How Berberine Supports Weight Loss

Transcript:

LEAH: Hello and welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition. If you're a long-time listener, we thank you for tuning in week after week because I know some of you out there have been listening now for over 20 years. I actually just met with a client earlier this week who was one of those original listeners from 20 years ago.

So thank you to her and thank you to all of you out there. You know, hopefully by now, that our message has really stayed the same throughout these 20 years. The tagline is always real food for real health. Today, though, we have something a little bit different. So even for those of you who are seasoned listeners, maybe you've listened to almost every episode out there.

Today, we've got something new and interesting to talk about that we've never focused on as a topic on Dishing Up nutrition before. And that topic is going to be about this little compound that comes from a few certain plants and this compound is called berberine. And we're going to talk about how berberine can aid in a healthy metabolism, weight loss, blood sugar regulation.

So we're going to kind of talk about berberine from a couple different angles today. And before we get too far into our topic, let's just take a moment and we're going to introduce ourselves. My name is Leah Kleinschrodt and I’m a Registered and Licensed Dietitian. I use berberine on a fairly regular basis with my clients as a supplement in clinical practice, so I am really happy we get to talk about this today and bring to light this important compound and I think it has been getting a little bit more traction in some of the media outlets out there.

Some of it very interesting, so I think we'll set the record straight today as to what does berberine do, what's kind of part of the hype, but what's actually, where is the science behind it. And joining me today is my colleague Brandy Buro. She's also a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, so it's good to see you again, Brandy.

BRANDY: Good to see you too, Leah. Thanks for having me today.

LEAH: Of course.

BRANDY: Yeah, and berberine is something that I also use as a supplement with a lot of my clients. So I'm happy just to share what my experience has been like and dive into some of the science behind how it works, why it works.

BRANDY: So just like you, I've also used it for like blood sugar control and, supporting weight loss, but I've also used it for cholesterol management as well. So we'll kind of dive into the mechanism behind some of that today.

LEAH: Yep, absolutely. Yeah, so berberine, this might be a new word for people. This might be the first time some of our listeners are hearing of this term. When I get questions about it, people have heard about it again. Like they're either on social media or like they've read an article. It is kind of a bit of a buzzword out there right now. So, hopefully this will be helpful in, in digging into what, what does berberine actually do and where does it have clinical application.

Background on berberine

So let's just get right into the nitty gritty of it. Like, what's the background of berberine? Berberine is this natural compound in plants like goldenseal, organ grape, or barberry. And these are typically not plants that you're picking up at your local grocery store. These are typically more traditional, medicinal types of plants.

So you're not going to be able to even probably walk into Whole Foods and, and grab these kind of plants. So berberine, again, seems to be, it might seem like a new term out there, but traditional Chinese medicine and other ancient civilizations have used berberine for a really long time. So just now it's been getting more attention in the spaces of weight loss and metabolism.

And so we're going to talk a little bit about how exactly does it work with your metabolism. And then just some considerations like, is this something that listeners out there might want to try if weight loss is a goal or if they're kind of struggling with insulin resistance and blood sugar control, diabetes, things like that. You know, is this something we want to bring on board in addition to doing some of the diet and lifestyle changes that we always talk about?

BRANDY: Exactly. And that's important to recognize is that, like, a supplement like this wouldn't necessarily be the first thing that we recommend as dietitians and nutritionists, but it can be used as a supplement in conjunction with some of those lifestyle changes.

LEAH: Yep.

BRANDY: And blood sugar control is something that I'll think of berberine for, or if somebody is insulin resistant, like their blood sugar numbers are pretty elevated, that's what's shown up in their blood work. So once we work on lifestyle change and for some people and incorporate berberine it can improve blood sugar control, reduce insulin resistance and that can support weight loss goals. So in a roundabout way, yes berberine can help with weight loss. But that's I think weight loss is why berberine is getting so much attention right now, or how it impacts your metabolism.

