Latest / Love Your Gut / Ep. 69: Is Your Poop Greasy, Sticky, or Floating? It Might Be a Bile Problem

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Ep. 69: Is Your Poop Greasy, Sticky, or Floating? It Might Be a Bile Problem · Love Your Gut

• 0:03
  Dr. Heather Finley: Welcome to the Love Your Gut Podcast.
• 0:05
  Dr. Heather Finley: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:06
  Dr. Heather Finley: Heather Finley, registered dietitian and gut health specialist.
• 0:10
  Dr. Heather Finley: I understand the frustration of dealing with GI issues because I've been there and I spent over two decades searching for answers for my own gut issues of constipation, bloating, and stomach pain.
• 0:21
  Dr. Heather Finley: I've dedicated my life to understanding and solving my own gut issues.
• 0:25
  Dr. Heather Finley: And now I'm here to guide you.
• 0:28
  Dr. Heather Finley: On this podcast, I'll help you identify the true root causes of your discomfort.
• 0:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: So you can finally ditch your symptoms for good.
• 0:36
  Dr. Heather Finley: My goal is to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need so that you can love your gut and it will love you right back.
• 0:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you're ready to learn a lot, gain a deeper understanding of your gut and find lasting relief.
• 0:48
  Dr. Heather Finley: You are in the right place.
• 0:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: Welcome to the love your gut podcast.
• 0:55
  Dr. Heather Finley: Hello, and welcome back to the next episode of the Love Your Gut podcast.
• 0:59
  Dr. Heather Finley: We are gonna be talking about sticky poops today because your stool is like a daily gut report card, and I recently posted about this on Instagram I was shocked at how many people commented, saved, shared this reel, and so I thought maybe more people need help with this than I actually thought.
• 1:21
  Dr. Heather Finley: So many of you messaged me after the sticky stool reel, which I'll link in the show notes if you didn't see it and said, wait, this is me.
• 1:28
  Dr. Heather Finley: But really, I mean, so many people struggle with this.
• 1:31
  Dr. Heather Finley: This is something that we see with a lot of our clients.
• 1:35
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you feel like you're constantly having to wipe your stool, it leaves streaks in the bowl or.
• 1:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's really sticky.
• 1:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: Then this is your body trying to tell you something.
• 1:46
  Dr. Heather Finley: So it's not just annoying.
• 1:47
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's often one of the first signs that your bile isn't flowing well, and it actually matters a lot more than you might think.
• 1:55
  Dr. Heather Finley: So in today's episode, I want to talk about what causes this sticky stool.
• 2:02
  Dr. Heather Finley: Why sluggish bile can lead to bloating, fatigue, and hormone imbalances, and even things like vitamin D deficiency.
• 2:10
  Dr. Heather Finley: What to do if you don't have a gallbladder?
• 2:12
  Dr. Heather Finley: Spoiler alert.
• 2:13
  Dr. Heather Finley: This is even more important if you don't have a gallbladder.
• 2:18
  Dr. Heather Finley: I'm gonna talk about some natural ways to support bile flow and then why women, especially in childbearing years or postpartum, are more vulnerable to bile issues due to these hormonal shifts.
• 2:30
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you've been dealing with gut issues and hormonal symptoms and feel like nothing is working and you're struggling with sticky stool or incomplete bowels, then don't skip this episode.
• 2:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: So a sticky stool is the kind that typically will stick to the toilet.
• 2:45
  Dr. Heather Finley: It will take several wipes to clean.
• 2:47
  Dr. Heather Finley: It might have kind of a greasy or peanut butter like texture.
• 2:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: It might leave like a greasy sheen on the water, often floats, or leaves behind streaks.
• 2:56
  Dr. Heather Finley: If you feel like, any of this relates to you, then today's episode will give you some actionable insights into what's going on.
• 3:04
  Dr. Heather Finley: This type of stool is not normal.
• 3:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's common, not normal, and it's often a sign of either fat Mel absorption, so your body isn't properly breaking down or absorbing fats.
• 3:16
  Dr. Heather Finley: It can be a sign of sluggish bile flow.
• 3:19
  Dr. Heather Finley: Bile is a substance that helps emulsify fats so they can be digested.
• 3:25
  Dr. Heather Finley: And then can also just show that you're having digestive dysfunction.
• 3:30
  Dr. Heather Finley: That something upstream, whether it be stomach acid, poor meal hygiene, whatever it might be, is off.
• 3:37
  Dr. Heather Finley: So your stool should normally be smooth, brown, easy to pass, clean to wipe.
• 3:44
  Dr. Heather Finley: It should sink.
