Diane;

I'm also quite familiar with the feeling of a gallbladder and liver attack,
I had many from February to October of 1999. I can still remember the
diagnosis and my doctor's request that I setup a schedule, with a surgeon
that he knew, to have my gallbladder removed within a couple of weeks after
that diagnosis. Well, I didn't get it taken out, I researched the web for
information and after coming across Julia Changs information on top of Hulda
Clarks and a couple of others I decided to do the gallbladder flush. Granted
it really was a leap of faith for me because I only had the scant
information that I was able to gleam about the good the flushes could do,
and have done for so many others. I would also suggest that you get Dr.
Sandra Cabot's book "The Liver Cleansing Diet" for some very pertinent
information regarding the liver and how to maintain it. Dr. Cabot's book
will certainly enlighten you to the foods to eat, and just what the liver
needs to function properly. I pronounce, from the rooftops, the help her
book has been to me.

Some things to do right now are;

The top of the list is to avoid all saturated fats like those that
coagulate, such as bacon grease does when it's poured from the skillet and
cools. Also avoid hydrogenated oils. These are usually oils that at one time
may have been good for the liver but now work against it and over burden it.
Hydrogenated oils are those you get with deep frying or in such foods as
processed cheeses and margarines. Avoid other processed foods such as breads
that are not whole grain.

Supplement with lecithin, around 2400 to 4800 mg of lecithin a
day. Take two in the morning and two in the evening with one or more 500 mg
of taurine taken anytime. These help to keep the cholesterol suspended, or
emulsified much the same as dish detergent works on the fats that are washed
off the dinner plates.

Take note of foods that stimulate the gallbladder. Certain foods will tend
to cause a minor type of attack because of the good it's doing for the liver
and gallbladder. Foods like cabbage, pecans, beets are pretty stimulating
and may tend to at the least cause a discomfort but it's not because it's
doing anything bad, it's just stimulating the liver and/or the gallbladder
to function. When I was having my worst attacks in "99" it took me awhile to
figure out what good foods were causing me to have attacks even though I was
avoiding all fats. (Avoiding all fats, including EFAs, wasn't a good thing
but I hadn't read Dr. Cabot's book at that time to know any better of what
to eat)

Don't be afraid of eating foods that contain fats as long as the fats that
they contain are of the type that are essential to the liver's good health.
One such food is avocado. So, getting on a diet which contains essential
fatty acids can actually cause the loss of inches. Since the liver is the
fat burning tool of the body when it's in good working order the body starts
to burn off excessive fat.. I can assure you that I've lost my Sumo gut
since changing the types of foods I'll eat. I use to look like I was
pregnant. I still may not be as thin as I could/should be, but then I tend
to eat foods I didn't dare a year or so ago, but, I am able to get into
suits I couldn't button in front of me, with room to spare, for quite a
number of years.

There are some other things to consider too regarding the liver,
gallbladder, and colon synergistics. You will be wanting to eat foods that
contain a goodly amount of dietary fiber in the form of what it called
soluble fiber and non-soluble fiber. Soluble fiber is described as that
which will become like a gel in the intestines and absorb the bile from the
liver, like psyllium. Where non-soluble fiber is that which will just move
through the body without being changed much in it's state, like the kernel
shell of corn. You'll want this because it will be taking out the excess fat
that the liver will be depositing to the intestines as a bile containing in
it cholesterol. By having it move through the system fairly quickly there is
little reabsorbtion of the cholesterol or fats, with the end result being a
reduction of LDL cholesterol the main reason for most gallstones.

I can't say enough about making sure of getting enough water each day too.
This is also very important, along with exercise and a diet void of the
wrong types of fats.

Another great help for reducing the pain is the use of a Castor Oil Packs. To
make one you just need castor oil, a cotton roll, a sheet of plastic (small
trash bags work great), a towel, and a hot water bottle. Use just enough
cotton roll to go across the whole of the abdomen at the lower rib cage,
saturate the cotton with the oil, lay it across the abdomen, and then  put a
plastic bag on top of that. Next the towel is used because the hot water
bottle may be too hot to start with and the towel will damper the heat. When
the temperature goes down remove the towel and put the bottle directly on
the plastic until around a half hour to an hour of use is done. Save the
roll of oil in another plastic bag for use later as you can get a number of
uses from one cotton roll.

The Castor Oil Packs is also a very good precursor to the gallbladder and
liver flush. It can be done most anytime during the period when the Epsom
salts or other cleaner is being used to clear the bowels.

There are of course other things to consider too, such as colon cleansing
and parasite cleansing but for right now your greatest interest is getting
foods that will be working toward the health of the liver. When that's being
done the other things can be added to help the process along.

Dale - Dale Williams