LEAH: Yes, it’s definitely getting a lot of attention. Like I definitely see headlines out there like “Berberine, the Natural Fat Burner You Never Even Knew You Needed”.

BRANDY: Yeah.

How does berberine work?

LEAH: Something catchy like that. I mean, but the question is, is it really that simple? Can it actually help you shed, you know, a couple of pounds or even a significant amount of weight? So here's how berberine actually works. So it works on this little enzyme that we have in our body called AMPK.

And I'm not even going to try to pronounce that whole thing. It's a very long term. But this enzyme is like the energy sensor in your cells. And so when we have AMPK being activated, kind of like pushing the go button there, it helps our bodies burn fat more efficiently. And it just helps regulate our energy usage and how we use and store energy in the body a little bit more efficiently.

And it also, as you mentioned, Brandy, it also helps regulate blood sugar levels, which can have a big impact on our appetite, on our cravings, and also on our fat storage. And as we age AMPK enzyme activity does tend to go down like many other things as as we get a little older. So this could be one of the major reasons or at least play a role in why we experience changes in our appetite or in our weight or in our energy levels as we get a little bit older.

BRANDY: Well, yeah, that makes a ton of sense then. So if that enzyme AMPK is active in our cells and we have enough of that enzyme in our cells, it will help our cells burn fat more efficiently. Hearing you say how it's also involved in keeping your blood sugar in check, I can see how that leads to fewer cravings too.

LEAH: Mm hmm.

BRANDY: Which can only prevent overeating, you know, things that aren't great for our health. And we do talk about blood sugar balance all the time on the show. And we know that balancing your blood sugar throughout the day can help reduce your cravings for mostly processed foods, you know, foods that aren't really helping our metabolism. And if we don't have those cravings, we're just set up for success in making choices that are a little healthier.

Berberine helps with blood sugar balance

Let's start with real food nutrition as our primary strategy for balancing our blood sugar. So we want to start with enough protein, enough fat, fiber rich carbohydrates. That's kind of the recipe to help get your blood sugar on track from the get go. But some people do need a little bit of a boost. So even if you are eating in balance, berberine could get you that extra boost to get your blood sugar under control. Especially if you're somebody that is insulin resistant or maybe you're diagnosed with prediabetes or diabetes. Berberine could be that extra edge that you need.

LEAH: Yeah, absolutely. And I definitely think about clients too who have, like their blood sugars have been kind of running on that high side for a really long time. So we know like it, it is going to be a process of kind of digging out of some of that insulin resistance. So yeah, anything that gives us that little bit of a leg up or kind of allows us to level up our approach could be helpful.

And yeah, so berberine helping with that insulin sensitivity, we want high insulin sensitivity, because then our body is better at using especially those carbohydrates more efficiently instead of instead of the tendency to say like, well, we've just got too much and we just don't know what to do with them. So let's store them in our fat stores.

How do we balance blood sugar through food & why is it so important?

And actually let's just even take two steps back and talk about some of that blood sugar regulation, carbohydrate connection. So you had mentioned Brandy, ideally we want to be choosing more fiber rich types of carbohydrates. So, you know, in my mind, that's like mostly our vegetables, some of our fruits, real carbohydrates like sweet potatoes and wild rice and things like that.

But no matter what we're talking about in terms of carbohydrates, whether we're talking about broccoli or we're talking about a sweet potato, like all of these carbohydrates turn into glucose or like a specific kind of sugar in our bloodstream kind of once they're digested. And these blood sugars, they're supposed to be used for energy for us. It powers our muscles. It powers our brain; powers all of our organs, those kinds of things. So they're supposed to be used up in the short term. Otherwise they get stored as fat for when we need that energy later on. And insulin is the hormone that kind of floats around and it takes that sugar out of the bloodstream and puts it into our cells.

And so that's a very important thing. We don't want that sugar just running running amok in our bloodstream. So we need the right insulin response to match the glucose that's in our bodies. When we eat foods that have a lot of sugar, a lot of carbohydrates in there, and we don't buffer it with the proteins, the fats, and the fiber, we get kind of like a big tidal wave of sugar rushing into our bloodstream.

