ResearchSafe

Urolithin A and GI upset, does it settle or is it just me

Posted by student748 in Safety & Side Effects - 7 points, 6 comments.

So i started urolithin A about two weeks ago, 500mg once daily, mostly keen on the mitophagy angle for recovery since i run long distances and mitochondrial function seems like it matters heaps for that. Read the /peptides/urolithin-a page and it says mild GI effects are uncommon but for what it is worth i have had this low grade bloating and loose stools pretty much since day three.

Could just be my gut adjusting, i know it is a microbiome metabolite thing so maybe that makes sense? But i am trying to figure out if this is a transient thing that settles after a few weeks or if it means i should drop the dose down or stop entirely. Training has been fine, maybe slightly better endurance on long runs but honestly could be placebo at this point.

Anyone else had gut issues with it and pushed through? Did it resolve or did you just switch to something else for NAD support. Also wondering if taking it with food vs empty stomach makes any difference, i have been doing it in the morning before breakfast which might be daft. Keen to hear what worked for people, chur.

Comments

  • brett_c: I tried urolithin A for maybe three weeks last year and had basically the same bloating thing, took it on empty stomach too like a genius 😎 never really settled for me so i just stopped. Could be coincidence or could be my gut being dramatic, who knows. But id say try it with food first before you quit entirely, taking that stuff fasted seems like asking for trouble. Also 500mg is on the higher end from what i remember reading, maybe halve it and see if your stomach chills out.
  • mira_k: Yeah I felt the same low‑grade bloating after a few days on 500mg fasted. Took it with breakfast for a week and the loose stools eased, though the fullness lingered a bit. Cutting to 250mg with food helped more, worth a try before quitting.
  • patientomar: Ja the food thing makes sense, honestly never thought about whether urolithin A needs to be taken fasted or not. Still new to all this so I'm learning as I go. Did you try splitting the dose at all or just stopped cold when the bloating didn't settle?
  • student748: Nah i haven't split the dose yet, still just doing the 500mg once daily. Been tempted to try 250mg morning and 250mg evening to see if that eases the bloating but i wanted to give it a full three weeks first before changing anything, figured that way i'd actually know if it settled on its own vs the split helping. For what it is worth i have been taking it with breakfast which might be part of the problem, might try fasted tomorrow and see if that changes anything. Did you end up taking yours wi
  • student748: Chur for that, good to hear someone else had the same thing. I have been taking it fasted too, usually before my morning run, so that could be part of it. Did you find taking it with breakfast messed with the absorption at all? I keep reading fasted is better for bioavailability but honestly if it is causing this much gut grief the tradeoff might not be worth it. Keen to try the 250mg with food approach, for what it is worth the 500mg might just be too much for my gut to handle right now.
  • student748: Chur for that, yeah i have been taking it fasted first thing in the morning so that could honestly be the whole problem right there. For what it is worth i never even thought about food timing with this one since it is not like a peptide or anything that needs empty stomach. Did you try splitting the dose at all before you stopped, or did you just bail straight away? Half of 500mg would be 250mg, wondering if that is still enough to get the mitophagy benefit or if it is too low to bother with.

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.