How To Use Tudca Supplements For Liver Health and Regeneration

The Role The Liver Plays In The Body

The liver is a large, meaty organ that sits on the right side of the belly. Weighing about 3 pounds, the liver is reddish-brown in color and feels rubbery to the touch. Normally you can’t feel the liver, because it’s protected by the rib cage.[1]

The liver has two large sections, called the right and the left lobes. The gallbladder sits under the liver, along with parts of the pancreas and intestines. The liver and these organs work together to digest, absorb, and process food.[1]

The liver’s main job is to filter the blood coming from the digestive tract, before passing it to the rest of the body. The liver also detoxifies chemicals and metabolizes drugs. As it does so, the liver secretes bile that ends up back in the intestines. The liver also makes proteins important for blood clotting and other functions.[1]

What Is Tudca?

Tauroursodeoxycholic Acid (TUDCA) is a bile salt that is found naturally occurring in the body.  TUDCA is used as a therapy for people that have any type of issue with the liver or liver bile duct. Increasing the amount of TUDCA in your body can help clear up issues you are having with your liver.

What Are TUDCA Supplements Used For?

TUDCA benefits are mostly associated with helping people that have what would be called cholestatic diseases. These are any problems with the flow of bile from the liver to the intestines. This is how those microbes are starved of bile salts to work with.

Basically, there are two ways your bile system can become an issue:

• It can become physically blocked
• You start to produce less and low-quality bile that doesn’t do its job

How Can Your Liver Bile Ducts Become Blocked?

Your liver bile duct can get physically blocked in several ways:

• Gallbladder stones can obstruct it and stop your flow of bile
• Liver injury can cause scar tissue formation in your bile duct, making the opening much smaller so less bile can get through
• Viruses like Hepatitis C can create scar tissue as well as reduce the opening of the duct
• A poor diet can make bile thick and sludgy, unable to flow properly
• Parasites can physically block the bile duct
• Tumors or cysts
• Autoimmune disorders or Cystic Fibrosis
• Fatty liver disease can cause triglycerides to collect in the bile duct and block it

Certain drugs can chemically alter your bile flow and bile quality. These include:

• Diuretics used for hypertension
• Blood pressure medication
• Estrogen therapies
• Anti-anxiety drugs
• Medications for Type II Diabetes
• Antibiotics

Symptoms Of Liver Disease

The following is a list of symptoms that could be a warning sign that you’re having issues with your liver. If you think you are having liver issues you should contact your doctor and request blood work for a metabolic panel. You’ll be looking for AST, ALT, and Bilirubin markers to see if any of these are elevated.

• Skin and eyes that appear yellowish (jaundice)
• Abdominal pain and swelling
• Swelling in the legs and ankles
• Itchy skin
• Dark urine color
• Pale stool color
• Chronic fatigue
• Nausea or vomiting
• Loss of appetite
• Tendency to bruise easily

The Benefits Of Tudca Supplements

Supplementing with TUDCA can provide the following benefits:

• TUDCA Stimulates Bile Flow: TUDCA can help unblock your bile ducts and get them to flow properly again. Some studies show that TUDCA can help get bile moving 250% more than before taking TUDCA.[2]
• TUDCA Helps The Mitochondria In Your Liver Tissue: If the liver bile duct is blocked, your liver starts to die from the inside out on a cellular level.When your liver can’t dump its pollutants to be hauled away by your intestines, a massive amount of free radicals are produced in your liver cells. The mitochondria of these liver cells are under attack from all the reactive oxygen species. It makes it impossible for them to do their job of folding proteins correctly. Your cells are programmed to die once they can’t do their jobs effectively.[4]
• TUDCA Reduces Liver Enzymes:When your liver is under a lot of stress your liver enzymes AST and ALT will be elevated. TUDCA supplements can help dramatically reduce these liver enzymes within a couple of months of starting TUDCA.[3][4]
• TUDCA Helps Heal The Liver Bile Duct: Your liver releases ATP (the energy our cells produce and live on) into bile when it is healthy. If your liver cells are dysfunctional, they can’t fill your bile with ATP. TUDCA helps your cells get back on track with delivering ATP into the bile liquid.[4]
• TUDCA Helps Your Intestines: TUDCA can lower your inflammatory response in the gut as well as the inflammatory cytokines. It can change your gene expression for the better. It helps strengthen the tight junctions in your gut helping eliminate leaky gut. TUDCA helps to solidify the gut barrier.[4]
• TUDCA may reduce insulin sensitivity and diabetes: A side benefit of reducing insulin sensitivity is easier weight loss.
• TUDCA May decrease cholesterol: By decreasing cholesterol you are improving your overall heart health which can prevent heart attacks and stroke.

TUDCA Dosage

TUDCA is not a one size fits all supplement. Different health conditions require different dosages. The following list outlines a few use cases and the proper dosage for each. TUDCA can be taken all at once or in split up throughout the day.

• Liver Protection Benefits: 15-20mg per kilogram body weight
• Liver Regenesis: 10-13mg daily
• To improve muscle and liver insulin sensitivity: a dose of 1750mg daily is recommended.
• Taking Oral Anabolic Steroids: 500 – 1000mg daily

Conclusion

TUDCA supplements can provide substantial health benefits for both people who are healthy and those who already suffer from liver disease. Taking TUDCA can help to keep your liver in good health and functioning properly. The liver is constantly under stress from working hard to help detoxify the blood from toxins. This is a 24/7 job and constant abuse can take its toll on the liver. TUDCA supplements can help prevent the liver from being damaged as well as help to regenerate and already damaged liver. If you think you may have liver disease it’s best to consult with your physician before taking any new supplements.

Sources

1. https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/picture-of-the-liver
2. https://www.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpgi.00258.2011
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9918905
4. https://microbeformulas.com/blogs/microbe-formulas/tudca-benefits