And then the body is like, well, now we need to make a tidal wave of insulin to go along with it. So we get this sugar rush, but then eventually we get the sugar crash that comes along after it. And that does over time wreak havoc on our metabolic system.

So again, if you do this once a year for your birthday, you kind of go all out, not a huge deal, but when it's every Monday, every Wednesday and every Friday night kind of thing when we're doing this over and over again, day after day, week after week, this is where we start to build up a little of that insulin resistance on ourselves, kind of almost like a crust on our cells that then we need to make more insulin to do the same job that it would have before and more and more and more and more insulin means that we store more and more and more body fat.

And so we have this insulin resistance. We're storing body fat more. And if we're not changing what we're eating, like that cycle is going to continue to perpetuate. And then we end up with high blood sugars, type two diabetes and some of the complications that go along with that.

BRANDY: Yeah, exactly. And like that whole process kind of sets us up for developing other health complications. So not only is your blood sugar elevated, but every time your blood sugar spikes, your blood pressure is also increasing. Your stress is also increasing. And over time, this can put you at risk for developing something called metabolic syndrome.

So metabolic syndrome is essentially like a collection of all of those different health conditions like high blood glucose, high blood sugar, high cholesterol. And like you mentioned with some of the weight gain that you can experience with those blood sugar spikes, oftentimes you'll start to notice weight gain around the midsection.

So that would also be criteria for metabolic syndrome. So when you are dealing with this collection of different health concerns, you're now at risk for developing more serious health complications like heart disease or type 2 diabetes or even like a heart attack or a stroke.

So basically, if you have three or more of those health conditions I just described, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, weight gain around the midsection, you are considered what we call metabolically unhealthy or you have metabolic syndrome. Most of the time, if you have one, you have another.

LEAH: Yeah. Yeah, and it unfortunately they go hand in hand.

BRANDY: Yep, and it can be prevented with you know, good blood sugar control but unfortunately poor blood sugar control can lead to a domino effect of health issues.

LEAH: Yeah. So again, that that's just one of the big reasons why we talk about blood sugar balance a lot on dishing up nutrition because it does like when you have balanced blood sugar, a lot of these other dominoes tend to fall into place a lot better.

Berberine supports blood sugar regulation & weight loss

And so again, like bringing it back to then like how does berberine fit into this picture? You know, berberine really does work on the cellular level to support that blood sugar regulation a little better and also to support weight loss. So we mentioned for folks who struggle with insulin resistance, high blood sugars, I mean, even looking at some of those other chronic conditions like high, high blood pressure and things like that, berberine could be especially beneficial.

So, you know, I've been reading, I've read a couple of studies now that, researchers and doctors have been comparing berberine to some of the other diabetes medications out there, specifically metformin is kind of the big one that I've seen a lot of and that they are actually pretty comparable, berberine and metformin, to each other.

So, I mean, that's pretty impressive for a natural supplement to say we can see some of these same benefits by having this little compound in some of these medicinal herbs.

BRANDY: Yeah, I've always been impressed by that research knowing that like head to head berberine and metformin give very similar outcomes when it comes to blood sugar control. More recently though, I'm seeing berberine being compared to some of those newer weight loss medications, the GLP-1 agonist medications.

I'm not sure that there's been research done on this to compare the two. I'm just seeing the comparison made like in social media, you know, at this point. The mechanism, the way that they work is not the same though. I think it's important to just get that out of the way right away.

So the GLP-1 medications like Ozempic or Monjaro, any of those other weight loss medications, they don't have the same mechanism of action. But I suppose the outcomes might be the same, and how they improve blood sugar control, and they help reduce insulin resistance. A lot of those medications were first developed for that purpose, actually, to help improve blood sugar, designed for people with diabetes or even type 1 diabetes to improve blood sugar and control. So they weren't originally meant for weight loss. So it's interesting that you know, they're, berberine and these medications are now just being compared for their weight loss benefits.

