The liver produces bile, a thick digestive fluid which, between meals, is stored and concentrated in the gallbladder. The gallbladder is a small sac located just under the liver.

At mealtime, bile is squeezed out of the gallbladder into the bile ducts (the cystic duct and the common bile duct) to reach the intestine and mix with the fat in your food. The acids in the bile dissolve the fat into a watery mixture, much like detergents that dissolve grease from a frying pan.

Conditions which slow or obstruct the flow of bile out of the gallbladder may result in gallbladder disease.

» Next Section: Disorders of the Gallbladder and Biliary Tract