put on social media. So if you want to join you can go to my website, dr. Sam burn.com and in the home page, you’ll see join membership to today’s show. So I don’t know whether you know this, but I discovered it when I first moved to Santa Fe. It’s been over 30 years and I met an acupuncturist who was

working a lot with liver gallbladder health as it relates to eye health. Now in optometry school, I never knew anything around the connection between the liver gallbladder and the eyes. And when I took some courses in acupuncture, I couldn’t believe as we studied the meridians of the body, how much the liver gallbladder has on our

not only our eye health, but our digestive health, our brain health. And yet it’s something in allopathic medicine that’s pretty overlooked. So I want to talk about that relationship today. What you can do to support better liver gallbladder health. What’s the function of the liver gallbladder? What are some detoxes you can do? So that’s going to be our show for today. So let’s start with the basics. What is the function of the liver?

Well, it’s a detoxification organ. has over 500 functions in the body as a detoxification organ. It helps filter things like toxins in the environment drugs that you might be taking and it also removes metabolic waste from the blood. The liver also produces bile which aids our digestion and helps in the absorption of fat soluble.

Sam Berne (02:20.558)
foods and vitamins. Probably the main ones are vitamin A, which is great for our retina cornea eyelids and lutein and zeaxanthin which help prevent macular degeneration. The liver also helps in the metabolism of our fats proteins and carbohydrates. The liver also stores our glycogen. Here are a list of vitamins that store the liver vitamin A D

E and K also stores vitamin B12. Now, if you’re a vegan or a vegetarian, you want to make sure you’re getting some type of vitamin B12 supplement. The liver also synthesizes blood clotting factors. Liver also boosts the immune system. It has something called cup for cells and these cells destroy pathogens.

and old blood cells. The gallbladder is very interesting because it actually stores the bile that the liver produces. So the gallbladder holds the fats until digestion is needed. Bile goes into the small intestine to emulsify fats for absorption. It also assists in the breakdown of cholesterol. What are the signs we see in the eye if a person has difficulty breaking down and excreting the cholesterol?

is an Archesinellus, a white ring that’s around the edge of the iris. When we see this, we know that there could be a problem either in the liver production of the bile or the storage of it in the gallbladder. So there’s some liver signs that I see in the iris. And if there is a congestion in the liver and or the gallbladder, I like to use herbal remedies.

to flush the liver and increase the liver function. So some of those herbs are number one, milk thistle, which protects against toxins and milk thistle helps in liver regeneration. Another herb I like is dandelion root. This stimulates bile production and it supports detoxification. Also like the Indian spice turmeric, it’s anti-inflammatory, it supports bile flow and it protects the liver.

Sam Berne (04:42.21)
I recommend burdock root. This root cleans the blood and aids in detoxification. And my last one is yellow dock, which also supports detoxification and liver health. So here are some of my favorite strategies that support liver gallbladder health. Number one is hydration. Drinking high quality filtered water, structured water, high pH water like Kagan water.

is great for detoxifying the cells. Number two is bitter greens. This would be things like arugula, kale and dandelion greens, which help stimulate bile flow. Start your day with a squeeze of lemon and some warm water. This also stimulates liver cleansing. four is eating high fiber foods, things like chia seeds, flax seeds.

And of course, don’t forget your vegetables and sprouted raw seeds and nuts avocados. This also helps increase bile flow and then of course avoid alcohol processed foods and sugar. I recommend lifestyle practices like putting castor oil packs on the liver gallbladder area. It’s some acupuncture that targets the liver gallbladder meridians get regular exercise which stimulates the lymphatic health.

And then if you have one use an infrared sauna daily traditional Chinese medicine. The liver is connected to our eye health and the gallbladder is connected to our mental clarity and decision-making liver stores the blood which nourishes our eyes. This is a key point. If your liver is congested some of the eye symptoms you might experience would be blurry vision dry eyes and floaters.

If your liver and gallbladder are overburdened, you might experience things like inflammation in the eyes. This is where you get conditions like blepharitis, dry eye syndrome, and even more serious inflammatory diseases like uveitis, which has an autoimmune effect to our body. When the energy of the liver meridian to the eyes is congested, we call this Qi stagnation. It can lead to emotional outbursts.