LEAH: Yep, absolutely.

BRANDY: So these medications were first developed for folks with blood sugar control issues. Likely people that were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes. Both groups of people do have unique challenges in controlling blood sugar. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetics have challenges with insulin, you know, making enough insulin, utilizing insulin.

And remember, insulin is what transports blood sugar. into our cells so that our cells can use that sugar for energy. And similarly to how insulin works, berberine can actually help glucose get carried into your cells more efficiently.

LEAH: Mm hmm.

BRANDY: So, that's how it's improving insulin sensitivity and improving blood sugar balance for those that have insulin resistance and need a little extra help.

LEAH: Yep.

BRANDY: So, we are talking about berberine and the therapeutic uses for berberine. Leah and I have more research to share, more applications to share with you when we get back from break.  

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LEAH: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. We are chatting here today about berberine, weight loss, blood sugar control, and the whole gamut. And so we actually have a little bit of research to share around berberine because this is, again, like with it becoming more popular and in the last couple of years, there is a fair amount of research that is coming out in the literature right now and about just all the various benefits of berberine and how it relates to like helping us have a potentially healthier metabolism.

So one meta-analysis looked at 12 different studies. And that's what a meta-analysis does is it just kind of takes a whole group of studies and looks at them all in conjunction and says, okay, what's the overall picture that's being painted here. So this meta-analysis took 12 different studies and looked at them and concluded that berberine reduced body weight, especially around the waist.

So that weight that tends to be more associated with insulin resistance and with higher blood sugars, that makes a lot of sense if berberine is helping manage the blood sugar than we would see a little bit more weight loss and a little bit more fat loss right there around the midsection so again kind of thinking like that waist, belly fat area would be would be a target

BRANDY: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. You know, if that apple shape is more associated with insulin resistance, makes sense  you would see some weight loss in that area when you correct the insulin resistance.

LEAH: Yeah.

BRANDY: So I found another meta-analysis with 27 randomized controlled clinical trials. So this is a big study. It included all together about 2,500 patients. So, the researchers of this meta-analysis found that berberine had comparable therapeutic effects to prescription drug treatments for type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. So it isn't just the blood sugar piece, it's kind of tackling a lot of different areas, which is pretty cool.

LEAH: Yes.

BRANDY: One thing I found really interesting about this study is that there were no side effects or no serious side effects associated with using berberine. Something else that they looked at was they combined groups that had just lifestyle interventions, no berberine and groups that included berberine with changes in their diet, changes in their movement.

And the groups that used berberine actually had lower glucose levels and lower hemoglobin A1C levels than the group that was just doing the lifestyle changes alone. So that does show us that berberine could give you a little bit of an edge in addition to some of those other lifestyle changes.

LEAH: It almost seems like nature's little powerhouse and so, which I mean, we kind of said that it helps with some of that energy sensing in the body, helps us kind of balance out our energy uses versus our energy stores a little bit better so that that does make sense and yes and I'm so glad that you brought up the point that actually like it can actually help cholesterol levels also because that I'd say that's another way that I have used berberine with clients, whether it's berberine alone or berberine with a combination of a couple other things.

Cause there are some supplements that have berberine plus, you know, one or two other ingredients in there. Using that as part of a method to help clients regulate their cholesterol levels. And usually that means like lowering the LDL number. So yeah, there is a decent amount of research around that piece as well.

So I'm glad you mentioned that. And of course, you mentioned this before too, Brandy, that berberine is not a magic bullet. It's not a, you know, there's no free lunch here. Like it is important to know that you can't take berberine and just all of a sudden the weight's just going to start falling off of you.

It is a supplement, and it does work best when we've got some of those other lifestyle things kind of lined up where we've got the balanced real food eating, we're moving our bodies, we're getting decent rest and decent sleep where we can, managing our stress levels, all of those things, so, when we're pulling all those other levers, again, berberine is just another way we can level up the impact of some of these other things that we're doing.