• 3:46
  Dr. Heather Finley: It should not float and happen one to three times a day, regardless of what.
• 3:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: Other providers have told you it is not normal if you are not going to the bathroom every single day.
• 3:57
  Dr. Heather Finley: So ideally you want to go at least one to three times, and it's not necessarily better or worse if you go three times versus one time or vice versa.
• 4:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: The question that you wanna answer is, is it complete?
• 4:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: So did I fully empty my bowels?
• 4:14
  Dr. Heather Finley: So it might be occasional that you have sticky stool and you might be thinking, is that a problem?
• 4:20
  Dr. Heather Finley: Sticky stool might pop up sometimes, but not always.
• 4:23
  Dr. Heather Finley: And the reason could be a little bit more situational.
• 4:27
  Dr. Heather Finley: So alcohol, for example, can impact bile production and irritate the GI tract.
• 4:32
  Dr. Heather Finley: Higher fat meals, especially if your digestion is.
• 4:35
  Dr. Heather Finley: Sluggish can overwhelm your system.
• 4:38
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you feel like, yeah, normally I'm fine, but then if I eat something that's really high in fat, I struggle with this.
• 4:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: Stress can also slow down bile release and enzyme function, which can impact this Supplements.
• 4:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: Even things like berberine, antimicrobials, binders, all of these things can affect bile flow and liver detoxification.
• 4:58
  Dr. Heather Finley: Some things for the better and some things for the worse.
• 5:02
  Dr. Heather Finley: Hormonal shifts.
• 5:03
  Dr. Heather Finley: So I mentioned this in the beginning, but especially postpartum or around ovulation, this can impact liver and bile function.
• 5:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: One of the times that you are most susceptible to gallbladder and bile flow issues is during pregnancy and postpartum because of the drastic hormone shifts and the load that puts on your liver.
• 5:23
  Dr. Heather Finley: And also due to rapid weight fluctuations as well.
• 5:26
  Dr. Heather Finley: And then periods of constipation can also result in stickier stools temporarily.
• 5:31
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you notice your stool is sticky some days and totally normal, the others, your body might be struggling to keep up with just digestive demand, especially if you're under stress, you're in a hormonal shift or you're taking really aggressive supplements.
• 5:47
  Dr. Heather Finley: So let's talk about five common reasons that you might be having sticky stool.
• 5:53
  Dr. Heather Finley: There's.
• 5:53
  Dr. Heather Finley: More than five, of course reasons, but these are the five most common reasons that I see.
• 5:58
  Dr. Heather Finley: And the first reason is sluggish bile flow.
• 6:02
  Dr. Heather Finley: So you can kind of think of bile like soap for your fats, so it's made in your liver.
• 6:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: It helps break down fat into tiny pieces so your body can use it, and it also helps your body get rid of waste, like old hormones, toxins that you're exposed to, et cetera.
• 6:19
  Dr. Heather Finley: But if bile isn't flowing well or if bile gets kind of sludgy or thick, fats don't get broken down.
• 6:26
  Dr. Heather Finley: So they'll stick around and so does your poop.
• 6:28
  Dr. Heather Finley: So this can cause greasy stool, bloating after meals, feeling tired or sluggish.
• 6:34
  Dr. Heather Finley: Hormone issues like.
• 6:36
  Dr. Heather Finley: PMS or breakouts and bile can slow down for several reasons.
• 6:40
  Dr. Heather Finley: It can slow down if you are low in minerals, which is something that we commonly see in our clients.
• 6:46
  Dr. Heather Finley: It just like struggling to actually produce bile, make bile sometimes because of an upstream issue, like low stomach acid, it can, bile can also slow down if you've been avoiding fat for years.
• 6:59
  Dr. Heather Finley: So you can have this kind of adaptation over time where.
• 7:03
  Dr. Heather Finley: Your body just gets used to lower fat, so you have to work your way back up.
• 7:08
  Dr. Heather Finley: And it can also slow down if your liver is overloaded from stress or medications or toxins.
• 7:14
  Dr. Heather Finley: And that can make things a little bit sluggish.
• 7:16
  Dr. Heather Finley: Like I mentioned some other reasons bile can slow down would be to hormo due to hormonal shifts, weight fluctuations, et cetera.
• 7:24
  Dr. Heather Finley: So something to just pay attention to.
• 7:27
  Dr. Heather Finley: The second reason would be that you don't have a gallbladder.
• 7:31
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you don't have a gallbladder, bile flow matters even more.
• 7:35
  Dr. Heather Finley: Your gallbladder is like a little storage pouch for bile, so it saves it up and then releases it when you eat fat.
