What is bile
Bile is a fluidic compound made in the liver and stored in the gallbladder. It has complex composition made up of bile salts in major, cholesterol, bilirubin(a breakdown product or red blood cells), phospholipids, proteins, water, and some other compound in a small percentage.
Importance of Bile in the function of the body
Role in digestion and absorption
When you ingest fats/oil, the gallbladder secretes bile into the duodenum of the small intestine. It plays a major rule in the digestion of fat. One active component of bile is bile salts. It plays an important role in lipid digestion and absorption and fats transportation and bio availability of fat soluble nutrients. Bile salts are an amphipanathic molecule i.e. one side of bile salts is chemically similar to water, and the other side is similar to fats and oils. Due to this bile salts can provide a bridge between watery surroundings and fats. This helps to disperse dietary fat into smaller components by a process called emulsification in the small intestine. This process allows the absorption of fat and fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K through the intestine wall. Bile salt coated lipid able to travel trough water in the intestine to the intestinal cells.
Helps to lower cholesterol
Bile salts contain a large amount of cholesterol and turns some cholesterol into bile salts. In normal, the body reabsorbs the majority of bile salts and allows them to reuse. When cholesterol level of the body is high reabsorption of bile salts are reduced and which results in the elimination of bile salts along with faecal matter. This process helps to balance the cholesterol level in the body.
Prevent the formation of gallstone
Bile salts also play an important rule in preventing gallstones in the gall bladder. In most gallstones are made of cholesterol forming to hard solid. This can be a result of cholesterol not binding with bile salts as a result of bile salt deficiency. Bile salts play an important rule to combine with cholesterol either to absorb it or to remove excess cholesterol from the body.
Elimination of waste product
The liver metabolizes and excretes many waste products, toxins into bile. Bile helps to eliminate harmful substances, toxins from the body. One of such waste products is bilirubin. Bilirubin is a toxic waste product of the breakdown of red blood cells in day to day processes and eliminated via bile.
Problem with bile salt deficiency: Problem includes Sat soluble vitamins A, D, E & K deficiency, calcium deficiency, liver disease, jaundice, an increase of toxins in the body, etc.
Cause of bile deficiency: The major cause of bile deficiency includes Liver disease, improper gall bladder function, poor gut bacteria (good bacteria), nutritional imbalance, medicinal side effect etc.
The above functions indicate the importance of bile in proper function of the human body and so as the gall bladder.
