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Berberine for Weight Loss: A Doctor’s Perspective

Berberine for Weight Loss: A Doctor's Perspective

Berberine has been looked at for many  different potential health benefits. Unfortunately some of these benefits have been  heavily overstated by proponents of berberine,   and do not provide you with a realistic view  of what to expect if you were to take it. It’s often because they’re selling it, or  are sponsored by a company that sells it. Well, I’m not selling it, nor am I  sponsored by anyone, so in this video,   I’m going to do my best to give you a  comprehensive and the most realistic   view of using berberine specifically  for weight loss and blood sugar control.

Berberine is a chemical that's found in a number  of different herbs including European barberry,   goldenseal, goldthread, greater  celandine, and Oregon grape. In fact, many of these herbs owe a  lot of their beneficial properties   to the fact that they contain berberine. So if you’ve ever been interested in trying one  of these herbs before, you might be better off   just getting pure berberine than trying  to get an extract of one of these herbs. For example taking a goldenseal tincture or   European barberry extract is mostly  beneficial thanks to the berberine. And because purified berberine  removes any contamination or   harmful impurities that might be found in the  raw goldenseal or European barberry herbs,   I’d suggest you cut straight to the  chase and take berberine instead. The most commonly cited benefits of berberine  with relation to obesity and blood sugar are: 1.) having anti-inflammatory effects, 2.) being able to help with blood sugar control, 3.) reducing cholesterol  levels, especially LDL levels, and 4.) reducing the production of fat cells. Of these four benefits only three of them  have some evidence it will help in humans,   since the reduction of fat cells has only been  shown in petri dishes and rodents, not humans.

Of these three benefits, only two of them have  effects that are likely to result in any weight   being lost, since reducing cholesterol levels  is mostly beneficial to cardiovascular health,   which is good, but won’t be helping  you to lose weight anytime soon. Of these two benefits, the potential  ability to help with blood sugar control   is realistically going to be the bigger  contributor to any potential weight loss,   although reducing inflammation  will possibly be helpful as well.

The way berberine helps with blood  sugar control and reduces inflammation   is by helping to stimulate a protein called  AMP-activated protein kinase, or simply AMPK. Activating AMPK does a number  of different things in the body,   like reducing the amount of glucose the liver  produces and pours into the bloodstream. The overall effect is helping  to reduce sugar in the blood,   and reducing inflammation, particularly in  those with metabolic diseases like diabetes. Now most supplements will  use the berberine HCl form,   which is generally the form you  should look for when using berberine. This form is not well absorbed by the body,  in fact, most of it is not absorbed at all,   and much of it is metabolized by  the liver, rendering it useless. So researchers have looked for ways to  improve its absorption into the body. One such form is the creation of dihydroberberine,   a derivative of berberine that appears to be  much better absorbed than regular berberine. Dihydroberberine is far less common and  much more difficult to find as a supplement,   and is several times more expensive than  berberine HCl, so is this improved form worth it? Well the study that compared the two surprisingly   did not find any improvement in blood  sugar control with dihydroberberine.

So even though significantly more berberine  was absorbed, it had no additional benefits. This tells me that berberine likely  has an upper limit, and taking more   than the standard dose of berberine HCl  is not likely going to be any better. At that point, the only benefit  of dihydroberberine would be   the possibility that you could take less  dihydroberberine and achieve similar effects. However, the cost difference is still too large,  and the regular berberine HCl dose, which would   be around 500 mg 2-4 times a day or a total  of 1 to 2 grams a day, is more than enough to   achieve benefits, and still be much cheaper than  trying to take a smaller dose of dihydroberberine. So despite regular berberine being poorly  absorbed, the evidence would suggest that   you don’t need too much berberine to  be absorbed for it to be effective.