• 7:42
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you've had it removed, bile drips constantly, but not always when you need it.
• 7:48
  Dr. Heather Finley: So that makes fat digestion a little harder.
• 7:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's very common that we work with clients that have been told, you know, they've had their gallbladder out and they've been told, oh, you don't need to change anything about your diet.
• 8:00
  Dr. Heather Finley: You're totally fine.
• 8:01
  Dr. Heather Finley: That's not necessarily true.
• 8:04
  Dr. Heather Finley: You might have to be a little bit more cognizant of your fat intake, and not that you need to go super low fat or anything like that, but you might have to be more aware of how much fat you can have at a time, or if there's certain enzymes that might help you because you're not getting that surge of bile like you normally would when you eat a meal that's high in fat.
• 8:25
  Dr. Heather Finley: So without a gallbladder, you're more likely to get stickier floating stool, feel nauseous or bloated after fatty foods.
• 8:32
  Dr. Heather Finley: Maybe miss out on nutrients from fat.
• 8:35
  Dr. Heather Finley: One thing that we often see is chronically low vitamin D.
• 8:38
  Dr. Heather Finley: The other fat soluble vitamins are vitamins, a, de, and K.
• 8:42
  Dr. Heather Finley: And so you need to be able to emulsify fats and then digest and absorb vitamins from fats.
• 8:49
  Dr. Heather Finley: The good news here is that you can actually support your bile flow.
• 8:52
  Dr. Heather Finley: You just may need a little extra help, like digestive bitters or some specific enzymes.
• 8:57
  Dr. Heather Finley: Probably a little bit more mineral support, and a huge, huge emphasis on making sure that you are taking your time, chewing your food, slowing down, maybe playing around with what types of fats you do better with, et cetera.
• 9:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: Reason number three is that you have poor enzyme output from your pancreas.
• 9:17
  Dr. Heather Finley: So your pancreas makes enzymes.
• 9:19
  Dr. Heather Finley: They're like tiny little scissors that cut foods into absorbable pieces.
• 9:23
  Dr. Heather Finley: That's what enzymes do, and if you don't have enough enzymes, your body can't break down fat or protein well, and so some signs that your pancreas might be part of the issue is sticky or yellow stool.
• 9:38
  Dr. Heather Finley: Bloating an hour or two after eating.
• 9:40
  Dr. Heather Finley: You might see bits of undigested food in the toilet, like especially vegetable fibers, or you might feel full for hours after a meal.
• 9:49
  Dr. Heather Finley: One of the things that we often see on testing for our clients is a low stool elastase.
• 9:55
  Dr. Heather Finley: And these are always our clients that are like, yes, I'm full forever, or It's really hard for me to eat a full meal.
• 10:02
  Dr. Heather Finley: And that's just the body really signaling, Hey, there's something going on.
• 10:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: The pancreas needs a little bit of support, so some things that can help.
• 10:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: This is obviously enzyme support, but there's other things that you can do chewing while spacing your meals out, making sure that you have time for kind of rest and digest in between your meals.
• 10:22
  Dr. Heather Finley: And definitely talking to your provider on which enzymes might be helpful for you.
• 10:28
  Dr. Heather Finley: If it's more fat related, we love like a chewable lipase.
• 10:31
  Dr. Heather Finley: Sometimes a little bit more comprehensive pancreatic support depending on what's going on.
• 10:36
  Dr. Heather Finley: The fourth reason would be low stomach acid.
• 10:39
  Dr. Heather Finley: I talk about this a lot because it's actually very rare that somebody would have high stomach acid, especially if you're on a medication that lowers stomach acid.
• 10:49
  Dr. Heather Finley: Oftentimes when people have acid reflux, it's not because their acid is high, it's because the acid is going the wrong way.
• 10:56
  Dr. Heather Finley: So instead of breaking down food and then your stomach filling with acid and emptying into your bowels and.
• 11:04
  Dr. Heather Finley: Continuing the digestive process, it's going the other way, causing this acid feeling.
• 11:09
  Dr. Heather Finley: So stomach acid is not bad.
• 11:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: Your body needs it.
• 11:12
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's like the first domino that starts digestion.
• 11:16
  Dr. Heather Finley: And so if you don't have enough acid, bile and enzymes don't get triggered.
• 11:21
  Dr. Heather Finley: All of these things happen in order and if you've listened to my podcast for any amount of time, you've definitely heard me talk about North.
• 11:27
  Dr. Heather Finley: To south digestion, we need the signaling to work.
• 11:32
  Dr. Heather Finley: So we need your minds to be ready to eat.
• 11:34
  Dr. Heather Finley: We need your stomach to start secreting acid.
