It’s an old saying that a healthy mind is in a healthy body. What most people don’t know is that there can be no healthy body without a healthy liver. The liver is one of the most important body organs – it carries out over 500 body functions – yet most of us don’t give it a second thought.
Which is a potentially fatal mistake. A properly functioning liver is crucial for healthy blood sugar levels, adequate and timely removal of toxins from the body, and proper food digestion. In contrast, a liver that’s in poor health will hurt the quality of your life and may even cause death.
It’s, therefore, essential that you give your liver its due share of attention. One way to do that is by eating healthy foods, getting plenty of sleep, managing stress levels, drinking plenty of water, and getting enough rest. Another is to take supplements that may boost your liver health.
That is what the TUDCA supplement does. TUDCA is used as a supplement (in the US) and as a drug (in Europe) to treat liver disorders. But even if you have no liver problems, you should still make it a habit to take at least one pill of this drug every day. Read on to know why.
What is TUDCA?
TUDCA (Tauroursodeoxycholic acid) is a water soluble bile acid naturally formed in the body. Bile acids are steroidal molecules that regulate glucose metabolism, moderate body temperature and control energy homeostasis. Their most important function is eliminating cholesterol. [R]
TUDCA is one of 8 bile acids found in the body. It is formed when Taurine (another chemical found in the body) binds to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), an FDA-approved treatment for certain cholestatic liver diseases. TUDCA has a half-life of between 1 and 2 hours. [R]
Research has highlighted various benefits of TUDCA. It has been shown to:
- Reduce total and LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol [R]
- Effectively treat liver cirrhosis [R]
- Improve chronic hepatitis expression [R]
- Enhance functionality in ALS patients [R]
Equally importantly, TUDCA has been found to be safe and well-tolerated in almost all clinical trials. None of the human studies on this bile acid report any significant side effects. This means that this liver support supplement may not cause any dependency.
TUDCA for Bodybuilding
The most popular reason most people get into taking TUDCA supplements is because when you’re running a bodybuilding cycle of steroids or SARMs, you need to protect your liver.
SARMs & other orals can be damaging to your liver, and difficult for it to process. That’s why whenever I’m on cycle, I always take 1 capsule of the TUDCA for sale from PureRawz per day.
This ensures that my liver is always in tip-top condition, and that my cholesterol levels, liver enzymes, and overall bodily health and toxin level stays well within the reference ranges of where they should be.
How does TUDCA Work?
We don’t know exactly how TUDCA works, but from our current understanding, it appears that TUDCA is like giving your liver the fuel it needs to work properly, cleanse your body, and operate in top condition.
Although its exact working mechanism remains unknown, TUDCA has been shown to:
- Remove toxic bile acids from your liver and prevent them from damaging liver cells [R]
- Prevent programmed cell death (apoptosis) by various mechanisms [R][R]
- Relieve endoplasmic reticulum stress to help proteins fold properly [R]
- Increase insulin sensitivity to help your body use glucose more effectively [R]
Most of these effects have to do with the liver, indicating the ability of TUDCA to improve overall liver health and all the 500 functions that are connected with it.
This is why it’s so common for bodybuilders to take TUDCA on a SARMs cycle or steroids cycle, because it helps protect against the potentially liver-toxic effects of those compounds.
TUDCA Benefits
Personally, taking TUDCA while on cycle is absolutely necessary. The benefits I notice are not super significant, but when I measure my cholesterol and get bloodwork done, I can tell if I’m on it.
TUDCA will help lower liver enzymes on cycle, it will help your body process compounds more efficiently, process waste more efficiently, and basically turns your liver into a super-machine.
Here are the proven benefits of TUDCA:
1) Reduces Cholestasis Caused by liver injury
Cholestasis is a liver disease caused by reduced or blocked flow of bile from your liver. It can be a life-threatening condition in pregnant females. Symptoms include light-colored stool, excessive itching, jaundice, and pain in the abdomen area. [R]
In a pre-clinical study, TUDCA reduced cholestasis caused by reduced blood flow from the liver. The study showed that TUDCA counteracted the toxicity of regular bile acids. This means that it might prove to be a therapeutic treatment for this condition. [R]
2) Improves liver enzyme levels
Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) are two important liver enzymes. Their elevated levels can indicate liver diseases like hepatitis or PBC (a chronic disease in which the bile ducts in your liver are slowly destroyed).
In a clinical study involving 12 women with PBC, TUDCA treatment (750 mg/day for 2 months) reduced liver enzymes by 51%. Authors conducting the study noted that TUDAC exhibited a tolerable safety profile and may be of benefit for long-term therapy in PBC. [R]
Another study involving 23 patients with PBC reported that TUDCA significantly improved enzyme levels (AST, ALT, and two others). TUDCA was administered at 500 mg/day. [R]
3) Ameliorates liver cirrhosis symptoms
Liver cirrhosis (or scarring of the liver tissue) affects about 1 in 400 adults in the US. This disease cannot be cured, but there are ways to stop it from getting worse.
