Does bear bile really save you from cancer and hepatitis?

Sellers of bile attribute truly magical properties to it. Like, she can even cure cancer. Not to mention such “simple” diseases as hepatitis, prostatitis, impotence and many others.

There is something in these promises, although modern science looks askance at them. Life hacker found out the details. They turned out to be quite bloody.

What is bear bile and how was it used?

This remedy is from a long list of miracle ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine. A substance extracted from the gall bladder of bears (however, not only bears suffered, but also bulls, dogs and even people), the ancient Aesculapians treated dozens of diseases.

Bile was used to treat wounds and inflammations. It was rubbed into the skin for pain in muscles and joints. It was dripped into the eyes for styes and cataracts. Taken orally for colds, digestive disorders, abdominal pain…

In general, bile was actually a magic pill that the Chinese did not abandon even after science moved forward.

What modern science says about the benefits of bear bile

European and American doctors, looking away, broadcast the following opinion: there is nothing super useful in bile. It also tastes terrible – extremely bitter, with a fishy aftertaste.

But their Chinese colleagues insist: they say, take a closer look at one of the key elements of bear bile – ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). This is the main bile acid that is produced in the liver of animals. And UDCA, in their opinion, produces several effects on the human body at once:

• choleretic;
• antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory;
• antihepatotoxic (this means that UDCA can fight various liver lesions, including hepatitis);
• antipyretic and sedative;
• anesthetic;
• antitussive and antiasthmatic;
• improves vision;
• anti-stress.

In some ways, Western science is forced to agree with Eastern science. Thus, experts from the authoritative research organization Mayo Clinic back in 2001 recognizedthat ursodeoxycholic acid really improves the condition of liver diseases, including genetic ones. Currently, FDA experts have approved the use of this drug in the first line of treatment of primary biliary cholangitis. She also helps dissolve cholesterol stones in the gall bladder, regulating the absorption (absorption) of cholesterol.

As for other effects, Western doctors are adamant.

First, the hepatoprotective properties of this drug are exaggerated, since by participating in the exchange of bile, it can protect against damage caused by bile acids, but not by other agents.

Secondly, there is no serious evidence that bear bile can get rid of colds, improve potency with vision, and especially cure cancer.

Once again: no! If you take (or are going to take) bear bile to improve your health on one of the above points, then the bears are suffering in vain.

And they suffer.

What is absolutely wrong with bear bile?

When ancient Chinese doctors first began their experiments with bile, they behaved relatively humanely. The “magic pill” was extracted from the body of bears that were killed while hunting. That is, the settlement is provided with meat, fat, and skins, and gall… It shouldn’t go to waste.

However, in the last few decades, bear hunting has become rampant. The reason was the fact that the miraculous Chinese remedy entered the markets of highly developed countries – the USA and Europe. A little marketing, and now thousands of people lined up for dried bear gall bladders.

The price of the product skyrocketed: if in 1970 a kilogram of bear gall bladders cost about 200 dollars, then by 1990 the cost had risen to 3-5 thousand. And by the mid-2000s – even up to 10-30 thousand dollars. This is only a couple of times cheaper than gold.

In pursuit of money, bears in China were subjected to a real genocide: before animal rights activists realized it, tens of thousands of animals were destroyed.

In parallel with this, another, no less bloody business flourished: the industrial extraction of bile. This is when bears are raised specially, on special farms, with the sole purpose of extracting an almost golden substance from them.

The animals spend their entire lives in tiny cages, with a tube inserted into the wound on the abdomen through which bile flows into a receiving box. This is an extremely painful procedure. Which also destroys the bear’s health. Due to constant interference in the body, animals often develop infectious lesions of the liver and other organs, hepatitis, and cancer. They’re going crazy. They try to kill themselves – in an attempt to get rid of suffering.

Here’s a powerful 30-second video that Jackie Chan made on this topic a few years ago. Don’t watch if you have weak nerves.



Animal rights activists are actively fighting such farms. AND warn buyers: you risk purchasing the bile of an exhausted, sick bear, which will contain not only useful substances, but also blood, feces, pus, urine, and pathogenic bacteria.

Whether the ephemeral improvement in health is worth the suffering that thousands of animals experience every day for many years is another question.

What you need to know if you want to try the power of bear bile

Ursodeoxycholic acid has been produced synthetically since the 1950s, and has long been available in pharmacies. Talk to your GP if life is not sweet without the magic gall pill. Don’t torture bears.

As for a synthetic or plant substitute for bear bile, work on the creation of such a drug is underway for several years now. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that it succeeds.