• 11:37
  Dr. Heather Finley: We need your pancreas to be on board, your liver and gallbladder or your bile flow.
• 11:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: And then the chain kind of goes down from there.
• 11:44
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you don't have enough stomach acid, your bile and enzymes don't get triggered.
• 11:49
  Dr. Heather Finley: Food will just sit in your stomach.
• 11:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: You might feel kind of heavy, full, or gassy after meals, and you may burp a lot or get reflux Sometimes when clients burp a lot after high fat meals, it could be gallbladder related.
• 12:01
  Dr. Heather Finley: It also could be low stomach acid related.
• 12:04
  Dr. Heather Finley: So low stomach acid equals that.
• 12:06
  Dr. Heather Finley: Digestion doesn't even get started.
• 12:08
  Dr. Heather Finley: Right?
• 12:08
  Dr. Heather Finley: And this is very, very common and often missed.
• 12:12
  Dr. Heather Finley: And minerals are a huge piece of this.
• 12:14
  Dr. Heather Finley: You need things like sodium and chloride and zinc to help your body make stomach acid.
• 12:21
  Dr. Heather Finley: Digestive bitters can also be really helpful here, as well as getting your body into a rest and digest state so it knows that it's safe to digest a meal and it's not running away from a tiger.
• 12:32
  Dr. Heather Finley: All right.
• 12:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: The last reason that I wanna talk about is gut dysbiosis or imbalances of bacteria in the gut, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth or sibo.
• 12:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: So your gut is full of trillions of bacteria, some good, some bad, and if there's too much of the wrong kind or just bacteria in the wrong place, it's called dysbiosis.
• 12:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: Or if it's specifically in the small intestine, it would be called sibo.
• 12:55
  Dr. Heather Finley: These bugs can interfere with digestion.
• 12:58
  Dr. Heather Finley: They can cause sticky, smelly, floating poop.
• 13:00
  Dr. Heather Finley: They can create gas, bloating, stomach noise, and they can even mess with your mood and hormones.
• 13:06
  Dr. Heather Finley: You have a whole collection of bacteria in your gut called the estrobolome.
• 13:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: I talk a little bit about this on the episode that I did with Dr.
• 13:14
  Dr. Heather Finley: Jolene Brighton.
• 13:15
  Dr. Heather Finley: If you wanna scroll back, I'll link it in the show notes'cause I can't remember what the episode number, it was in the forties, but I can't remember what the episode number is off the top of my head.
• 13:24
  Dr. Heather Finley: But if you wanna hear us talk more about that, then you could tune into that episode.
• 13:28
  Dr. Heather Finley: But if you feel like you react to everything you eat, your stomach is always off, you're kind of bloated regardless of what you eat.
• 13:35
  Dr. Heather Finley: You feel like you have tons of food sensitivities.
• 13:37
  Dr. Heather Finley: This might be a root cause and often it is a root cause.
• 13:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: But kind of like I was talking about earlier with this whole north to south digestion thing, this is not a concern if the other pieces of digestion aren't working.
• 13:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: Like your stomach acid, your pancreatic enzymes, your gallbladder, we can't even get to addressing dysbiosis or SIBO until those things are fixed.
• 14:00
  Dr. Heather Finley: Otherwise, we're just gonna be on this hamster wheel forever.
• 14:03
  Dr. Heather Finley: So it's really easy to get a stools test back or something and see like.
• 14:08
  Dr. Heather Finley: Oh, there's all these bacteria.
• 14:09
  Dr. Heather Finley: I wanna get rid of'em.
• 14:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: They're causing all these issues.
• 14:12
  Dr. Heather Finley: But then if we also see that your body's not breaking down proteins and carbs and fats, well then we need to put things in the right order.
• 14:20
  Dr. Heather Finley: So sticky poop is just the symptom.
• 14:23
  Dr. Heather Finley: There are real issues underneath, and the good news is that every single one of them can be supported with the right approach.
• 14:29
  Dr. Heather Finley: The trick is just knowing where your body needs the most help.
• 14:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: So I wanna talk too about.
• 14:36
  Dr. Heather Finley: Why bile flow impacts more than just your stool.
• 14:40
  Dr. Heather Finley: The thing is that bile is not just about poop.
• 14:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: If any practitioners are listening to this episode and you've been in my program, a gut practitioner, you know that I'm obsessed with bile and I constantly talk about why bile is really the real MVP of digestion.
• 14:57
  Dr. Heather Finley: If your bile isn't flowing well, you will.
• 14:59
  Dr. Heather Finley: Feel it in your energy, your hormones, your digestion, and even your immune system.