BRANDY: Right. I would say there's really no magic pill or magic supplement. You can't out supplement a bad diet or a lifestyle that's not supportive but when used alongside healthy lifestyle, it's definitely going to give you a boost if used correctly.

LEAH: Yeah

BRANDY: Well, and I do have a story that I wanted to share of an example that I think demonstrates that, you know that whole concept.

LEAH: Yeah.

BRANDY: So this is a client I've been working with for the past, almost a year actually, maybe nine months or so, but I've been working with this woman who first met with me, you know, last spring, after giving birth to her third child. So after baby three, she was experiencing some weight gain and blood sugar numbers were in prediabetes territory, and she did have a history of gestational diabetes.

So, you know, with that first pregnancy, it did sort of raise a red flag. Like, you could be at risk for higher blood sugars in the future. And she was, yeah, then dealing with that after baby three. So we got together and of course, first started working on a meal plan and making some changes with her food so that at least we knew that we were optimizing her blood sugar with a balanced diet, eating enough protein, eating breakfast every day, drinking enough water, trying to do some walking breaks at work periodically through the day, just getting some movement in.

So we did work on that for a few months, and she was checking her blood sugars, getting her A1C tested periodically and things were not really shifting much.

LEAH: Mm hmm. Yeah. So, yeah. Blood sugar's just, like, wasn't moving the needle enough.

BRANDY: Right. She wasn't seeing any weight loss either, which was, you know, that's what she was really hoping for. So, I think it was end of September, well, end of August, beginning September, you know, what else can we do? What else can we add to the mix? So that's when we talked about berberine as an option. I should mention actually, this client had been prescribed metformin, at the beginning of the year.

So in January of 2024, and even though they were using metformin, still blood sugars were not shifting. So we talked about berberine. She discussed it with her doctor. We all agreed we can give this a try. So we tried berberine. After two weeks, she started to notice her sugar cravings were significantly reduced.

LEAH: Okay.

BRANDY: Yeah. You know, that was already a nice perk. And beginning in September, October, after about six weeks of use, she did finally start to see some weight loss.

LEAH: Okay.

BRANDY: And then at her follow up for new labs that winter, the A1C dropped from about 5.7 to 5.4.

LEAH: That's a significant shift.

BRANDY: So finally seeing some numbers shift towards the better with blood sugar and she was seeing movement on the scale too, which made her really happy.

LEAH: Yeah, I mean, it's, it sounds like she was putting in the effort, like kind of doing the things, checking the boxes, and yet, again, like still, like kind of left a little something to be desired, so it was helpful. She was like that great candidate for bringing some berberine on board, see what happens after a couple of months, and so it's nice to see some of that payoff.

BRANDY: Yeah, so I thought that was a great example of what berberine can do, and just as a, like a support, rather than like the only solution.

LEAH: Yes, absolutely. Yeah. We, we say, as always, we're a food first company and hopefully that's come across in our messages on Dishing Up Nutrition throughout these 20 years of, like how, you know, we got to balance that blood sugar naturally by eating real food, eating every couple of hours, make sure the proteins and the fats are in there.

Balancing food first is crucial

So those are things that we focus on with clients first and foremost. And where we might, you know, some people we might add in that berberine a little bit sooner or like you said with your client, we might do a couple of things for a few months and if we're just still not quite seeing the results or the clients are still kind of like, well, like I'm hoping for a little bit more, we layer on that berberine.

So, you know, the berberine itself won't make a big enough difference if, if you didn't do those changes to begin with. So like pairing the two is crucial. So, let's chat even a little bit, you know, we've talked about the balance of carbs, proteins, and fats, but like, Brandy, give me some examples. Like, what have you been doing lately? Or what, like, what's a meal or two of an example that you've done with some clients lately, just to give people an idea?