According to a double-blind, randomized controlled trial, TUDCA treatment improved the outcome measure in 23 patients with liver cirrhosis. It was also reported that this supplement was well tolerated. No patients complained of any side effects. [R]
4) Improves Hepatitis C symptoms
Hepatitis C is one of the most common liver disorders worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 58 million people have this virus infection across the globe, with about 1.5 million new infections occurring every year. [R]
In a multi-center placebo-controlled study, TUDCA treatment (500 mg or 700 mg/day) improved the biochemical expression of chronic hepatitis C virus infection. No significant side effects were reported in the study and a constant decrease in AST serum levels was reported. [R]
5) Reduces disability in ALS patients
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare neurological disease. It affects the nerve cells responsible for controlling the muscles that we choose to move. ALS is always fatal and patients live for up to 5 years following diagnosis. [R]
In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 34 ALS patients were assigned either placebo or TUDCA (1 g twice daily for 54 weeks) for 3 months. After one year, ALSFRS-R levels (whose higher scores indicate less disability with ALS) improved. TUDCA treatment was well-tolerated. [R]
6) Decreases cholesterol levels
High cholesterol levels open a Pandora box of diseases, including heart attack, high blood pressure, paralysis, stroke, and angina pectoris.
Multiple cell-based studies have shown that TUDCA treatment significantly reduce intracellular cholesterol levels, including total cholesterol and LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol. This may indicate the potential of this drug to prevent or alleviate various cardiovascular diseases. [R]
7) Might help with weight loss
In a pre-clinical study involved obese mice, TUDCA treatment reduced body weight, fat pad weight, and blood glucose. These findings suggest treatment with TUDCA as a promising therapeutic intervention in obese pre-diabetic individuals. [R]
If you’re interested in losing weight using TUDCA, consider taking it while you’re on a cycle of Cardarine (GW-501516) or Stenabolic (SR-9009) in order to get super shredded and cut off that extra weight.
TUDCA Side Effects
In all the above clinical trials, TUDCA was well tolerated. The studies’ participants reported no significant side effects during or after the treatment. These results show that TUDCA is relatively safe.
I’ve also never experienced any side effects from taking TUDCA myself, either. Studies have shown that even when you take 500mg per day of TUDCA for 1 year, there’s zero side effects.
TUDCA Dosage
In clinical studies, different TUDCA dosages were tested, including 10-13 mg, 500 mg, 1000 mg, and 1500 mg/day. One study also reported that 60 mg/kg/day was well-tolerated. A maximum of 1750 mg TUDCA dosage were tolerated for up to 4 weeks.
Here are the recommended doses of this dietary supplement in different studies:
- Improve Liver Function: 10-15mg/day
- While on Cycle: 500mg-2,000mg/day During Cycle
In short, for overall health, not much is required. If you’re reading this article though, I assume you’re into bodybuilding, so let’s talk about the dosage you should be taking on cycle real quick.
Whenever I’m on cycle, I always take 1 capsule of the TUDCA for sale from PureRawz each day, for the entire duration of the cycle. Just doing this has had a hugely positive impact on my cholesterol levels and other blood-related metrics, liver enzymes, etc., while I’m on cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is TUDCA used for?
In Europe, TUDCA is clinically used for treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In the US, it is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of cholestatic liver disease. [R][R]
Why should I take TUDCA?
TUDCA has been shown to decrease cholesterol levels, ameliorate liver cirrhosis symptoms, and reduce cholestasis caused by liver injury. It has also been shown to trigger healthy inflammation responses and benefit the immune system in more ways than one.
What are the symptoms of decreased liver function?
In most cases, a liver disease doesn’t have any symptoms. However, in the rare chances that signs do develop, they may include itchy skin, yellowish eyes, abdominal pain and swelling, and swelling in the legs and ankles.
How is the TUDCA supplement produced?
As stated above, your body produces TUDCA in trace amounts. However, most TUDCA you see on the market is a combination of two acids: Taurine and Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). Like TUDCA, both these acids are found in the human body.
Can TUDCA cross the blood-brain barrier?
Genuine bile acid TUDCA can cross the blood-brain barrier.
Conclusion
In summary, TUDCA is a bile acid naturally formed in the body that has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. It’s a great aid for bodybuilders who want to keep good liver health.
In fact, it’s my go-to compound on cycle in order to protect my liver. If you’re considering getting some, then just head on over to PureRawz (our #1 vendor) and check out the TUDCA for sale they’ve got.
If you use the code “MD15” you’ll save 15% upon checkout, too. That code lasts forever, so you can re-use it over and over again, for whatever order you want.
As always, if you have any questions about TUDCA, let us know in the comments section down below and we’ll do our best to get back to you in a timely manner.