• 15:05
  Dr. Heather Finley: So I wanna walk through a few key ways that sluggish bile can show up beyond just your bowel movements.
• 15:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: And the first one is fatigue, if you ever feel like you are dragging throughout the day, no matter how much you sleep, one sneaky reason could actually be bile.
• 15:22
  Dr. Heather Finley: Bile helps you absorb fat soluble vitamins, like vitamins A, D, E, and K, like I mentioned.
• 15:27
  Dr. Heather Finley: And these are critical for your energy, your immune health, your skin, your brain function.
• 15:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: And what I see all the time in our practice and just individuals that I talk to is women with gallbladder issues or sluggish bile often have chronically low vitamin D, even when they're taking a supplement.
• 15:47
  Dr. Heather Finley: We have had a client in the past who was getting vitamin D injections and even with the injections, her vitamin D was still in the twenties, maybe would get into the thirties.
• 15:59
  Dr. Heather Finley: When we finally fixed her bile and gallbladder issue, she no longer needed the injections, which is pretty crazy.
• 16:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: And this was a multi-phase process for her.
• 16:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: The reason partially that her bile flow was so poor was actually because of some things upstream.
• 16:18
  Dr. Heather Finley: She had an h pylori infection that needed to be addressed, and this was lowering stomach acid and that was impacting bile signaling.
• 16:26
  Dr. Heather Finley: She also was.
• 16:27
  Dr. Heather Finley: Very low and very depleted in a lot of minerals.
• 16:30
  Dr. Heather Finley: And so her body just didn't even have the raw materials to actually make bile.
• 16:35
  Dr. Heather Finley: So when we were able to fix these things over a couple months, all of a sudden her vitamin D is back in a normal range.
• 16:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: So it's not about sometimes what you take, you could take all the vitamin D in the world, but it's about what can your body.
• 16:49
  Dr. Heather Finley: Actually use, what can you actually digest and absorb?
• 16:53
  Dr. Heather Finley: Another way that sluggish bile can affect you is with hormone imbalances, which is really common that we see in our clients as well.
• 17:01
  Dr. Heather Finley: So bile always plays a huge role in hormone balance, especially estrogen.
• 17:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: So your liver basically packages up, used hormones like estrogen, and sends them out through bile.
• 17:14
  Dr. Heather Finley: That's your body's way of getting rid of hormones.
• 17:17
  Dr. Heather Finley: But if bile is slow or stuck, estrogen will hang a around in your body longer than it should.
• 17:25
  Dr. Heather Finley: You can go listen to that episode on the estrobolome if you, want more information on this.
• 17:29
  Dr. Heather Finley: But this can lead to a lot of things like PMS, painful periods, breast tenderness, acne, mood swings.
• 17:36
  Dr. Heather Finley: And so it might be easy to think, oh, I just need to know what hormone supplement to take or what thing is gonna fix my hormones when it actually might be your gut.
• 17:46
  Dr. Heather Finley: So.
• 17:46
  Dr. Heather Finley: One thing that I mentioned earlier, but that I wanna emphasize is that postpartum and pregnancy are times when you are especially susceptible to gallbladder issues.
• 17:57
  Dr. Heather Finley: We have had several clients over the years that have come to us having had emergency gallbladder surgery in the postpartum years, especially in those first couple months, because of the drastic hormone shift.
• 18:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: They were like rushed into the emergency room.
• 18:13
  Dr. Heather Finley: Got their gallbladders out and then, you know, months, years later, they're now having GI symptoms, which is why they end up in our office.
• 18:21
  Dr. Heather Finley: So because of that massive hormonal shift after pregnancy, often a rapid drop in weight, that combo can actually thicken bile, making it harder to flow.
• 18:31
  Dr. Heather Finley: You want, you don't want sludgy thick bile.
• 18:34
  Dr. Heather Finley: This is one of the reasons why.
• 18:35
  Dr. Heather Finley: So many women have gallbladder flareups, and end up getting their gallbladder removed within a year of giving birth.
• 18:42
  Dr. Heather Finley: If this has happened to you, you are not alone.
• 18:44
  Dr. Heather Finley: There's lots of ways during pregnancy and postpartum that you can support your liver and gallbladder, which nobody's talking about.
• 18:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: Even simple things like minerals can really help, different herbs and bitter foods.
• 18:57
  Dr. Heather Finley: Adding in more like dandelion greens or arugula, radishes, bitter foods can definitely help.
• 19:04
  Dr. Heather Finley: And then there's some, different tinctures and things that can be helpful as well.
• 19:08
  Dr. Heather Finley: The third reason is a bloating and SIBO risk.