BRANDY: Yeah, absolutely. So lately what I've been loving for breakfast, anyway, are egg bakes. And I love making an egg bake on the weekend. It's a great way for me to, like, clean out the fridge of vegetables that just need to be used up. So, a combination of vegetables. I'll throw in some roasted sweet potatoes and then scramble up a bunch of eggs.

LEAH: And when you say a bunch, what do you mean by that?

BRANDY: Yeah, okay. So, in this last egg bake I made, I put in 14 eggs.

LEAH: Yeah!

BRANDY: And I had, some egg whites that I threw in there, and about a half a pound of some turkey sausages.

LEAH: Okay, so very protein packed there.

BRANDY: Protein packed, so that, you know, I want to get at least 30 grams of protein for my breakfast so that, yeah, I know that I'm doing the math right, I'm getting that in each piece.

LEAH: Right, and so I don't know how many pieces your egg bake gets divided into, but I mean, you think typical egg bake, you're getting six, maybe eight pieces out of it, and so when you're trying to shove 30 grams of protein into each piece, like, that's a lot of protein.

I'm so happy you said 14 eggs, because yeah, like I've done 18 to 20 eggs in an egg bake before, and I usually get like the deer in the headlights look from some of my clients when I say that. I'm like, it's fine, I promise, it's all good.

BRANDY: Yep, it's going to go to good use for sure.

LEAH: Yeah.

BRANDY: I love that breakfast because it has everything that I need in it. I've got my protein, my vegetables for my carb. I do put some heavy whipping cream in there for my fat and then I can just heat it and go. You know, I don't have a ton of time for breakfast to make breakfast in the morning, but I never skip that meal. So very convenient.

LEAH: Yep, absolutely. Yeah. A couple seconds in the microwave or something like that. It makes it doable, especially if you can just do a little bit of the legwork ahead of time.

BRANDY: Absolutely. Yep. So what are you doing for lunch these days?

LEAH: Oh, goodness. I mean, lunches for me always look like dinners because like lunches are usually leftovers from dinners. At least that's how we rock in my house. I'm like, I'm going to cook once and I'm going to eat multiple times.

BRANDY: Yes.

LEAH: So I always just like skipped like, what am I making for dinner? Cause that's probably going to be lunch the next day, or for the next couple of days. And yeah, like, what did I make? What did I make this week? I made oh, I made, our weeknight goulash recipe. That's on our website. I believe it's called easy weeknight goulash. And it is some ground beef. I use two pounds of ground beef just because again, I, I definitely want leftovers and luckily it's just, it's me, the hubby and two little kiddos, so they're not eating a ton yet.

It's ground beef and shredded cabbage. I'll grab a couple bags of the coleslaw mix from the store. Throw that in there, cook that down with the ground beef. And then it's a little garlic and some onions for some seasoning. And then it's a low sugar pasta sauce.

So you get that marinara “pasta-ey” kind of flavor in there. You mix that all together, and you got a goulash type of experience. And then I’ll top like I can't do regular dairy so I’ll top that with some shredded goat cheese, but like the rest of my family will put regular cheese on there. So it does kind of have that flavor profile of a pasta dish, but without the refined carbs of the pasta and sometimes you know that that meal is balanced enough for me there.

If I feel like we do need a little bit of extra carb in there, I'll put like maybe some apple slices on the side or like a little bit of fruit or something like that. But we, I made that this week. And so again, like that one's on our website. It's really easy. It's, it's one of those quick weeknight meals that just comes together fairly quickly as long as like the beef is thawed out.

I made some salmon cakes this week too, which is, has become one of my new favorite things to do. I used to just bake salmon, bake the salmon filets in the oven. Now I do, I actually like the salmon cakes a little bit better. You get a, you can get some crispiness and there's just something about like a burger patty type of thing that to me is just a little bit more appealing.

BRANDY: That's one of my favorite recipes as well. I'm very much a promoter of the salmon cakes.

LEAH: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

BRANDY: They freeze really well too, which makes it easy.

