Ep. 69: Is Your Poop Greasy, Sticky, or Floating? It Might Be a Bile Problem

Sticky, hard-to-wipe poops might feel like just a bathroom frustration—but they’re actually one of the clearest signs your bile isn’t flowing well. And when bile is off, digestion, hormones, and energy all take a hit.

In this episode, I’m breaking down:

• What sticky stool really means (and what “normal” should look like)
• 5 reasons your bile might be sluggish
• Why this matters even more if you’ve had your gallbladder removed or are postpartum
• How poor bile flow impacts hormone balance, bloating, fatigue, and even post viral gut issues
• 5 simple, natural ways to support bile flow today

Links & Resources:

→ Purchase the HTMA Bundle (use code MOTHERSDAY30 for $30 off!) 

→ Download the free mineral guide 

→ Ready to get to the root of your GI issues for good? Apply for gutTogether® here: www.guttogetherprogram.com

→ Follow me on Instagram: @drheatherfinley

→ Episode with Dr. Jolene Brighten 

→ Try Digestive Bitters

Transcript

Dr. Heather Finley: 0:03

Welcome to the Love Your Gut Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Heather Finley, registered dietitian and gut health specialist. I understand the frustration of dealing with GI issues because I've been there and I spent over two decades searching for answers for my own gut issues of constipation, bloating, and stomach pain. I've dedicated my life to understanding and solving my own gut issues. And now I'm here to guide you. On this podcast, I'll help you identify the true root causes of your discomfort. So you can finally ditch your symptoms for good. My goal is to empower you with the knowledge and tools you need so that you can love your gut and it will love you right back. So if you're ready to learn a lot, gain a deeper understanding of your gut and find lasting relief. You are in the right place. Welcome to the love your gut podcast. Hello, and welcome back to the next episode of the Love Your Gut podcast. We are gonna be talking about sticky poops today because your stool is like a daily gut report card, and I recently posted about this on Instagram I was shocked at how many people commented, saved, shared this reel, and so I thought maybe more people need help with this than I actually thought. So many of you messaged me after the sticky stool reel, which I'll link in the show notes if you didn't see it and said, wait, this is me. But really, I mean, so many people struggle with this. This is something that we see with a lot of our clients. So if you feel like you're constantly having to wipe your stool, it leaves streaks in the bowl or. It's really sticky. Then this is your body trying to tell you something. So it's not just annoying. It's often one of the first signs that your bile isn't flowing well, and it actually matters a lot more than you might think. So in today's episode, I want to talk about what causes this sticky stool. Why sluggish bile can lead to bloating, fatigue, and hormone imbalances, and even things like vitamin D deficiency. What to do if you don't have a gallbladder? Spoiler alert. This is even more important if you don't have a gallbladder. I'm gonna talk about some natural ways to support bile flow and then why women, especially in childbearing years or postpartum, are more vulnerable to bile issues due to these hormonal shifts. So if you've been dealing with gut issues and hormonal symptoms and feel like nothing is working and you're struggling with sticky stool or incomplete bowels, then don't skip this episode. So a sticky stool is the kind that typically will stick to the toilet. It will take several wipes to clean. It might have kind of a greasy or peanut butter like texture. It might leave like a greasy sheen on the water, often floats, or leaves behind streaks. If you feel like, any of this relates to you, then today's episode will give you some actionable insights into what's going on. This type of stool is not normal. It's common, not normal, and it's often a sign of either fat Mel absorption, so your body isn't properly breaking down or absorbing fats. It can be a sign of sluggish bile flow. Bile is a substance that helps emulsify fats so they can be digested. And then can also just show that you're having digestive dysfunction. That something upstream, whether it be stomach acid, poor meal hygiene, whatever it might be, is off. So your stool should normally be smooth, brown, easy to pass, clean to wipe. It should sink. It should not float and happen one to three times a day, regardless of what. Other providers have told you it is not normal if you are not going to the bathroom every single day. So ideally you want to go at least one to three times, and it's not necessarily better or worse if you go three times versus one time or vice versa. The question that you wanna answer is, is it complete? So did I fully empty my bowels? So it might be occasional that you have sticky stool and you might be thinking, is that a problem? Sticky stool might pop up sometimes, but not always. And the reason could be a little bit more situational. So alcohol, for example, can impact bile production and irritate the GI tract. Higher fat meals, especially if your digestion is. Sluggish can overwhelm your system. So if you feel like, yeah, normally I'm fine, but