• 19:12
  Dr. Heather Finley: So this is one of the, probably the most common thing that we see is bile also keeps your gut moving and it cleans your gut.
• 19:23
  Dr. Heather Finley: So it has natural antimicrobial properties, meaning that it keeps bacteria in check.
• 19:29
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if your bile isn't flowing well, things will slow down.
• 19:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: And when digestion slows down bacteria that shouldn't be in your small intestine can start to overgrow.
• 19:39
  Dr. Heather Finley: That's what we call sibo or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.
• 19:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you have constant bloating, especially after meals, or you often feel small amounts of food, you make you really full.
• 19:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: Then sluggish bile could be a missing piece.
• 19:53
  Dr. Heather Finley: Or if you have recurrent sibo.
• 19:55
  Dr. Heather Finley: So like I said earlier, you need that surge of bile to kind of coat the small intestine and kill off bacterial because it's antimicrobial.
• 20:04
  Dr. Heather Finley: And then the last one that I just thought I would mention because we've been seeing this more and more, is post covid I gut symptoms.
• 20:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: So this one surprises people, but bile also helps.
• 20:14
  Dr. Heather Finley: Regulate your micro microbiome and after Covid, many people have lingering just reported GI issues, so.
• 20:22
  Dr. Heather Finley: Digestive changes may be a part due in part to inflammation or bile disruption because again, bile isn't just for fat digestion.
• 20:30
  Dr. Heather Finley: It helps keep harmful bugs in check.
• 20:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: It promotes healthy balance in your bacteria and it supports detox.
• 20:37
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you've had some of these long haul symptoms, a major illness or virus, feel like your gut's never been the same.
• 20:44
  Dr. Heather Finley: You may wanna look at bile health and liver health.
• 20:47
  Dr. Heather Finley: So sticky poop might be the first thing you notice, but.
• 20:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: As you're learning, it's not just about poop.
• 20:53
  Dr. Heather Finley: Bile is really a big deal.
• 20:55
  Dr. Heather Finley: It touches your hormones, your energy, your immune system, your gut bacteria, and if bile isn't flowing, nothing else really flows the way that it should.
• 21:04
  Dr. Heather Finley: So you're probably thinking, okay, great.
• 21:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: What do I actually do?
• 21:09
  Dr. Heather Finley: You don't need a super long supplement list to get your bile moving most likely.
• 21:15
  Interrupting this episode really quickly to tell you about our Mother's Day sale on the HTMA bundle.
• 21:23
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• 21:27
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• 21:32
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• 21:33
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• 21:38
  If you are struggling with low energy, hormone imbalances, bloating, or GI issues, it is a great place to get started to give you the personalized support that you need to get your body feeling like itself again.
• 21:52
  Until Sunday, only May 11th, you can grab the HDMA bundle using the link in the show notes for$30 off.
• 22:01
  Dr. Heather Finley: So I wanna talk about five natural ways that you can support bile flow that are simple and make a big difference.
• 22:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: The first one, which I've mentioned is to eat bitter foods.
• 22:11
  Dr. Heather Finley: These are nature's way of just waking up your digestive system.
• 22:15
  Dr. Heather Finley: Just like the smell of coffee gets your brain going in the morning, bitter taste gets your bile flowing.
• 22:19
  Dr. Heather Finley: So some of my favorites are arugula.
• 22:22
  Dr. Heather Finley: I love a salad with arugula.
• 22:24
  Dr. Heather Finley: I put it on literally everything.
• 22:27
  Dr. Heather Finley: I put arugula on eggs.
• 22:28
  Dr. Heather Finley: I put, I mix arugula into my salad.
• 22:30
  Dr. Heather Finley: I put it in soup.
• 22:32
  Dr. Heather Finley: I love it.
• 22:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: Dandelion greens are another great way.
• 22:36
  Dr. Heather Finley: Lemon juice and warm water can be helpful.
• 22:38
  Dr. Heather Finley: That's why a lot of people do that in the morning.
• 22:40
  Dr. Heather Finley: Radishes, apple cider vinegar, dark chocolate.
• 22:44
  Dr. Heather Finley: So yes, I'm telling you to eat dark, dark chocolate for the sake of your gallbladder.
• 22:49
  Dr. Heather Finley: So try starting a few meals with just a few bites of bitter or sipping some lemon water or some digestive bitters.
• 22:57
  Dr. Heather Finley: Even a splash of vinegar or a vinegar based dressing can help get things moving.
• 23:02
  Dr. Heather Finley: Tip number two would be mineral rich hydration.
• 23:05
  Dr. Heather Finley: So your bile is kind of like water.
• 23:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: It needs the right minerals to stay fluid and flowing.
