Berberine supplements may help you to lower blood sugar and bring down cholesterol and triglyceride levels if you have type 2 diabetes (Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410097/?tool). Research has shown this natural supplements to be safe and promising in its effectiveness. As a natural remedy for reversing diabetes, berberine is worth considering.
Some research even suggests that berberine may be as effective as metformin (an older conventional drug used in treating type 2 diabetes). The berberine dose studied has been 500 mg taken three times per day (Reference: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5839379/ ).
Berberine comes from ancient Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine practices over the centuries. The plant source is barberry, an herbal remedy originally used to treat diarrhea.
Are berberine natural supplements useful for reversing diabetes? The early studies on both animals and people with type 2 diabetes suggested that berberine is an excellent addition to an overall program of natural remedies for both blood sugar and blood lipid (cholesterol, triglyceride) control.
If you have type 2 diabetes, you may have problems in both the blood sugar and blood lipid (fat) aspects of your health.
Berberine is a yellow-colored substance that comes from certain natural plants such as Barberry or Oregon grape. There are several different plants that contain forms of berberine, and they may have somewhat different effects on health.
If you talk with your doctor about trying a berberine supplement, make sure to read the ingredient list on the label to make sure you are actually getting what you want in the capsule.
Research on berberine has shown that this is a versatile natural product with a variety of potential health benefits. Studies suggest that it can help lower elevated blood sugar levels (perhaps as well as standard conventional oral medications), bring down high cholesterol and triglycerides, and even reduce appetite (though, alas, it probably does not help with weight loss per se).
The ways in which berberine works both overlap and are different from those in which conventional drugs accomplish similar goals.
One of the problems that many people with diabetes and obesity face is chronic and subtle inflammation. Natural remedies that can reduce this inflammatory tendency may be important in reducing inflammation, which in turn will cut down on the resistance to insulin effects on cells that people with type 2 diabetes can face.
Some studies even suggest that berberine might be helpful in people with type 1 diabetes, the auto-immune type of the condition, in which the body makes antibodies that attack the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
Berberine overall leads to improvements in the biochemistry of the body in ways that might help protect the blood vessels and heart from damage common in diabetes of any type. A review of research on berberine concluded that there are no serious safety concerns with this natural supplement.
As an added bonus, berberine may also suppress development of some cancers like breast cancer, help boost mood, and protect brain cells from changes that can lead to dementia. Many people with chronic conditions like diabetes and/or obesity have a general state of inflammation that the disease itself only worsens. This can foster many other complications.
Doses that scientists have tested range around 500-1500 mg per day, divided over the day. Each dose of berberine probably only lasts up to about 4 hours at a time. So, as with many natural supplements for diabetes, taking smaller doses each time, but multiple times per day may be the best approach. For more tips on using berberine as well as other natural remedies, vitamins, and minerals to lower blood sugar, this useful chart may help.
As one approach to natural remedies for reversing diabetes, berberine is worth a close look. Talk about testing out this option to your doctor if you are struggling to control your blood sugar levels and/or blood lipid levels with conventional care.
Berberine supplements may be helpful in both lowering blood sugar levels naturally and bringing down cholesterol and triglyceride levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Research has shown this natural supplements to be safe and promising in its effectiveness. It is good to know that some research has pointed to similar benefits of berberine and the anti-diabetes drug metformin because of a 2020 recall of some forms of metformin. This may be a time to talk to your doctor about trying berberine as part of your regimen.