TUDCA is a bile salt.
Tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) is a water-soluble, conjugated bile salt. It is produced in the liver using cholesterol, deoxycholate (which is made in the intestine by bacteria and cholic acid), and the amino acid Taurine.
What are bile salts?
Bile salts are one of the components that make up bile. Upon the ingestion of fats, hormones signal your gallbladder to release bile, which aids in digestion by breaking down fats, assisting in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and eliminating waste.
TUDCA clears out the sludge
While bile acids are known as mild surfactants, amino-acid-conjugated bile salts like TUDCA are considered strong surfactants.
This is in relation to its action as a detergent for stuck and sludgy bile, to emulsify and help us digest fats, and to help us increase bile flow from the gallbladder into the intestine.
Bile Flow is key
The therapeutic value of TUDCA really centers around this ability to improve bile flow. When we eliminate stuck, old, sludgy bile, and improve the flow of bile, the entirety of the metabolic function in the body is improved.
Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed better, glucose from food intake is converted more efficiently into energy, digestion is improved, and ingested and stored toxins are eliminated more readily via bile.
TUDCA and Thyroid
Since 80% of thyroid hormone T3 is converted from T4 in the liver, thyroid function is accelerated with the ingestion of TUDCA and thus the improvement of liver function.
This becomes a positive feedback loop because improved thyroid function will in turn improve metabolism, digestion, and overall energetic function.
TUDCA in today’s context
All toxins (toxic food, drugs, alcohol, polluted air/water, etc) that we come into contact with must be processed by our liver, and much of them are packaged into the bile by the liver which is then to be excreted via the stool.
But, when we are faced with such an onslaught of toxins constantly, the liver can become overburdened. When this happens, the bile flow can slow down, and both bile and cholesterol will accumulate, become sludgy, and form stones that cause congestion in the liver ducts and gallbladder, leading to familiar health issues such as high cholesterol, low thyroid, elevated liver enzymes, low metabolic function, fatty liver, and others.
Learn more on the TUDCA MAX product page.
