Health

What is Berberine & How Does It Reduce Blood Sugar

  • June 24, 2022
  • 4 min read
What is Berberine & How Does It Reduce Blood Sugar

If you have high blood sugar or (hyperglycemia), then your body produces too much sugar and you also aren’t producing enough insulin as well. Hyperglycemia can be associated with type 2 diabetes, which can cause a lot of problems for you and your health. However, if you want to reduce your blood sugar there are several ways to do so, and one of those ways is to use Berberine.

Berberine is a natural supplement that has its origins in traditional chinese medicine, which can be found in the roots and bark of several plants, such as the goldthread, the Oregon grape, and the barberry. Berberine has several effects, including the lowering of blood sugar and it can also lower cholesterol, and we are going to take a look at what Berberine can do for your health. 

How Does Berberine Lower Blood Sugar?

Of course, how berberine lowers blood sugar is something that needs to be explained. Studies believe that there are several ways that berberine can help out with blood sugar, such as by increasing insulin sensitivity, promoting insulin production in the body, increasing the breakdown of glucose in glycolysis, and regulating metabolism. 

Several studies have shown that taking berberine daily can be as effective as common blood sugar medications, and can even help to support them whenever they are taken together. For example, some studies have shown that berberine is just as effective as blood sugar lowering treatment as the common drug metformin. It also works just as well as other prescription meds such as Avandia and Glucotrol. 

So whether you can’t take traditional diabetes medication, or want to give your regular medication a boost, then berberine is right for you. Just make sure to talk to your healthcare provider to ensure that your medication works with berberine as well. 

What Other Benefits Does Berberine Have? 

Of course, berberine benefits don’t just reduce blood sugar. It also has antimicrobial properties, which means that it can treat bacteria, fungus, viruses, and other microbes that are inside of the gut. So if you need help with your digestive tract or with bile production from the liver, Berberine can be very helpful as well. 

It can also help with lowering cholesterol to prevent heart disease as well, also preventing clogged arteries which can be a symptom of cholesterol that is too high. If you can’t tolerate Statin therapy, which is a common way to treat high cholesterol, then berberine might be a good alternative.

While Statin Therapy does work, it does come with muscle pain as well as general fatigue as side effects. If you would rather not take your statin therapy as well as another supplement to manage the side effects, then just take berberine and you’ll see your cholesterol lower. 

How Much Berberine Should I Take?

There is not a commonly recommended dosage for berberine that has been established by the medical community. However, most studies suggest a daily dosage of 1,000 to 1,500 mg per day, and most recommendations do not exceed 1,500 mg per day as well. It does have a very limited half life, so it doesn’t last in your body for too long, and most of the time as a supplement you should take 500 mg capsules of berberine three times a day before your meals.

You can receive your berberine in either a powder or a capsule form, and you should mostly take it by mouth before a fat heavy meal. Additionally, some gels containing berberine have been shown to be effective whenever they are applied to the skin or to canker sores on the skin.  

Potential Side Effects Of Taking Berberine with Low Blood Sugar

The only problem with berberine is that it can cause some digestive related side effects, such as diarrhea and stomach pain as well. So making sure that you can handle the berberine is something you will need to speak to your healthcare provider about. 

If you are taking additional medicines that can lower blood sugar, and they have not been proven to interact positively with berberine, then your blood sugar can be lowered too much and you can suffer from an increased risk of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar levels. This is why you need to always speak to your doctor or healthcare provider to ensure that berberine is perfect for you and for your blood sugar.

If you are suffering from high blood sugar, or have the risk of or are dealing with type two diabetes, then berberine might help keep your blood sugar within healthy levels and will help you keep everything under control. Try it out and see if it works for you, and you should notice some health benefits! 

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