What Is TUDCA and What Is TUDCA Used For?

As humans, we’re naturally always on the hunt for a secret weapon, a shortcut, the one thing that will give us an edge. And while we all know that there’s no singular hack, trick, or magic pill that’s going to create vibrant health, there are some things that can pack a powerful punch – giving you a serious edge in taking your health to the next level. One such “secret weapon” that’s stealing the spotlight as a superstar supplement is a compound known as TUDCA. 

In this blog post, we’ll explore exactly what TUDCA is, how it exerts its impressive health-boosting benefits, and how to choose the right TUDCA supplement for you. Let’s dive in.

What Is TUDCA?

TUDCA stands for tauroursodeoxycholic acid. That’s a mouthful – so we’ll stick with using the term TUDCA. 

TUDCA is a type of natural digestive fluid produced in your liver known as a bile acid or a bile salt. Bile salts are compounds secreted by your gallbladder to help your body break down and digest the fat that you consume. But TUDCA does a whole lot more than simply break down fats in your gut.

To truly understand how TUDCA works and how it exerts its impressive health-boosting benefits, you first have to understand its role at the cellular level.

What Exactly Does TUDCA Do in the Body?

TUDCA is what’s known as a chemical chaperone. Chemical chaperones are a class of molecules that enhance the stability and folding of proteins produced in a part of your cell known as the endoplasmic reticulum or ER. To understand the importance of TUDCA as a chemical chaperone, let’s briefly review this process that takes place in your ER.^1,2,3

• Protein synthesis and secretion: Your ER synthesizes a variety of different proteins to be shipped out to serve as signaling molecules – allowing your cells to communicate with each other and respond as needed. Proteins modulate everything from cell replication to hormone secretion and from antibody production to the neurotransmitters that regulate your mood.
• Protein folding: Before the proteins can be secreted and shipped out, they must be properly assembled and folded. 
• Chemical chaperones and folding enzymes: This process of properly folding these proteins destined to be secreted and transported out of the ER is assisted by compounds known as chemical chaperones and folding enzymes. These compounds serve as stabilizers – ensuring that proteins are folded correctly.
• Protein misfolding: If the ER is under stress or does not have adequate chemical chaperones, it can begin misfolding proteins.
• Protein aggregation: These misfolded proteins can begin binding together and accumulate – forming a cluster or aggregation of misshapen proteins. This accumulation of mutated proteins is highly toxic and can trigger oxidative damage – impairing normal cellular function.
• Cellular apoptosis: If left unchecked, this elevated stress and oxidative damage can eventually lead to cellular apoptosis or cellular death. 

The elevated stress response of the ER paired with the oxidative damage caused by these protein aggregates can be one of the primary drivers of disease formation and has been linked to conditions such as:^3,4,5

• Autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis
• Cancer
• Liver disease
• Inflammatory conditions like Crohn’s disease
• Metabolic disorders like obesity, insulin resistance, and Type 2 diabetes
• Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease
• Retinal degeneration and loss of vision

As you can see, TUDCA plays an irreplaceable role as a chemical chaperone – so it’s no surprise that optimizing your TUDCA levels can have some incredible benefits for your health. Now that we’ve explored TUDCA’s role at the cellular level, let’s zoom out and look at how this impressive compound impacts another important aspect of your health – your liver.

TUDCA and Liver Health

Your liver serves as the primary detoxification organ within your body. Think of your liver sort of like a “weigh-station” – with your liver cells acting as tiny filters that inspect, separate, and process the compounds floating around in your bloodstream. As your blood is filtered, nutrients are broken down and shipped back into your bloodstream to be utilized, while toxins and wastes are flagged and prepared to be excreted. 

In order to excrete these harmful toxins and waste products, your liver packages them up and dumps them into your bile. Your bile then gets hauled away into your intestines where it’s eventually excreted by your bowels when you have a bowel movement. Without adequate bile production and bile follow, these nasty toxins can build up in your liver – essentially poisoning your liver and causing inflammation and liver damage.⁷

TUDCA plays an important role in stimulating and amplifying bile flow – making it a natural detox for the body and a simple way to detox your liver.

Natural Liver Detox

TUDCA can help your liver detox by serving as a natural liver detox supplement – magnifying its detox capabilities and boosting overall health. Just a few of the remarkable effects optimized TUDCA levels can have on your liver health include:^8,9,10

• Improved bile flow: TUDCA has been found to increase bile flow by up to a whopping 500%. TUDCA also helps to heal and strengthen the lining of your bile duct – preventing blockage or sluggish flow to allow for optimal bile passage.
• Increased bile production and quality: TUDCA improves bile flow and upgrades the quality of your bile while encouraging your body and microbiome to increase bile production.
• Mitochondrial protection: Your mitochondria are the energy-producing powerhouses of your cells. And considering your liver is the powerhouse detox organ, it’s not surprising that your liver contains a plethora of energy-generating mitochondria. TUDCA helps protect your cells from oxidative damage – allowing your mitochondria to continue running on all cylinders.
• Improved gut health: TUDCA’s ability to enhance liver function, protect against oxidative damage, and mitigate inflammation makes it particularly powerful when it comes to supporting gut health. It can help strengthen the integrity of your gut lining to help reverse leaky gut syndrome while supporting a healthy and diverse microbiome.

TUDCA’s bile-boosting and liver-supporting effects can also help boost the health of another related organ – your gallbladder.

How to Improve Gallbladder Health

Your gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped, sac-like organ that sits right beneath your liver. Your gallbladder concentrates and stores bile until it’s ready to be secreted into your gut when you consume a meal. 