then if I eat something that's really high in fat, I struggle with this. Stress can also slow down bile release and enzyme function, which can impact this Supplements. Even things like berberine, antimicrobials, binders, all of these things can affect bile flow and liver detoxification. Some things for the better and some things for the worse. Hormonal shifts. So I mentioned this in the beginning, but especially postpartum or around ovulation, this can impact liver and bile function. One of the times that you are most susceptible to gallbladder and bile flow issues is during pregnancy and postpartum because of the drastic hormone shifts and the load that puts on your liver. And also due to rapid weight fluctuations as well. And then periods of constipation can also result in stickier stools temporarily. So if you notice your stool is sticky some days and totally normal, the others, your body might be struggling to keep up with just digestive demand, especially if you're under stress, you're in a hormonal shift or you're taking really aggressive supplements. So let's talk about five common reasons that you might be having sticky stool. There's. More than five, of course reasons, but these are the five most common reasons that I see. And the first reason is sluggish bile flow. So you can kind of think of bile like soap for your fats, so it's made in your liver. It helps break down fat into tiny pieces so your body can use it, and it also helps your body get rid of waste, like old hormones, toxins that you're exposed to, et cetera. But if bile isn't flowing well or if bile gets kind of sludgy or thick, fats don't get broken down. So they'll stick around and so does your poop. So this can cause greasy stool, bloating after meals, feeling tired or sluggish. Hormone issues like. PMS or breakouts and bile can slow down for several reasons. It can slow down if you are low in minerals, which is something that we commonly see in our clients. It just like struggling to actually produce bile, make bile sometimes because of an upstream issue, like low stomach acid, it can, bile can also slow down if you've been avoiding fat for years. So you can have this kind of adaptation over time where. Your body just gets used to lower fat, so you have to work your way back up. And it can also slow down if your liver is overloaded from stress or medications or toxins. And that can make things a little bit sluggish. Like I mentioned some other reasons bile can slow down would be to hormo due to hormonal shifts, weight fluctuations, et cetera. So something to just pay attention to. The second reason would be that you don't have a gallbladder. So if you don't have a gallbladder, bile flow matters even more. Your gallbladder is like a little storage pouch for bile, so it saves it up and then releases it when you eat fat. So if you've had it removed, bile drips constantly, but not always when you need it. So that makes fat digestion a little harder. It's very common that we work with clients that have been told, you know, they've had their gallbladder out and they've been told, oh, you don't need to change anything about your diet. You're totally fine. That's not necessarily true. You might have to be a little bit more cognizant of your fat intake, and not that you need to go super low fat or anything like that, but you might have to be more aware of how much fat you can have at a time, or if there's certain enzymes that might help you because you're not getting that surge of bile like you normally would when you eat a meal that's high in fat. So without a gallbladder, you're more likely to get stickier floating stool, feel nauseous or bloated after fatty foods. Maybe miss out on nutrients from fat. One thing that we often see is chronically low vitamin D. The other fat soluble vitamins are vitamins, a, de, and K. And so you need to be able to emulsify fats and then digest and absorb vitamins from fats. The good news here is that you can actually support your bile flow. You just may need a little extra help, like digestive bitters or some specific enzymes. Probably a little bit more mineral support, and a huge, huge emphasis on making sure that you are taking your time, chewing your food, slowing down, maybe playing around with what types of fats you do better with, et cetera. Reason number three is that you have poor enzyme output from your pancreas. So your pancreas makes enzymes. They're like tiny little scissors that cut foods into absorbable pieces. That's what enzymes do, and if you don't have enough enzymes, your body can't break down fat or protein well, and so some signs that your pancreas might be part of the issue is sticky or yellow stool. Bloating an hour or two after eating. You might see bits of undigested food in the toilet, like especially vegetable fibers, or you might feel full for hours after a meal. One of the things that we often see on testing for our clients is a low stool elastase. And these are always our clients that are like, yes, I'm full forever, or It's really hard for me to eat a full meal. And that's just the body really signaling, Hey, there's something going on. The pancreas needs a little bit of support, so some things that can help. This is obviously enzyme support, but there's other things that you can do chewing while spacing