• 23:10
  Dr. Heather Finley: If you are low in potassium or sodium, bile can get thick and sluggish, and we see this.
• 23:16
  Dr. Heather Finley: All the time, literally all the time on HTMA testing, especially in women who are stressed and depleted and postpartum and constipated and bloated.
• 23:27
  Dr. Heather Finley: So instead of focusing on, you know, fiber and fat only try also adding in minerals, fiber, fat minerals are a great combo to help your bile.
• 23:40
  Dr. Heather Finley: So adding in a pinch of salt.
• 23:42
  Dr. Heather Finley: To your water, making a mineral mocktail with coconut water or cream of tartar for some extra potassium.
• 23:49
  Dr. Heather Finley: Use mineral drops or electrolyte powders.
• 23:52
  Dr. Heather Finley: Whatever you prefer.
• 23:53
  Dr. Heather Finley: You can obviously always go download my mineral guide.
• 23:56
  Dr. Heather Finley: I have lots of different recipes and links in there.
• 23:59
  Dr. Heather Finley: Simple hydrating helps you absorb nutrients.
• 24:02
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's a win-win.
• 24:04
  Dr. Heather Finley: The third tip is digestive bitters.
• 24:06
  Dr. Heather Finley: So this goes along with the bitter foods, but bitters from different bitter foods are more concentrated in a bitters tincture, and you really only need a few drops, so you can take them 10 to 15 minutes before your meals.
• 24:18
  Dr. Heather Finley: To prime your digestion.
• 24:20
  Dr. Heather Finley: The other great thing about digestive bidders is you can take them in between meals as kind of a symptom relief tool.
• 24:26
  Dr. Heather Finley: So you can take them, I think, up to six times a day, depending on which bidders.
• 24:31
  Dr. Heather Finley: And they're really great for digestion as well as just symptom relief.
• 24:36
  Dr. Heather Finley: So they're gonna trigger bile release, they're gonna support your stomach acid, they're gonna calm bloating in fullness.
• 24:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: Look for ones with.
• 24:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: Dandelion artichoke.
• 24:44
  Dr. Heather Finley: If you're on reflux meds, just check with your practitioner first.
• 24:48
  Dr. Heather Finley: As always, this is not medical advice, so please just check with your provider.
• 24:53
  Dr. Heather Finley: I'll link a couple resources in the show notes if you wanna check into this more.
• 24:59
  Dr. Heather Finley: Another really easy, quick and free tip is to move your body.
• 25:03
  Dr. Heather Finley: Bile is stored in your gallbladder and movement helps to release it.
• 25:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: So even a short walk after a meal can stimulate bile flow and digestion.
• 25:12
  Dr. Heather Finley: You don't need to do an intense workout, just some gentle stretching, walking, deep breathing, twisting motions like yoga, all of these signal to your body, Hey, we're using food.
• 25:22
  Dr. Heather Finley: Let's digest it.
• 25:23
  Dr. Heather Finley: And then the last piece is don't be afraid of healthy fats.
• 25:28
  Dr. Heather Finley: So this might sound backwards, but you do need fat to release bile.
• 25:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: So when people cut out fat for too long, especially after having their gallbladder removed, where they're just sent home with, you know, dual, a low fat diet, it actually makes bile problems worse.
• 25:44
  Dr. Heather Finley: So your body's like, oh, cool, we're not eating fat, I guess I don't need to make bile anymore.
• 25:48
  Dr. Heather Finley: So use high quality fats.
• 25:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: Like olive oil, avocado oil, grass fed ghee, egg yolks.
• 25:54
  Dr. Heather Finley: Aim to include a little fat at each meal.
• 25:58
  Dr. Heather Finley: And then chew, give your body the chance to break it down even without a gallbladder.
• 26:02
  Dr. Heather Finley: Small amounts of healthy fat spaced throughout the day can be tolerated.
• 26:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: You just wanna space it out and instead of doing it all at once, and they're very necessary for vitamin absorption and hormone health.
• 26:15
  Dr. Heather Finley: So these five tips can go a long way in supporting your bile and your entire digestive system.
• 26:21
  Dr. Heather Finley: And if you're dealing with.
• 26:22
  Dr. Heather Finley: Sticky stools or hormonal swings or bloating.
• 26:24
  Dr. Heather Finley: This is where I recommend starting before diving into any kind of fancy protocol.
• 26:29
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you're nodding along like, yep, this is me.
• 26:32
  Dr. Heather Finley: You know, I'm not sure where to start.
• 26:33
  Dr. Heather Finley: Let's talk about what to do.
