Question

When people have their gallbladders removed, their bodies no longer have a place to store bile, and the bile flows from the liver continuously. What effect might this have on their ability to digest fats?

A. There will be very little change since bile will still be present to emulsify fats.

B. Fats will be emulsified more efficiently with the constant flow of digestive enzymes.

C. It will be unlikely that they will be able to emulsify and digest fats.

D. Only small amounts of fats will get digested since high concentrations of bile enzymes are needed for efficient digestion.

Answer 1

A. There will be very little change since bile will still be present to emulsify fats.

Step-by-step explanation:

The gallbladder is a pear-shaped storage sac present in the alimentary canal of humans and functions to store excess bile in between meals. The bile is a greenish-yellow substance composed of different substances like salts, bile pigments, cholesterol etc. The bile is produced in the liver and aids in the digestion of fats.

The gallbladder serves as an intermediary between the organ of bile production (liver) and its destination (intestine). According to the question, once the gallbladder is removed, there is no longer a place to store bile. However, bile will still be produced by the liver and released directly into the intestine instead.

Hence, the bile will still be present to perform its function of emulsifying fats with little changes in the way it is released into the intestine. Note that, the gallbladder only regulates the speed at which the bile is released into the intestine.