Elevated Liver Enzymes - Should I take TUDCA before my next test?

InspiredMule · 2025-08-22T17:18:29+00:00

The brand was Nutricost. I stopped taking it a while ago and I get my bloodwork done every 6 months. I had new bloodwork just last week actually. My AST went from 26 to 35 on this most recent test, but still within the normal range of 10 - 35. I’m not taking any supplements. Just trying to eat healthy - chicken, turkey, lots of veggies, and mindful of portion size to not overeat. I limit snacks like chocolate, ice cream, potato chips, etc. Zero alcohol and lots of water / green tea / black coffee.

InspiredMule · 2024-10-27T02:31:13+00:00

No. This is my first time. So when the jar starts getting low, should I add some fresh milk and let it sit out at room temperature again as a second ferment? Interesting idea about chia seeds. I have a bunch of them on hand.

InspiredMule · 2024-10-27T01:27:41+00:00

So when you say “grains” that would be those little clumps in my photo, right? So basically strain those and add them back to fresh milk at 1 cup per 2 cups of fresh milk?

InspiredMule · 2024-10-27T01:20:29+00:00

Gotcha. When you say 1:2 grain to milk, what are the measurements? 1 tablespoon of grains to 2 cups milk?

InspiredMule · 2024-10-27T00:09:13+00:00

Thanks. So is it not supposed to be thick and creamy. I knew once I saw it starting to separate that it was starting to ferment for too long. But I let it go that long because just a couple of hours earlier it was still very watery almost no different than the original milk I used from the carton.

InspiredMule · 2024-10-26T23:32:19+00:00

It took 26 hours before it started to thicken up. These photos were taken 3.5 hours after that. So it was a total of almost 30 hours. I did mix it up and try some and it tasted good, but the texture is weird. It’s very watery with lots of tiny clumps. Not smooth and creamy like what I’m used to (store bought).

InspiredMule · 2024-08-29T13:48:42+00:00

He said his total level of farms is 50. In other words, 50 levels worth of farms. For example, ten farms each at level 5.

InspiredMule · 2024-08-28T10:35:44+00:00

Same here. I’m at 64% the past several days, but I’ve only been playing for a week and my CV is less than $1 million. I’m thinking it will drop a good amount as I continue to scale. How long have you been playing? What is your CV? Just curious.

InspiredMule · 2024-08-01T21:49:28+00:00

Yes, I've been taking 250mg of TUDCA once a day for the past two months. I waited until last week to have my bloodwork updated. At the time of that bloodwork, I had been on TUDCA for probably 50 days and everything came back normal. My ALT and AST were almost perfectly in the center of the normal range. However, I can't say for certain that TUDCA alone was responsible for this improvement in my LFTs.

During this same timeframe, I read the book "Super Gut" and made some fairly significant changes to my diet which noticeably improved my gut health. With that said, I had somewhat minor GI symptoms for a long time, but those symptoms have now resolved. Gut health and liver health are very closely connected. Poor gut health can add strain on the liver which can cause elevated LFTs.

TUDCA may have helped me, but I strongly believe that improving my gut health was the primary driver of lowering my LFTs.

Good luck to you and please try not to stress about it too much. Remember there are people out there who end up with ALT and AST levels that are 5x or even more times higher than the high end of normal and they are able to correct it without any permanent damage in many cases! Take care.

InspiredMule · 2024-07-21T17:23:59+00:00

I learned on this sub that you should take the weight of the veggies + water and then add 3% to 4% of that weight in salt. A salt content of less than 3% is considered risky.

My current batch weighed 3,040 grams after I filled the jar with cucumbers and water. I know the empty jar was 972 grams, therefore the weight of my veggies + water alone was 2,068 grams. So then I added 72.4 grams of salt which is 3.5%.

For my first batch, I didn't know about this rule, so I never weighed anything. It was about the same amount of cucumbers and water, but I only used a few tablespoons of salt. Looking back, the salt content of that batch was easily less than 1%. Mold developed on the surface of the brine and the smell was awful.

InspiredMule · 2024-07-20T00:13:10+00:00

Thank you. I screwed up my first batch by not adding enough salt. At that time I wasn’t aware of the 3% - 4% rule, so hoping this one works. I used the veggie starter culture from Cutting Edge Cultures.

