There are many digestive juices present in our body that helps to improve digestive functions. Bile juice is one of the major components that plays role in this problem. Bile is basically a yellowish green fluid that helps the digestive system to breakdown food. Bile salts are primary components present in the bile which is stored in the gallbladder. These salts help to digest fat in our body, but it is not all. Bile salts also have some effects on your body which you are not told often by your nutritionist or doctor. Today we will talk about benefits of having bile salts function in our body with help of expert Dr. Sumeet Nigam, General Physician from Sahara Hospital, Lucknow.
Function of Bile Juice in body
Bile actually contains a lot of components such as cholesterol, water, bile acids and bilirubin which have different functions to perform. The major role of bile in the body is to do the following-
- Break down fats to improve digestion
- Getting rid of the waste products in the body
- To help absorb fat soluble vitamins
Bilirubin present in the bile salts is responsible for the colour of stool and the other functions in the body. Bile salts that are made in the liver are stored in the gallbladder between meals. This means that fats that we eat are present in the digestive tracts helps to breakdown food. Then the hormones send a signal to release bile in the gallbladder.
The function of bile is to move to small intestine and aid in the digestive process. This is just the first part, where the major digestion happens and fats are broken down to release energy. Other use of bile salts is to remove toxins from the body and release it through faeces. Lack of bile salts can actually increase the toxins in our body and create problems.
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Benefits of Bile Salts
1. It Prevents stomach cramps
Bile salts breaks down the fats that otherwise get stored in the intestine or gallbladder an cause painful cramps in stomach. Bile salts are helpful in breakdown of food that does not cause painful cramps and problems related to digestion.
2. Eradicates Gas and smell
You must have observed that when you get gas issues, there is often bad smell. This is because of lack of bile in the body. When the bile salts are not produced in adequate amount, it leads to smell in the intestine. This happens because bile salts actually regulate the flow of energy and gases produced in digestion and get rid of it by urine and faeces. However if gas gets trapped, then it causes pain and bad smell in stomach.
3. Prevents Diarrhoea
One of the complications of having insufficient amount of bile juice is in the form of diarrhoea. In the case where fatty acids you eat aren’t absorbed, it goes in the colon and results to diarrhoea. People that do not produce enough bile salts are more vulnerable to get diarrhoea. In some cases, they also need to get their bladder removed as their body is unable to digest those fatty foods.
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4. Weight loss issues
You might think that weight loss is good, but not in this case. When bile salts are not present or produced in the body, the nutrition is taken from other sources such as liver, fatty acids present in the muscle and healthy cells. As a result of this the person not only looses significant weight but also becomes weak.
5. Reduces bowel problems and pale coloured stool
Bile juices including bile salts are healthy in form of digestion. Since their major function is to remove toxins and aids digestion, absence of these salts can create major problems. For example it can cause irregular bowel movements and pale coloured stool in the process of digestion. Since bile salts are not absorbed in the food, it does affect excretory system as well.
6. Untreated Deficiency
The main complication of insufficient production of bile juices can be because of formation of kidney stones. Yes, without bile salts, there is high tendency of formation of kidney stones and gallstones in the body. It may also cause diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease. These two diseases are also caused because of bile salt mal-absorption.
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