Sam Berne (07:01.238)
like anger and you experience eye stress, eye tension and dryness. And if you’re working on a digital device all day, it’s only going to make matters worse for the gallbladder, which stores the bile. It’s very important that you have good fat absorption. If you don’t, you’re not absorbing your vitamin A D E or K. This is going to affect your eye health directly.

And even if you take supplements that have lutein and zeaxanthin in it, or you eat foods that contain lutein and zeaxanthin, if you’re not absorbing your fats, you’re not absorbing these ingredients. And this can lead to conditions like macular degeneration, dry eye, glaucoma, and retina issues. So doing a liver gallbladder cleanse can help you absorb those fat soluble vitamins, which are crucial.

for your eye and vision health. So here’s my seven day liver gallbladder detoxification program. Day one, start the day by squeezing half a lemon in some warm water and drink it before you have any coffee tea or breakfast. The benefits of this lemon water stimulate bio production help alkalinize the body and I would get some either herbal formulas or teas.

that contain the following herbs number one dandelion root number two milk thistle number three yellow dock number four burdock root and drink this tea before you have breakfast consider doing a morning smoothie. So my base tea is something called oat straw tea. So it’s a hot drink and I put in a stock of celery a little bit of beet some lemon

maybe a half an apple and a teaspoon of flaxseed. What I like to do to create flaxseed powder is I take some flaxseeds and I put them in a coffee grinder and then I just grind them up and I store them in the refrigerator. That way you can put them on your salads. You can put it in the smoothies. It’s a great way to absorb flaxseeds. Peets are great for the liver. And by taking this smoothie before you eat,

Sam Berne (09:20.142)
It helps your digestion. get live plant enzymes and loads of antioxidants that are easy to absorb mid morning. I would take a milk thistle capsule 250 to 300 milligrams mid morning. Also, you could have some ginger tea, some peppermint tea, something again to support your digestive system for lunch. I need a healthy salad that contains kale avocado dandelion root arugula cilantro include in the salad beets.

carrots and I would add some pumpkin seeds. This contains zinc, which is a very important trace mineral that helps in the absorption of fat soluble foods and vitamins for the salad dressing. I would make my own olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is one of my favorite things to use as a way to alkalinize the body and it’s high in potassium for snacks in the mid afternoon. I would use cucumber celery and maybe a handful of walnuts.

For dinner, I would recommend a soup that contains broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, these cruciferous vegetables. They are sulfur rich that help in detoxification. Make sure to add garlic and onions and a base of bone broth, which will help in your mineral absorption. I would have some turmeric tea with a pinch of black pepper and some coconut oil. And then before bed, I would do a liver.

detox drink which contains one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Make sure it’s raw and unfiltered in an 8 ounce glass of warm water. I would also add a dash of manuka honey. If you have it, this will support a gentle detox while you sleep. I would learn a breathing practice things like pranayama or other yogic breathing could be very helpful in terms of stimulating relaxation. I also like to do skin brushing.

before any shower or bath and of course avoid things like caffeine, alcohol, processed foods and sugar. Some other strategies to detoxify and flush your liver would be number one, get some bitters, put them in an eight ounce glass of water, sip it before a meal, take your omega-3s during this time before you eat and also some dietary enzymes. This will help flush the liver

Sam Berne (11:43.806)
and stimulate your digestion before you eat. I also recommend a magnesium formula and if you’re going to do any sweetening things, I would do 70 % cacao. You can make that into a drink or you can have it as a little snack, but keep the sugars and the chocolates in a low glycemic form. Some of the signs of progress could be better eyesight, better sleep, healthier skin, more balanced energy.

Also, one last thing. I think it’s very important to spend some time every day in nature. That’s a way where you can slow down. You get into the rhythm of nature, enjoy the sunshine, especially in the morning. If you do these things, I think you can support better liver gallbladder health. So if you’ve got any questions, send me an email appointments at dr. Sam burn.com. I’m happy to consult with you.

That’s our show for today. I want to thank you so much for tuning in until next time. Take care.