Without adequate bile flow or adequate TUDCA bile salts, your gallbladder can become inflamed and even develop gallstones – hardened, pebble-like accumulations that can irritate or even obstruct bile flow. Bile salts like TUDCA support gallbladder health by preventing the formation of gallstones, promoting healthy bile flow, as well as promoting healthy digestion and a balanced microbiome.¹¹

While our bodies obviously produce TUDCA on their own, optimizing TUDCA levels by incorporating a TUDCA supplement can have impressive health-boosting benefits.

TUDCA Supplement Benefits

Just about everyone could benefit from optimizing their TUDCA levels. With our ever-increasing exposure to environmental toxins, hectic-stress-filled lives, and high prevalence of imbalanced guts – TUDCA can give you a serious leg up on looking, feeling, and performing your best. Just some of the scientifically-proven TUDCA benefits include:

• Improved digestion and gut health
• Improved liver health and function 
• Protection against fatty liver disease and hepatitis
• Decreased risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS
• Improved brain health and function
• Increased insulin sensitivity and decreased risk of metabolic imbalances and disorders
• Improved cardiac health and decreased risk of stroke
• Decreased risk of retinal degeneration and vision problems
• Increased energy levels
• Improved appearance of skin

So how can you reap the benefits of this incredible supplement?

How Much TUDCA Per Day? Suggested TUDCA Dose 

Before we dive into the suggested daily dosage, you’re probably curious if there are any TUDCA side effects. The good news is because TUDCA is a naturally-produced compound, it’s incredibly safe and has little to no side effects. In general, any side effects you do experience come from an increase in bile flow and the mobilization of toxins as your body increases detoxification. Side effects are typically mild and may include slight digestive upset and/or mild flu-like symptoms that typically resolve within a couple of days.

So how much TUDCA should you be taking every day? Studies have found that even doses as low as 10-15 mg a day can have benefits. Most TUDCA supplements contain anywhere from 250-500 mg of TUDCA per capsule. And consistently taking anywhere from 1-3 capsules daily can have a drastic impact on your TUDCA levels and health.

So how do you go about choosing the best TUDCA supplement for you?

TUDCA Supplements: How to Choose the Right One 

There are lots of different TUDCA supplements available on the market. But as with all detox supplements, they are far from created equally. If you’re looking for a superior TUDCA supplement, you can’t go wrong with CellCore’s Advanced TUDCA. Here are just a few of the highlights that make this TUDCA supplement so effective:

• Ethically sourced: In the past, TUDCA supplements were sourced from animals – namely bears – using cruel and inhumane practices. Cellcore’s Advanced TUDCA is synthetically produced in CellCore’s cutting-edge laboratory – eliminating the need for animal sourcing.
• Bioavailability: CellCore formulates its supplements with a never-before-seen Carbon Technology. This proprietary blend of fulvic acids, humic acids, polysaccharides, and unspent carbon-based molecules allows their Advanced TUDCA to remain intact through the harsh digestive process – allowing for maximal absorption and bioavailability.
• Enhanced detoxification: CellCore’s carbon technology also serves as a powerful detox binder – latching onto biotoxins and contaminants so they can be neutralized and eliminated. 
• Synergistic technology: CellCore’s TUDCA is combined with a superstar duo of compounds that synergistically enhance TUDCA’s health-boosting benefits. CellCore combines TUDCA with N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) to add an extra layer of protection for your liver and supercharge your antioxidant levels along with melatonin to upregulate detoxification and support your microbiome. 

CellCore’s root cause approach to supplementation and detoxification has allowed them to create some of the most powerful and effective supplements available on the market. You can learn more about their Advanced TUDCA and grab your own bottle through our online store. 

Ready to Experience the Power of TUDCA for Yourself?

As they say, the proof is in the pudding. And there’s ample scientific proof that optimizing your TUDCA levels can have some remarkable health-enhancing benefits. While there’s no single supplement that’s going to transform your health or out-supplement less-than-ideal lifestyle choices, this superstar supplement can give you a serious leg up when it comes to your health.

If you enjoyed this article and are looking for more ways to uplevel your health and create an abundantly healthy and happy lifestyle, we’ve got you covered. We’ve got loads of resources to help you over on the blog, on our podcast, and in the Wellness Vault. Or if you really want to dive deep, you can check out our lineup of Masterclasses with some of the leading health experts across the globe. Wherever you’re at in your journey, we’re here to help you cut through the noise and move the needle forward in your health.

Resources:

1. The endoplasmic reticulum: structure, function and response to cellular signaling – PMC (nih.gov)
2. Chemical chaperones: mechanisms of action and potential use – PubMed (nih.gov)
3. The therapeutic potential of chemical chaperones in protein folding diseases – PMC (nih.gov)
4. Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Unfolded Protein Response Pathways: Potential for Treating Age-related Retinal Degeneration – PMC (nih.gov)
5. Misfolded proteins, endoplasmic reticulum stress and neurodegeneration – PMC (nih.gov)
6. The endoplasmic reticulum: structure, function and response to cellular signaling – PMC (nih.gov)
7. What Does the Liver Do? | Children’s Pittsburgh (chp.edu)
8. Ursodeoxycholate modulates bile flow and bile salt pool independently from the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (Cftr) in mice | American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology
9. Ursodeoxycholate modulates bile flow and bile salt pool independently from the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (Cftr) in mice | American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology
10. The Unexpected Uses of Urso- and Tauroursodeoxycholic Acid in the Treatment of Non-liver Diseases – PMC (nih.gov)
11. The effect of Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) and gut microbiota on murine gallbladder stone formation – ScienceDirect