Hi
Below is some info that you may find helpful:
Most liver and gallbladder stones (99%) are made up of cholesterol, and cholesterol is a vaxy substance, not something that can break easily.
There are two basic types of gallstones:
Cholesterol gallstones are the most common, accounting for about 80% of cases. These are formed when there is too much bilirubin or cholesterol in the bile, or not enough bile salts. They may also occur when the gallbladder does not empty as it should. Cholesterol gallstones are usually yellowish green to green in color.
Pigment stones are small and dark and made of bilirubin. Their cause is uncertain although they tend to develop in people who suffer from liver disease, bile tract infections or hereditary blood disorders such as sickle-cell anaemia.
It can sometimes take 10 or 20 or 25 flushes, before the gallbladder is strong enough to push stones out. But, over 90% of people will achieve it within 8 flushes.
Green to bright green stones reflect a relatively healthy liver and gallbladder. Stones that are anywhere from brown to black (almost always foul smelling) reflect a liver that is either in a disease state -- or well on the way.
The color of the stones usually tells few things:
- how long time it took to create stones
- place where stones were created ...
- general liver health and quality of bile
We could speculate and say that it is at least 10 times more likely for green stones to come from your liver, then it is to come from your gallbladder.
Transparent green stones are mainly composed of pure cholesterol and very little bile pigment (giving them green color) ... with no proteins, no calcium ...
Stones formed inside gallbladder may also be transparent, but because gallbladder can secret protein ... gallbladder stones are more likely not to be transparent ... especially if stones were there for very long time ... (months or years)
But, one thing is sure:
The healthier your liver, diet and your lifestyle are, the more likely it is for stones to be transparent.
Stones are usually not transparent when there is a lot of other substance mixed in bile ... giving them other colors and making them more "dirty"
Stones are usually green, bright and transparent when creation process was short: few hours, few days, or few weeks ...
The longer time it takes to create stones ... the more likely it is for stone to be created in many layers, and to be not as transparent or bright ...
If stone was created during longer time ... chances are that stone will be composed of bile of different quality, making it not as bright and not as transparent, and not as homogenous ...
Stone crystallization is the process that may start :
inside liver (intrahepatic bile ducts) and finish there ... in other words complete stone was created inside intrahepatic bile ducts, inside liver
inside liver (intrahepatic bile ducts) and finish inside common bile duct ... in other words stone was partially created inside intrahepatic bile ducts (inside liver) and then it moved into common bile duct and it continued to grow inside common bile duct (common bile duct is outside liver)
inside liver (intrahepatic bile ducts) and finish inside gallbladder ... in other words stone was partially created inside intrahepatic bile ducts (inside liver) and then it moved into gallbladder and continued to grow inside common bile duct (common bile duct is outside liver)
inside common bile duct (outside liver) and finish inside common bile duct ... in other words stone was completely created inside common bile duct (outside liver)
inside gallbladder (outside liver) and finish inside gallbladder ... in other words complete process of crystallization and creation of the stone has happened inside gallbladder
Because there are so many possibilities, it is impossible to know exactly what happened with each stone ...
We have very many factors like:
- quality of bile (affected by liver health, our lifestyle, diet, stress, .....infinite number of possibilities )
- place where stones were created (5 possibilities)
- duration of time that creation process of each stone has taken (infinite possibilities)
Each stone may have it's own life ... it's own history ... it's own composition ... and we can only speculate about it ... there is no way for us to know exactly what happened? where? how? ... and even if there was a way .. do we really need to know?
All you really need to know is this:
Once you do 2 -3 flushes with no stones ... it usually means that you are clean ... it means that you finally found diet and lifestyle that prevents fast stones formation ..
One thing is common for most people who achieved this goal:
- They consume large amount of fat on daily bases ... good fat, not fat from fast food, fried food, or margarine ...
The more fat you consume ... the less likely you are to have stagnated bile inside your liver/gallbladder/bile ducts
- Most people don't have to be vegetarians in order to prevent stones formation
- Most people don't have to be taking supplements in order to prevent stones formation
Actually, quite many people following vegetarian diet are more likely to be on the low fat diet ... putting them in the higher risk of producing stones ...
I have too often seen references on this forum where people speculate that shift to vegetarian diet is suppose to prevent stones formation ...
That may be true for 10% or 15% of people ... but it is not true for everybody.
Nothing is true for everybody. Every person have to find his/her own truth ... and even when they find it ... ther is no warannty that it will last ... we are going through constant change!!!
This is what we know about cholesterol stones - stones that 90% of us pass while flushing liver:
- stones never melt inside human intestines (people have been passing stones 24 hours or sometimes even 72 hours after drinking olive oil)
- stones get exposed to bacteria, virus and yeast while passing through human intestines
- stones are not water soluble
- stones always dissolve in alcohol because cholesterol is alcohol soluble
- stones almost always melt when exposed to air (within 24h)
- stones can be preserved by freezing
- stones can be preserved in formaldehide (at room temperature)
- if we leave stones floating on top of water (at room temperature) - stones would almost always melt
- if you wash your stones with cold and clean water, and then you expose them to the direct sunlight (not too hot sun - winter sun) stones dry and remain hard - resistant to air and room temperature
- oxygen can affect the way bacteria behave
We know that OXYGEN affects stones, but we don't know if it is just a chemical reaction or if it is a bio-chemical reaction (a reaction resulting from bilogical activity like presence of some bacteria or yeast).
Considering these 3 facts:
- washing stones in clean water and exposing them to the direct sunlight is sometimes sufficient to prevent melting (but not always). Some stones are hard enough, and are very easy to keep and preserve, but other stones are just very soft and easily melt no matter what we do.
- keeping stones floating on water almost always results in melting of the stones
- stones can be preserved by placing in formaldehide
- sunlight kills bacteria and yeast
These are the facts, the results of observation of stones from hundreds of different people.
Based on those facts, we can conclude with some degree of certainty:
stones are melting because of bilogical activity like presence of some bacteria or yeast.
To further test hypothesis that stones are melting because of bilogical activity, I urge you to test your stones:
- keep your stones at the room temperature, inside water containing some strong natural antibiotic, like for example herbal tincture made from: grapefruit seed extract, tobacco leaves, cloves, wormwood, thuja, salvia officinalis, black walnut, ...
- try to preserve your stones inside vinegar
- try to preserve your stones inside lemon juice
- add citric acid into water and try to preserve your stones by keeping them inside
- try to analyze melted stones under microscope, looking for live bacteria or any other life sign
Take Care & Be Well
Health Dr. 2
