Step 4 - Month 3 | Balance Bile and Enzymes
- therhythmofhealth
- Nov 21, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 23, 2025
If you’ve ever eaten something fatty and felt heavy, nauseous, or needed to rush to the toilet a couple of hours later, you’ve just met your bile system.
Bile is made in your liver, stored in your gallbladder, and released into your small intestine when fat arrives. It’s like dishwashing liquid for your food. It breaks fat into tiny droplets so your enzymes can finish the job. Without it, fat can’t be digested properly.
But bile isn’t just about fat. It also helps move waste out of the body, neutralises stomach acid once food leaves the stomach, and keeps your gut microbes balanced.
Why Dysfunction Happens
Bile flow depends on timing. It releases in response to stomach acid and nerve signals. When that rhythm breaks, bile either doesn’t show up when it should, or it dumps all at once later.
Here’s what slows or disrupts bile release:
Eating under stress & too fast (Step 2 | Calm the system)
Low stomach acid (Step 3 | Reset your stomach acid)
Long gaps without food, then heavy meals.
Eating too little fat for too long (the gallbladder forgets how to function).
Liver sluggishness from medication, toxins, or dehydration.
Imbalance of gut microbes that normally help recycle bile.
Bile issues are usually due to poor timing:
Too little bile released | Fat becomes poorly digested and bacteria may overgrow (SIBO) making digestion worse again. Stools are often pale, greasy and float.
Bile drips at the wrong time | Bile is supposed to be released in a coordinated wave, but if the timing is off it may trickle out early or late.
Bile release all at once (bile dumping) | Bile timing is poor and released in one large amount. It's too much for the small intestine to re-absorb and ends up in the colon, causing watery diarrhoea, irritation, burning and urgency.
What It Feels Like When Bile or Enzymes Are Off
General things you might notice:
Nausea an hour or two after eating.
Bowel urgency a few hours after eating.
Heaviness or bloating after fatty rich meals, but fine with lighter meals.
Pale, yellow, or oily stools.
Floating stools or oil rings in the toilet bowl.
Pain or tightness under the right ribs or right shoulder.
How to Improve Bile Flow Naturally
Before trying supplements, focus on the basics.
Continue calm eating | Slow breathing before meals supports digestion. (Step 2: Calm the System)
Eat warm, steady meals | The gallbladder prefers rhythm, not surprises. Skipping meals or fasting too aggressively confuses it.
Keep fat consistent | Rather than eating very low fat one day and high fat the next, give your body a predictable amount so bile knows what to expect.
Add natural bile movers | If tolerated try bitters, lemon juice in warm water or bone broth 10 - 15 minutes before your meal to stimulate bile release.
Add gentle movement after meals | A short 5 - 10 minute walk after eating helps bile move out smoothly (Step 2 | Calm the System).
Keep hydrated, but time it right | Too much water during or right after meals can dilute digestive juices. Sip throughout the day instead.
Restore the small intestine lining | Bone broth provides nutrients that help to heal the lining so bile acids can be absorbed and recycled.
Rest the gut | Reducing the eating window to 8 - 10hrs and try not to snack so the gut has time to clean and repair.
A Note on Bitters | Bitters are one of those simple, old-world tools that most people have forgotten about, yet they were once woven into almost every traditional diet. Before modern diets took over, our meals naturally included bitter flavours from leafy greens, roots, herbs, and tonics that signalled to the gut, “wake up, digestion is starting.” Bitter receptors sit all through the digestive tract, and when they’re activated they help stomach acid rise, bile flow more freely, and enzymes switch on at the right time. For a deeper look at how bitters work (plus the best options to start with), you can read a full guide on bitters here: Bitters and Digestion | The Forgotten Link in Gut Health.
If You Want Extra Support
Some people benefit from supplements that help the bile system wake up again. These can include:
Taurine (500 - 1000 mg) with main meals | Helps the body make bile.
Glycine (2 - 3g / day) in the evening | Helps build bile and restore the lining.
Digestive enzymes | Finish breaking down fat and protein. Helpful if still noticing food undigested in stools. Start low and slowly phase out as digestion improves. [Digestive Support link here]
Ox bile | Sometimes used if you don’t have a gallbladder or if bile flow is very sluggish. It's best taken with the largest meal only, not every meal. Start small. If stools become watery or bright yellow, you’re overdoing it. Once stools stay consistently formed and sink, slowly reduce over 2 - 4 weeks as supplementing long-term can override natural signals.
If You’re Improving
You’ll know your bile flow is balancing when:
Fatty meals feel smoother and lighter.
Nausea fades.
Stool colour deepens to a rich brown.
You stop feeling “hit” by your food hours later.
Appetite becomes predictable.
Bitter tastes start feeling pleasant.
If Things Still Feel Off
If symptoms move lower, more gurgling, bloating, or changes that appear 3 - 8 hours after meals, it usually means the next layer is now asking for attention: Step 5 | Restore the Microbiome. That’s what we’ll explore next.
→ Step 5 - Month 4 | Restore the Microbiome ← Up Next
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