your meals out, making sure that you have time for kind of rest and digest in between your meals. And definitely talking to your provider on which enzymes might be helpful for you. If it's more fat related, we love like a chewable lipase. Sometimes a little bit more comprehensive pancreatic support depending on what's going on. The fourth reason would be low stomach acid. I talk about this a lot because it's actually very rare that somebody would have high stomach acid, especially if you're on a medication that lowers stomach acid. Oftentimes when people have acid reflux, it's not because their acid is high, it's because the acid is going the wrong way. So instead of breaking down food and then your stomach filling with acid and emptying into your bowels and. Continuing the digestive process, it's going the other way, causing this acid feeling. So stomach acid is not bad. Your body needs it. It's like the first domino that starts digestion. And so if you don't have enough acid, bile and enzymes don't get triggered. All of these things happen in order and if you've listened to my podcast for any amount of time, you've definitely heard me talk about North. To south digestion, we need the signaling to work. So we need your minds to be ready to eat. We need your stomach to start secreting acid. We need your pancreas to be on board, your liver and gallbladder or your bile flow. And then the chain kind of goes down from there. So if you don't have enough stomach acid, your bile and enzymes don't get triggered. Food will just sit in your stomach. You might feel kind of heavy, full, or gassy after meals, and you may burp a lot or get reflux Sometimes when clients burp a lot after high fat meals, it could be gallbladder related. It also could be low stomach acid related. So low stomach acid equals that. Digestion doesn't even get started. Right? And this is very, very common and often missed. And minerals are a huge piece of this. You need things like sodium and chloride and zinc to help your body make stomach acid. Digestive bitters can also be really helpful here, as well as getting your body into a rest and digest state so it knows that it's safe to digest a meal and it's not running away from a tiger. All right. The last reason that I wanna talk about is gut dysbiosis or imbalances of bacteria in the gut, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth or sibo. So your gut is full of trillions of bacteria, some good, some bad, and if there's too much of the wrong kind or just bacteria in the wrong place, it's called dysbiosis. Or if it's specifically in the small intestine, it would be called sibo. These bugs can interfere with digestion. They can cause sticky, smelly, floating poop. They can create gas, bloating, stomach noise, and they can even mess with your mood and hormones. You have a whole collection of bacteria in your gut called the estrobolome. I talk a little bit about this on the episode that I did with Dr. Jolene Brighton. If you wanna scroll back, I'll link it in the show notes'cause I can't remember what the episode number, it was in the forties, but I can't remember what the episode number is off the top of my head. But if you wanna hear us talk more about that, then you could tune into that episode. But if you feel like you react to everything you eat, your stomach is always off, you're kind of bloated regardless of what you eat. You feel like you have tons of food sensitivities. This might be a root cause and often it is a root cause. But kind of like I was talking about earlier with this whole north to south digestion thing, this is not a concern if the other pieces of digestion aren't working. Like your stomach acid, your pancreatic enzymes, your gallbladder, we can't even get to addressing dysbiosis or SIBO until those things are fixed. Otherwise, we're just gonna be on this hamster wheel forever. So it's really easy to get a stools test back or something and see like. Oh, there's all these bacteria. I wanna get rid of'em. They're causing all these issues. But then if we also see that your body's not breaking down proteins and carbs and fats, well then we need to put things in the right order. So sticky poop is just the symptom. There are real issues underneath, and the good news is that every single one of them can be supported with the right approach. The trick is just knowing where your body needs the most help. So I wanna talk too about. Why bile flow impacts more than just your stool. The thing is that bile is not just about poop. If any practitioners are listening to this episode and you've been in my program, a gut practitioner, you know that I'm obsessed with bile and I constantly talk about why bile is really the real MVP of digestion. If your bile isn't flowing well, you will. Feel it in your energy, your hormones, your digestion, and even your immune system. So I wanna walk through a few key ways that sluggish bile can show up beyond just your bowel movements. And the first one is fatigue, if you ever feel like you are dragging throughout the day, no matter how much you sleep, one sneaky reason could actually be bile. Bile helps you absorb fat soluble vitamins, like vitamins A, D, E, and K, like I mentioned. And these are critical for your energy, your immune health, your skin, your brain function. And