Natural Liver and Gallbladder Support: What Your Body’s Been Trying to Tell You

Not long ago, a patient came into my office exhausted, foggy-headed, and frustrated. She had tried everything—changing her diet, exercising more, cutting out caffeine—but she was still dragging. “Maybe it’s my thyroid,” she said. “Or hormones?” Her labs were “normal,” yet she felt anything but.

What she didn’t expect was that our path to getting her energy back would start with her liver.

See, most people think of the liver as just a filter for alcohol or toxins. But in my office, we look at it as the body’s chief operating officer—it’s running the background systems that keep everything else humming: hormone balance, fat digestion, immune regulation, detoxification, even emotional resilience.

And in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the liver plays an even bigger role. It’s responsible for the smooth flow of energy—called “Qi”—through the entire system. When that flow stagnates? You don’t just get digestive discomfort. You get irritability, hormonal shifts, mood swings, eye issues, joint stiffness. You feel “off.”

Next week, I’ll be diving into the Five Elements Chart from Traditional Chinese Medicine—a powerful framework that helps us understand how all your organs, emotions, and systems are deeply connected. It’s one of my favorite tools for helping patients make sense of those “random” symptoms. Don’t miss it!

Let’s talk anatomy for a second—your liver isn’t just sitting there passively. It’s constantly processing your blood, filtering out toxins, breaking down hormones, converting nutrients, and producing bile to help digest fats.

That bile is stored and released by your gallbladder. If the bile gets stagnant, thick, or isn’t flowing properly (a term we call “bile sludge” in Chinese medicine), your whole digestive and hormonal system can suffer. Even if your gallbladder’s been removed, you can still experience symptoms if the liver is congested or struggling to produce healthy bile.

I’ve seen this time and time again: people who’ve had their gallbladder removed but still have the same pain, bloating, and bathroom issues they had before. That’s when we go back upstream—to the liver—and start supporting that system directly.

In my practice, I use energy-based testing to find what organ or system is most stressed in your body. And more often than not, the liver is trying to keep it together—but it’s waving a white flag.

Here are some common clues:

And here’s the kicker: even if your gallbladder is long gone, these symptoms can persist if the liver hasn’t been properly supported.

The first thing I tell people is this: your body doesn’t need to be “hacked”—it needs to be heard. I don’t throw random detox kits at patients and hope something sticks. I listen to my patient’s concerns and I use energy medicine to pinpoint what their liver actually needs to get back on track.

Sometimes we need to reduce dietary stressors—hidden food sensitivities, sugar, or alcohol. Other times, we need to feed the liver with targeted whole food nutrition. That’s where Standard Process products come in. I use these because they’re not just supplements—they’re food concentrates grown in nutrient-rich soil that the body recognizes and responds to.

Here are a few simple steps I recommend to almost every patient:

Think of Livaplex as comprehensive nutritional support for your liver—it’s like a team of specialists backing up your body’s natural detox efforts.

This one’s all about getting bile moving. Thick, sludgy bile is one of the most common issues I see in people with digestive discomfort—even if they’ve had their gallbladder removed.

Made from kale and Brussels sprouts, this supplement delivers concentrated support for your body’s natural detoxification processes.

Milk thistle has been traditionally used to support liver health and function. It provides botanical compounds that help maintain healthy liver tissue and promote the body’s natural detoxification processes.

These supplements—from Standard Process and MediHerb—combine the best of whole food nutrition and traditional herbal wisdom. Standard Process products are made from whole foods grown in nutrient-rich, organic soil, delivering naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, and enzymes your liver can actually recognize and use. MediHerb brings time-tested, clinically researched herbal formulas that work in synergy with your body. When you feed and support the liver with this kind of comprehensive nourishment, you’re not just helping detox—you’re boosting energy, balancing hormones, improving digestion, and even supporting emotional health.

If you’re struggling with fatigue, hormonal imbalances, digestive problems—or you just feel “off” and haven’t found answers—it might be time to look at your liver.

Let’s start by finding out what your body really needs. Click here to👉request an appointment and we’ll create a personalized plan to help your system reset, restore, and thrive.

Sign up for our blog to follow along. Next week, I’ll be diving into the Five Elements Chart from Traditional Chinese Medicine—a powerful framework that helps us understand how all your organs, emotions, and systems are deeply connected. 

Let’s see what we can accomplish together!

Dr. Brian Klepzig