• 26:35
  Dr. Heather Finley: If you're doing all of those things and you're still having symptoms and when you should test.
• 26:41
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you're dealing with all these symptoms testing could be a good step if you're still dealing with stick or floating or greasy stool, if bloating just will not go away.
• 26:52
  Dr. Heather Finley: Constant fatigue or low vitamin D hormone symptoms like PMS, acne or irregular cycles, if you're having post gallbladder removal symptoms, if you have chronic sibo, that will not go away regardless of how many protocols you've done.
• 27:09
  Dr. Heather Finley: Or your gut just hasn't felt right since you've had a virus or pregnancy or just dealing with burnout.
• 27:15
  Dr. Heather Finley: It might be helpful to take a look at what's actually going on under the hood, because it could be multifaceted.
• 27:22
  Dr. Heather Finley: So some tests that could be helpful when we're helping clients with these issues are, of course the GI Map test is gonna be a really comprehensive stool test that looks at specific fat digestion markers.
• 27:35
  Dr. Heather Finley: Signs of inflammation, if there's an overgrowth of bacteria, and then if the pancreas and gallbladder are doing their job.
• 27:42
  Dr. Heather Finley: So it gives us some really strategic places that we can start.
• 27:46
  Dr. Heather Finley: And then the HTMA, of course, I love the HTMA as just a baseline test for.
• 27:51
  Dr. Heather Finley: Anybody struggling with any symptom because minerals are really the foundation of everything from bile to enzymes to hormones.
• 28:00
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you're low in minerals or your minerals are just imbalanced, or if your body is in a stressed and depleted state.
• 28:07
  Dr. Heather Finley: It gives us an idea of how your nervous system is doing, what your mineral loss looks like.
• 28:12
  Dr. Heather Finley: And so these tests, either alone or together, can give us a full picture of what's going on so we can make a plan to help your body get moving.
• 28:22
  Dr. Heather Finley: If you are ready to get started today, what you can do even without a test, is start with the basics.
• 28:27
  Dr. Heather Finley: So add in mineral rich drinks mineral mocktails, use digestive bitters and include healthy fats.
• 28:34
  Dr. Heather Finley: Get in some gentle movement, especially after eating.
• 28:37
  Dr. Heather Finley: And then don't ignore the signs that your body is giving you.
• 28:39
  Dr. Heather Finley: So your sticky stool is a symptom.
• 28:42
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's your body saying, Hey, it's waving, its little red flag.
• 28:45
  Dr. Heather Finley: I need help.
• 28:46
  Dr. Heather Finley: The good news is that the help does not have to be extreme.
• 28:49
  Dr. Heather Finley: So.
• 28:50
  Dr. Heather Finley: If you've tried fiber, you've cut out gluten, you've done every gut protocol under the sun, you still feel stuck.
• 28:56
  Dr. Heather Finley: It could be time to just zoom out.
• 28:58
  Dr. Heather Finley: The problem may not be your food.
• 29:00
  Dr. Heather Finley: It might be that your gut is not doing its job, or your bile is not doing its job.
• 29:05
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you've made it this far, you know that.
• 29:09
  Dr. Heather Finley: Sticky peanut butter textured stool is way more than just an awkward bathroom moment.
• 29:14
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's your body's way of saying that it's having a hard time breaking things down and that it needs some support so you can support your bile flow naturally.
• 29:21
  Dr. Heather Finley: You can improve your digestion and your hormones and your energy, and you don't need a 20 step.
• 29:26
  Dr. Heather Finley: Protocol or extreme food elimination to do it.
• 29:30
  Dr. Heather Finley: So it starts with something as simple as more minerals, some bitters, walking, et cetera.
• 29:37
  Dr. Heather Finley: So I hope that this episode was super helpful.
• 29:40
  Dr. Heather Finley: I would love it if you would share it.
• 29:43
  Dr. Heather Finley: With someone who might benefit from it because you never know who might need it.
• 29:48
  Dr. Heather Finley: And, don't forget also about the HTMA Mother's Day promo.
• 29:54
  Dr. Heather Finley: So if you're looking to get your minerals tested, it's a great intro way to work with our team.
• 30:00
  Dr. Heather Finley: It's$30 off through Sunday, May 11th for the HTMA bundle.
• 30:04
  Dr. Heather Finley: That will get you the HTMA test as well as a consult to review your results and a personalized protocol of how you can get started.
• 30:13
  Dr. Heather Finley: So don't forget the link is in the show notes with the coupon code if you would like to do that.
• 30:18
  Dr. Heather Finley: But I'll catch you next time on the next episode of the Love Your podcast.
• 30:22
  Dr. Heather Finley: Thanks for joining.