what I see all the time in our practice and just individuals that I talk to is women with gallbladder issues or sluggish bile often have chronically low vitamin D, even when they're taking a supplement. We have had a client in the past who was getting vitamin D injections and even with the injections, her vitamin D was still in the twenties, maybe would get into the thirties. When we finally fixed her bile and gallbladder issue, she no longer needed the injections, which is pretty crazy. And this was a multi-phase process for her. The reason partially that her bile flow was so poor was actually because of some things upstream. She had an h pylori infection that needed to be addressed, and this was lowering stomach acid and that was impacting bile signaling. She also was. Very low and very depleted in a lot of minerals. And so her body just didn't even have the raw materials to actually make bile. So when we were able to fix these things over a couple months, all of a sudden her vitamin D is back in a normal range. So it's not about sometimes what you take, you could take all the vitamin D in the world, but it's about what can your body. Actually use, what can you actually digest and absorb? Another way that sluggish bile can affect you is with hormone imbalances, which is really common that we see in our clients as well. So bile always plays a huge role in hormone balance, especially estrogen. So your liver basically packages up, used hormones like estrogen, and sends them out through bile. That's your body's way of getting rid of hormones. But if bile is slow or stuck, estrogen will hang a around in your body longer than it should. You can go listen to that episode on the estrobolome if you, want more information on this. But this can lead to a lot of things like PMS, painful periods, breast tenderness, acne, mood swings. And so it might be easy to think, oh, I just need to know what hormone supplement to take or what thing is gonna fix my hormones when it actually might be your gut. So. One thing that I mentioned earlier, but that I wanna emphasize is that postpartum and pregnancy are times when you are especially susceptible to gallbladder issues. We have had several clients over the years that have come to us having had emergency gallbladder surgery in the postpartum years, especially in those first couple months, because of the drastic hormone shift. They were like rushed into the emergency room. Got their gallbladders out and then, you know, months, years later, they're now having GI symptoms, which is why they end up in our office. So because of that massive hormonal shift after pregnancy, often a rapid drop in weight, that combo can actually thicken bile, making it harder to flow. You want, you don't want sludgy thick bile. This is one of the reasons why. So many women have gallbladder flareups, and end up getting their gallbladder removed within a year of giving birth. If this has happened to you, you are not alone. There's lots of ways during pregnancy and postpartum that you can support your liver and gallbladder, which nobody's talking about. Even simple things like minerals can really help, different herbs and bitter foods. Adding in more like dandelion greens or arugula, radishes, bitter foods can definitely help. And then there's some, different tinctures and things that can be helpful as well. The third reason is a bloating and SIBO risk. So this is one of the, probably the most common thing that we see is bile also keeps your gut moving and it cleans your gut. So it has natural antimicrobial properties, meaning that it keeps bacteria in check. So if your bile isn't flowing well, things will slow down. And when digestion slows down bacteria that shouldn't be in your small intestine can start to overgrow. That's what we call sibo or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. So if you have constant bloating, especially after meals, or you often feel small amounts of food, you make you really full. Then sluggish bile could be a missing piece. Or if you have recurrent sibo. So like I said earlier, you need that surge of bile to kind of coat the small intestine and kill off bacterial because it's antimicrobial. And then the last one that I just thought I would mention because we've been seeing this more and more, is post covid I gut symptoms. So this one surprises people, but bile also helps. Regulate your micro microbiome and after Covid, many people have lingering just reported GI issues, so. Digestive changes may be a part due in part to inflammation or bile disruption because again, bile isn't just for fat digestion. It helps keep harmful bugs in check. It promotes healthy balance in your bacteria and it supports detox. So if you've had some of these long haul symptoms, a major illness or virus, feel like your gut's never been the same. You may wanna look at bile health and liver health. So sticky poop might be the first thing you notice, but. As you're learning, it's not just about poop. Bile is really a big deal. It touches your hormones, your energy, your immune system, your gut bacteria, and if bile isn't flowing, nothing else really flows the way that it should. So you're probably thinking, okay, great. What do I actually do? You don't need a super long supplement list to get your bile moving most likely.

