Howdy Folks!
Today’s blog is a collaborative effort from Abbey & me, to explain yet another of Standard Process’s remarkable products. We’re chatting about A-F Betafood, a product that has been in production from Standard Process since 1951. Its primary use is to support your gallbladder, and like all their products, ends up doing much more in the process. Let’s get into it.
The Gallbladder has the reputation amongst surgeons as being a spare part. Yes, you can live without one, but should you? What can you do to increase your chances of keeping yours? What can you do if you no longer have one?
The gallbladder lives underneath the liver on the right-hand side of the body just below the rib cage in the front. One of the primary jobs of the gallbladder is to store and then release bile to help digest fat in the diet. Bile is produced in the liver and stored in the gallbladder. Keeping this bile flowing is imperative. Why? Because fat is an important source of energy for the body. Roughly 80% of the body’s energy needs are supplied by fat. When the body does not get fat to power itself, due to malabsorption (no bile flow), the body is forced to look for carbohydrates (sugars) for fuel. You can see why so many people crave sweets- their fat metabolism is sluggish. Why? Because their gallbladder is sluggish.
Also, the quality of fat you ingest matters. Use olive, coconut, or avocado oil. Or animal fat like butter, ghee or lard. The body loves these.
Avoid things that say trans-fat or partially hydrogenated fat, which are in almost every processed food you can buy. Bad news. They gum things up because your body can’t use them.
How do you know if your gallbladder could use some help?
Do you belch, or in polite company burp, after you have eaten multiple times? Do you have tightness between the shoulder blades often? Do you have inexplicable right shoulder pain? Do you crave sweets? Do greasy foods upset you? Are you sensitive to hot weather? Is your cholesterol too high?
These are just a few of the symptoms people report who need some gallbladder support.
And what if you no longer have a gallbladder? Your liver still produces bile and secretes it into the small intestine to help digest the fat. But it cannot produce bile fast enough to make up for your lack of stored bile in an organ like the gallbladder. Fat metabolism is impaired and carbohydrate dependence is facilitated. This is not a great scenario. But there is help.
We have a product, Cholecol, made of bile salts that will enhance your ability to digest fat, like the good quality fat listed above. We are not currently stocking this product, but we can, just let me know and we will get it coming. The people who have used it love it.
For those of you who still have a gallbladder and want to protect it like it matters instead of as an extra body part, read on…
For this portion I will hand the microphone to Abbey, my resident chemist. She will explain why A-F Betafood is a wonder.
So why would we pick A-F Betafood over anything else? Well, here’s my pitch to you:
What:A-F Betafood is a combination product of real food high vitamins A & F, and primarily betaine, a B-complex factor. This combo keeps the bile flowing and the bile route flushed. AFB also contains beetroot leaves, sweet potato, carrot, and some natural binding factors (like oats). As usual this is a high quality product made from real stuff.
How: If drastic measures are being taken, meaning, your gallbladder is pretty sluggish and you are exhibiting symptoms as described above, the recommended 2 per meal will not be enough. In these cases we usually dose at least 12 per day (remember it is made from real food so there is no toxic level). Chew it up for better digestive results… trust me, this one is almost tasty. My dad usually eats 6 at a time because, well…he eats too much!!
Where: Buy it in the office, we have two sizes, 180 or 360 tablets, or from our Website.
In Sum: As we learned above, the main function of the gallbladder is to flush bile (& toxins) out of your system. If there is insufficient flow, the bile becomes too thick, and can’t move out. Vitamins A and F help to thin this bile out, and the betaine functions as a flushing mechanism, repairing the function of the gallbladder.
As an added bonus, in essentially every protocol where blood sugar handling (think diabetes, hypoglycemia, etc..) is an issue, A-F Betafood is the best first product to get things under control.
Folks this is a powerful formula, and “is good for what ails ya”. It will always be on our shelf at the office and on our shelf at home!
Cheers,
ks and afs