Berberine is a powerful plant extract with impressive health benefits. It can lower blood sugar, help with weight loss and improve heart health—things most pharmaceutical diabetic medications cannot do. It is an anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial and is effective against diarrhea, intestinal parasites, Candida albicans, and possibly Methicillin-resistant staph aureus.
Berberine helps to:
- Decrease insulin resistance, making the blood sugar lowering hormone insulin more effective.
- Increase glycolysis, the breakdown of glucose inside cells.
- Decrease glucose production in the liver.
- Slow the digestion of carbohydrates.
- Increase the number of beneficial bacteria in the gut.
Berberine is a bioactive plant extract that comes from several different types of plants, including goldthread, Oregon grape root, barberry, tree turmeric and goldenseal. Used in both Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for more than 2500 years. It is now being studied extensively in the modern world.
Several studies show that berberine can lower blood glucose as effectively as the drug Metformin – without negative side effects.
Published, peer reviewed studies comparing berberine to metformin can be found here in Metabolism and Journal of Clinical Endocrinology. The berberine group had very similar blood sugar-lowering effects as the metformin group. Berberine also did three things that metformin does not do! The berberine group saw a reduction in A1C, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and blood pressure.
Berberine works by stimulating uptake of glucose into your cells. It improves insulin sensitivity, and reduces glucose production in the liver. The review published in the International Journal of Endocrinology further expanded on berberine’s role in treating type diabetes:
“BBR [berberine] is used to treat diabetic nephropathy (DPN), diabetic neuropathy (DN), and diabetic cardiomyopathy due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.”
There are always alternatives to medication, and we should do our research before agreeing to take either / or. Having said that, medicines have their place for sure, but why not avoid taking meds as long as you can by trying some alternatives along the way. Get results without the side effects.