21:15

Interrupting this episode really quickly to tell you about our Mother's Day sale on the HTMA bundle. So instead of flowers, this Mother's Day, tell your husband you want minerals. Seriously, send him the link and say, I want the HTMA bundle, not another candle. It is$30 off. This weekend only and the HTMA bundle is the best place to get started. If you are struggling with low energy, hormone imbalances, bloating, or GI issues, it is a great place to get started to give you the personalized support that you need to get your body feeling like itself again. Until Sunday, only May 11th, you can grab the HDMA bundle using the link in the show notes for$30 off.

Dr. Heather Finley: 22:01

So I wanna talk about five natural ways that you can support bile flow that are simple and make a big difference. The first one, which I've mentioned is to eat bitter foods. These are nature's way of just waking up your digestive system. Just like the smell of coffee gets your brain going in the morning, bitter taste gets your bile flowing. So some of my favorites are arugula. I love a salad with arugula. I put it on literally everything. I put arugula on eggs. I put, I mix arugula into my salad. I put it in soup. I love it. Dandelion greens are another great way. Lemon juice and warm water can be helpful. That's why a lot of people do that in the morning. Radishes, apple cider vinegar, dark chocolate. So yes, I'm telling you to eat dark, dark chocolate for the sake of your gallbladder. So try starting a few meals with just a few bites of bitter or sipping some lemon water or some digestive bitters. Even a splash of vinegar or a vinegar based dressing can help get things moving. Tip number two would be mineral rich hydration. So your bile is kind of like water. It needs the right minerals to stay fluid and flowing. If you are low in potassium or sodium, bile can get thick and sluggish, and we see this. All the time, literally all the time on HTMA testing, especially in women who are stressed and depleted and postpartum and constipated and bloated. So instead of focusing on, you know, fiber and fat only try also adding in minerals, fiber, fat minerals are a great combo to help your bile. So adding in a pinch of salt. To your water, making a mineral mocktail with coconut water or cream of tartar for some extra potassium. Use mineral drops or electrolyte powders. Whatever you prefer. You can obviously always go download my mineral guide. I have lots of different recipes and links in there. Simple hydrating helps you absorb nutrients. It's a win-win. The third tip is digestive bitters. So this goes along with the bitter foods, but bitters from different bitter foods are more concentrated in a bitters tincture, and you really only need a few drops, so you can take them 10 to 15 minutes before your meals. To prime your digestion. The other great thing about digestive bidders is you can take them in between meals as kind of a symptom relief tool. So you can take them, I think, up to six times a day, depending on which bidders. And they're really great for digestion as well as just symptom relief. So they're gonna trigger bile release, they're gonna support your stomach acid, they're gonna calm bloating in fullness. Look for ones with. Dandelion artichoke. If you're on reflux meds, just check with your practitioner first. As always, this is not medical advice, so please just check with your provider. I'll link a couple resources in the show notes if you wanna check into this more. Another really easy, quick and free tip is to move your body. Bile is stored in your gallbladder and movement helps to release it. So even a short walk after a meal can stimulate bile flow and digestion. You don't need to do an intense workout, just some gentle stretching, walking, deep breathing, twisting motions like yoga, all of these signal to your body, Hey, we're using food. Let's digest it. And then the last piece is don't be afraid of healthy fats. So this might sound backwards, but you do need fat to release bile. So when people cut out fat for too long, especially after having their gallbladder removed, where they're just sent home with, you know, dual, a low fat diet, it actually makes bile problems worse. So your body's like, oh, cool, we're not eating fat, I guess I don't need to make bile anymore. So use high quality fats. Like olive