When the gallbladder is filling, the sphincter of Oddi closes, which causes bile to rush into the gallbladder, because a pressure gradient forces it in. The gallbladder would be filling in the instance that fasting is happening and no digestion is necessary. When the gallbladder is emptying, the sphincter of Oddi relaxes, allowing bile to flow freely out into the small intestine. This would be when the gallbladder is signaled that food is being digested. Whenever chyme, the mixture of food and digestive enzymes that the stomach produces, finally exits the stomach and a large amount of bile is absorbed back into the small intestine, the liver accelerates its production of bile, allowing it to prepare for the next cycle of digestion. (Peeters et al.,