Bile flow problem solved… with water

[martybyrde]

Suddenly I stopped producing (or releasing) bile about a year ago. I would occasionally have a bowel movement that was somewhat dark here and there but 99% of the time it was very pale.

I have adapted to lower water intake since following a lot of the diet recommendations on here. I never really had a drive for thirst throughout my whole life unless I really pushed myself at the gym. Recently I took a step back and realized I don’t really get more than 16oz of pure water a day, plus another 16oz of other fluids at most. I am an active young male.

I decided to really up my water intake, pure water without added electrolytes. I am pushing about 100oz of water a day most days now.

Wow. My stools are almost black. Consistently for a week and a half now without a missed day. Will continue.

 

[martybyrde]

I really don’t understand how water can be bad for you. I understand the risks of hyponatremia but my meals are pretty salty. I read a lot about how you shouldn’t have too much pure water here, but my experience seems to be the opposite. I naturally crave water now too.

Also, I have chronically low blood pressure. It has slowly inched up to a normal range since starting.

 

[InChristAlone]

Good reminder! I don't drink enough water either.

 

[charlie]

I agree, water is life. I would be careful with the "electrolytes" you are adding. I prefer pure water from a reverse osmosis filter or distilled. I can always add a bit of 50/50 salt to it if needed.

 

[martybyrde]

I agree, water is life. I would be careful with the "electrolytes" you are adding. I prefer pure water from a reverse osmosis filter or distilled. I can always add a bit of 50/50 salt to it if needed.

Without* added electrolytes. I do better without them. I get worse results with pedialyre for example

 

[Korven]

I had the exact same experience as you.

My gallbladder was completely stuck after years of stupid diets, like WFPB, and being sick/inflamed.

I started sucking down 4 pints of hot water between meals and immediately my bile started flowing. Haven't had problem with bile flow since then. It was a miracle cure for me! Better than TUDCA

 

[Korven]

Bile is also like 90% water if I remember correctly.

 

[InChristAlone]

I had the exact same experience as you.

My gallbladder was completely stuck after years of stupid diets, like WFPB, and being sick/inflamed.

I started sucking down 4 pints of hot water between meals and immediately my bile started flowing. Haven't had problem with bile flow since then. It was a miracle cure for me! Better than TUDCA

Do you also eat fiber? I wonder if just getting bile flowing is going to heal people or do we also have to mop up the toxins coming out because bile is mostly reabsorbed.

 

[charlie]

I had the exact same experience as you.

My gallbladder was completely stuck after years of stupid diets, like WFPB, and being sick/inflamed.

I started sucking down 4 pints of hot water between meals and immediately my bile started flowing. Haven't had problem with bile flow since then. It was a miracle cure for me! Better than TUDCA

Which makes perfect sense why so many people coming into the Ray Peat world and start drinking mostly milk and orange juice and pretty much forgo water end up in a bad way. It truly is the perfect storm all the diet suggestions being made in the Peat world.

 

[Korven]

Do you also eat fiber? I wonder if just getting bile flowing is going to heal people or do we also have to mop up the toxins coming out because bile is mostly reabsorbed.

I would estimate that I get around 20-40 grams of fibre per day, it depends on how many fruit/nut bars I devour in one day + apples and that kind of thing. But I don't consciously aim to get in a bunch of fiber, my gut seems to be happy with less roughage.

 

[InChristAlone]

Without* added electrolytes. I do better without them. I get worse results with pedialyre for example

Do you have color to your urine drinking a lot of water? I think going by urine color is a good way to tell. We don't want clear urine.

 

[InChristAlone]

I would estimate that I get around 20-40 grams of fibre per day, it depends on how many fruit/nut bars I devour in one day + apples and that kind of thing. But I don't consciously aim to get in a bunch of fiber, my gut seems to be happy with less roughage.

Ok that's a very good amount then. For yrs on the Peat diet I was getting less than 15 gram a day. I wouldn't recommend that!

 

[Nick]

Garrett Smith still suggest the Matt Stone/eat for heat method of slight water restriction but I personally do better with a bit more water than this, in terms of bile flow as well as muscle/fascia hydration. I think the key is that the body has to have the ability to structure the water you take in, otherwise it goes right through you. This means either high metabolism/body heat, exercise after drinking the water, or external heat/light exposure. Some woo-woo seeming techniques to pre-structure the water before drinking do seem to work for me as well such as vortexing the water or vibrating the water with a weighted tuning fork. After doing either of these the water seems to be absorbed better.

 

[Dolomite]

Which makes perfect sense why so many people coming into the Ray Peat world and start drinking mostly milk and orange juice and pretty much forgo water end up in a bad way. It truly is the perfect storm all the diet suggestions being made in the Peat world.

That is what always bothered me. All the liquid from milk and juice and no room for plain water. I was dying of thirst. haha

 

[Mauritio]

Suddenly I stopped producing (or releasing) bile about a year ago. I would occasionally have a bowel movement that was somewhat dark here and there but 99% of the time it was very pale.

I have adapted to lower water intake since following a lot of the diet recommendations on here. I never really had a drive for thirst throughout my whole life unless I really pushed myself at the gym. Recently I took a step back and realized I don’t really get more than 16oz of pure water a day, plus another 16oz of other fluids at most. I am an active young male.

I decided to really up my water intake, pure water without added electrolytes. I am pushing about 100oz of water a day most days now.

Wow. My stools are almost black. Consistently for a week and a half now without a missed day. Will continue.

I you want bile flow galore, you add a bit of cooking water to a glass of sparkling water.

Carbonated water increases bile on its own and if its warm even further.

 

[Don]

I am going to experiment with hot water and see how the bile goes, BUT I will be sure to have lots of fibre to mop it up.

 

[RealNeat]

Its not about water intake, its about the rest of the diet. When I ate a high fruit diet the thought of water almost made me sick, but if you are eating dense foods like liver, oysters, coffee, milk, cooked everything etc you will need more water to help the organs process such dense sources of nutrition. Ray on multiple interviews mentioned that its a good idea to drink water or orange juice upon waking to help blood flow after the nightly detox (glymphatic system etc)

There is an ayurvedic rehydration protocol that involves drinking a few sips of water every 30 minutes. It doesnt involve drinking a ton of water but what it does do is prevent electrolyte flushing and helps to replenish the lost moisture in the body even by things as simple as breathing and skin moisture loss. This is what i suggest for people who seem to really need more moisture. Its even better if that water is warm/ hot.

I worked in a sushi restaurant and the only people drinking cold water were the Americans coming in, the entire Asian staff would drink water out of a hot thermos, and they all looked pretty good.

Ayurveda's Tradition of Sipping Hot Water for Lymphatic Health - Organic Olivia

I know that it’s hard to be healthy in our modern, industrial world. Chronic...

blog.organicolivia.com

 

[peter88]

Do milk and OJ or other juices not contain “water” or what am I missing? If you are consuming those liquids why would you need plain water?

 

[charlie]

Do milk and OJ or other juices not contain “water” or what am I missing?

Milk and OJ cause cholestasis.

 

[peter88]

Milk and OJ cause cholestasis.

Proof?