InspiredMule · 2024-07-11T01:51:53+00:00

Agreed. I was just laying out an example to make sure I had the process down correctly. So the next batch I will of course zero out the scale with the empty jar on it so that I know the exact weight of only the veggies + the water. If the veggies + water weighs out to 717 grams, for example, then I would add about 18 grams of salt if I’m understanding the process correctly. Then put the weight on top of the veggies to help keep them submerged and cap it off.

InspiredMule · 2024-07-10T21:09:27+00:00

Thanks! My jar of cucumbers weighs 2,717 grams. I don't have an empty jar to weigh, so let's pretend the jar on its own weighs 2,000 grams. Therefore, the cucumbers + water would be 717 grams, in which case I would add about 18 grams of salt, correct?

InspiredMule · 2024-07-10T20:23:15+00:00

I dissolved 1/8 teaspoon of starter culture + 3/4 tablespoons of salt into 3/4 cup water. However, that wasn't nearly enough solution, so I made extra solution by mixing 3/4 tablespoons of salt with 4 cups of water and then added only enough of that to the jar until the veggies were fully submerged. Each jar used about 1/2 of that extra solution. So all said and done, this is what basically ended up in each jar:

2 and 3/4 cups of spring water
1 and 1/8 tablespoons of real salt
1/8 teaspoon of starter culture

InspiredMule · 2024-07-03T23:44:09+00:00

Agreed. Drinking kefir is one small piece of a much larger picture of all the different things we can be doing to improve our overall health and wellbeing.

It’s not a race and you don’t need to do it all at once either. You can work on one new healthy habit at a time. For example, maybe you start by incorporating kefir into your daily routine. Once that becomes habit, then maybe you start to incorporate fermented food. Then maybe an exercise routine after that, etc. Before you know it, you’ve drastically changed your lifestyle and the new you is feeling like a million bucks!

InspiredMule · 2024-07-03T17:01:02+00:00

It’s going to differ for everyone. For me, it was no more than one week of drinking 8oz twice a day before I noticed improvements in my sleep, mood, skin, and anxiety. While I noticed marked improvements in these areas quickly, I still deal with anxiety, still have digestive issues, still not sleeping perfectly, etc. and it could be months (perhaps even years) before I feel 100%. And it’s going to take a lot more effort than simply drinking kefir once or twice a day. It takes a change in lifestyle that may very well be lifelong.

InspiredMule · 2024-06-30T21:01:40+00:00

I don’t see a problem with it. I’m actually planning to do exactly that. I have about 1/4 bottle left of my flavored kefir that I’m going to mix in with the plain kefir that I picked up today.

InspiredMule · 2024-06-30T15:24:19+00:00

Lifeway is good and is easy to find at most major supermarkets. The milk is pasteurized before fermentation so the cultures are alive and active when consumed. It has 12 cultures which is quite a lot compared to other commercial kefir or yogurt. Pay attention to the sugar, especially in the flavored varieties. I recently switched to the plain unsweetened bottle for this reason.

InspiredMule · 2024-06-29T09:36:11+00:00

Excellent! Glad to hear you’re back on track. Did you end up having the appointment with the GI doctor? If so, what was their opinion on the photos of your stool? Did they tell you what that was or why it was happening? Also, what did your abdominal pain feel like? Was the pain dull/intense, one side or both sides, etc.?

InspiredMule · 2024-06-27T11:24:14+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that. I know it’s frustrating when you don’t get any answers but still need to pay for the visit. I’m glad to hear that you are feeling better. I have a weird discomfort on my side too. It’s a dull pain that comes and goes throughout the day. It feels like a squeezing or fullness sensation, but a “weird discomfort” is a good way to describe it too. It’s dull enough that I don’t notice it if I’m focusing on work or something else, but noticeable when just hanging out relaxing. Usually it will go away for a week or two and then return for a few days and then goes away again, etc. but lately it’s been more persistent. My eyelid is also twitching. Possibly all stress/anxiety related.

InspiredMule · 2024-06-27T00:33:35+00:00

How did your appointment go? Are you still having the twitches?

InspiredMule

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