In fact, taking too much berberine is one  of the common ways side effects occur. Most   of them are related to gastrointestinal issues,  such as stomach pain, gas, bloating, and nausea. However, when taken at a reasonable  dose, berberine is pretty well tolerated. It does interact with certain medications, since  berberine affects the metabolism in the liver,   so if you’re taking any medication,  particularly drugs that also interact   with the liver like cyclosporin, you need  to ask your doctor if it’s safe to use.

Berberine can also theoretically lower  blood sugar and blood pressure levels,   so if you’re taking any diabetes medication or  blood pressure medication, you should also work   with your doctor to make sure your blood sugar or  blood pressure doesn’t get any unexpected drops. It doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t  take berberine if you’re taking a diabetes   medication like metformin, just that you  should ask your doctor first for guidance. In fact, studies have combined and  compared metformin with berberine before. There is interest in both because  they’re both AMPK activators,   and seem to provide some similar health benefits.  Metformin is just a stronger AMPK activator. Studies have compared the two and found pretty   similar effects on blood  sugar control in diabetics. For cholesterol control however,  berberine seems to have the upper hand. Most evidence would suggest  that berberine is better than   metformin at helping to lower cholesterol levels. People taking berberine are also less  likely to have side effects than those   taking metformin, and tolerate it better overall.

Now metformin is better absorbed than berberine in  the body but with similar effects on blood sugar,   and with berberine having more effects  on cholesterol, you might be wondering   why the heck doctors don’t just recommend  berberine for diabetics instead of metformin. There are a few reasons why. For one, there’s still much more robust  research behind metformin, and even though   berberine has some smaller studies behind it,  the research behind metformin is far greater. Secondly, everyone can make berberine supplements,  and their standardization is all over the place. If you take a supplement that  says 500 mg of berberine,   you may actually be getting 200 mg, or 600 mg.

You just don’t know if a pill of berberine is  actually giving you a good dose of berberine   or if there might be impurities or contamination,  since supplements are rarely independently tested. You see, berberine is available without a  prescription, and can be purchased over the   counter as a supplement, while metformin is by  prescription only, and is considered a medication. If a doctor prescribes you 500 mg of metformin,  you’re getting 500 mg of metformin. Medications   require far more rigorous testing for  purity and dosing than supplements. Also if your doctor has prescribed you something,  they’ll be able to better monitor your progress   and adherence to the medication, to make sure what  they’re recommending is actually working for you.

Finally, generic metformin  also tends to be quite cheap,   while berberine supplements can range  from moderately cheap to very expensive. So some doctors are understandably cautious,   however I do believe a good quality  berberine supplement can be a suitable   alternative to blood sugar control in those  with metabolic conditions like diabetes or PCOS. Blood sugar control is also hypothesized to be  the primary way that berberine helps people lose   weight, since the other weight loss mechanisms  have not been well established in humans. This helps your body to better convert  the carbohydrate that you eat into energy   to be used, rather than being stored as fat. As a result, it’s people with blood  sugar issues to begin with that are   going to benefit the most, and likely lose  the most weight from taking berberine. Studies have found a small weight loss  effect for those taking berberine,   with patients losing on average  3-5 pounds over a 3 months.

So it’s not going to be super significant,   and if you don’t have any blood sugar  issues you may not even notice it. We can also roughly compare berberine’s  weight loss effects with metformin,   and find that both produce similar  but small overall effects on weight,   with perhaps metformin being slightly  more effective for weight loss. To summarize, berberine can be a useful  alternative to metformin, and help those   with diabetes to control their blood sugar  levels and manage their cholesterol levels. It may also help you to lose a little  weight, but don’t expect miracles. If you do decide to try it, you should look for  a quality berberine supplement. It doesn’t have   to be dihydroberberine, but it should be  independently tested for purity and dose. Finally, while berberine is relatively safe  to take at standard doses, you should still   ask your doctor, especially if  you’re taking other medication.

Hi, I’m Dr. Brian Yeung. Do you use berberine and   how are your experiences? Let  me know in the comments below. Subscribe and hit the notification bell to stay  up to date, and if you found it informative,   leave me a like, and share this video  with someone you know can use the info.
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