oil, avocado oil, grass fed ghee, egg yolks. Aim to include a little fat at each meal. And then chew, give your body the chance to break it down even without a gallbladder. Small amounts of healthy fat spaced throughout the day can be tolerated. You just wanna space it out and instead of doing it all at once, and they're very necessary for vitamin absorption and hormone health. So these five tips can go a long way in supporting your bile and your entire digestive system. And if you're dealing with. Sticky stools or hormonal swings or bloating. This is where I recommend starting before diving into any kind of fancy protocol. So if you're nodding along like, yep, this is me. You know, I'm not sure where to start. Let's talk about what to do. If you're doing all of those things and you're still having symptoms and when you should test. So if you're dealing with all these symptoms testing could be a good step if you're still dealing with stick or floating or greasy stool, if bloating just will not go away. Constant fatigue or low vitamin D hormone symptoms like PMS, acne or irregular cycles, if you're having post gallbladder removal symptoms, if you have chronic sibo, that will not go away regardless of how many protocols you've done. Or your gut just hasn't felt right since you've had a virus or pregnancy or just dealing with burnout. It might be helpful to take a look at what's actually going on under the hood, because it could be multifaceted. So some tests that could be helpful when we're helping clients with these issues are, of course the GI Map test is gonna be a really comprehensive stool test that looks at specific fat digestion markers. Signs of inflammation, if there's an overgrowth of bacteria, and then if the pancreas and gallbladder are doing their job. So it gives us some really strategic places that we can start. And then the HTMA, of course, I love the HTMA as just a baseline test for. Anybody struggling with any symptom because minerals are really the foundation of everything from bile to enzymes to hormones. So if you're low in minerals or your minerals are just imbalanced, or if your body is in a stressed and depleted state. It gives us an idea of how your nervous system is doing, what your mineral loss looks like. And so these tests, either alone or together, can give us a full picture of what's going on so we can make a plan to help your body get moving. If you are ready to get started today, what you can do even without a test, is start with the basics. So add in mineral rich drinks mineral mocktails, use digestive bitters and include healthy fats. Get in some gentle movement, especially after eating. And then don't ignore the signs that your body is giving you. So your sticky stool is a symptom. It's your body saying, Hey, it's waving, its little red flag. I need help. The good news is that the help does not have to be extreme. So. If you've tried fiber, you've cut out gluten, you've done every gut protocol under the sun, you still feel stuck. It could be time to just zoom out. The problem may not be your food. It might be that your gut is not doing its job, or your bile is not doing its job. So if you've made it this far, you know that. Sticky peanut butter textured stool is way more than just an awkward bathroom moment. It's your body's way of saying that it's having a hard time breaking things down and that it needs some support so you can support your bile flow naturally. You can improve your digestion and your hormones and your energy, and you don't need a 20 step. Protocol or extreme food elimination to do it. So it starts with something as simple as more minerals, some bitters, walking, et cetera. So I hope that this episode was super helpful. I would love it if you would share it. With someone who might benefit from it because you never know who might need it. And, don't forget also about the HTMA Mother's Day promo. So if you're looking to get your minerals tested, it's a great intro way to work with our team. It's$30 off through Sunday, May 11th for the HTMA bundle. That will get you the HTMA test as well as a consult to review your results and a personalized protocol of how you can get started. So don't forget the link is in the show notes with the coupon code if you would like to do that. But I'll catch you next time on the next episode of the Love Your podcast. Thanks for joining.