LEAH: Yes. They do. And so like with the salmon cakes, then I just keep it simple. Like I usually have a couple different bags of frozen vegetables that are down in our big chest freezer. I'll just pull out one of those. So usually it's green beans, sometimes it's some mixed types of veggies, but I'll throw those in the oven. And then for a starch or like a little bit more concentrated kind of carbohydrate on the side, this time it was purple sweet potatoes, but I've just done regular roasted like baby potatoes, or we've done quinoa on the side. So again, like we just kind of pick a different, a different starch to add, add to that.

BRANDY: Well, all sounds delicious.

Guidelines for how to take berberine

LEAH: No one's starving over here. No one's suffering. So, yeah, so those would be just some examples of, of some balanced dinner and breakfast ideas. And so then let's talk about, okay, if we were going, if we were doing berberine, like what would that look like on a supplement plan if we were writing this out for a client?

Like how would, what would this look like in this person's day? Is there a specific dosage or a timing that generally works best? In general, the dosage for berberine ranges somewhere between 100 milligrams to 500 milligrams of berberine, usually per meal. That's how I've dosed it with clients. So you're doing that two to three times a day for those bigger meals.

And taking, you do the berberine with food, because ideally we want that effect to be like kind of buffering that, that blood sugar response and have those effects there and on the metabolism. And if somebody is monitoring their blood sugar, so they could definitely experiment with this, whether they're wearing a continuous glucose monitor or just doing the finger pricking, you can kind of do a comparison of meals that you take that includes the berberine versus meals that you don't and just see if there's a notable difference in your numbers.

Usually the effect is pretty quick because the berberine is in that moment, really helping with moderating that blood sugar response. Again, with your main meals in general, I usually start people with around 500 milligrams of berberine. We may need to taper it back a little bit just depending on what people's experiences are.

But if you visit our supplement store nutrikey.net and if you typed in the search word “berberine”, you'll see we have a few different options for berberine that can range, most of them range between that 100 to 500 milligrams of berberine. So I know we have a supplement called Berberine Pro. There's one called CM Core that is berberine plus a little alpha lipoic acid.

There's a supplement called Gluco IR, which has a little bit lower dose of berberine, but it also has a lot of other things in it that help with blood sugar regulation like chromium and alpha lipoic acid is in there and a couple other things. So like that one's packed with a lot of other things besides berberine hence why the berberine dose is a little bit lower there.

BRANDY: Yeah, and I like that there are so many options. I gravitate towards the Berberine Pro because it is Just berberine and I think there's a little cinnamon in there so I can, I can kind of titrate the dose a little bit more specifically depending on the client. But they're all all third party tested. They're all like pharmaceutical grade. So they're all really good quality.

Interesting story, you know thinking back to the client I just told you about. She had been using the Berberine Pro, you know, for the first month; ran out, didn't think far enough in advance to get the Berberine Pro delivered so she just ordered something off Amazon and started taking that for a couple of weeks. Something was a little off with that formula because she had some really serious severe digestive issues, like loose stools, you know, gut pain. So I'm wondering if, the dose may not have been as precise as that third party tested brand.

LEAH: Sure, yeah, either the dose or, I mean, unfortunately when we get supplements off of Amazon, it's a little bit of the wild, wild west as to like, okay, what's the purity? What's the quality of this? So, it's just interesting to know, like, even though it probably said, berberine right there on the label, there were definitely different effects for her body.

BRANDY: Mm hmm, right. So, less of a gamble if you go with products that we vetted and tried.

Gut health benefits of berberine

LEAH: Yeah, absolutely. Yes, and let’s circle back on that gut stuff because, and I know you have a couple things to say about this, Brandy, but like berberine actually has some really interesting gut health benefits to it as well.

BRANDY: Yeah, yeah, that is interesting. So berberine, there are some studies suggesting that it could help with like antifungal properties, antibacterial properties, and that can help sort of restore the balance of bacteria in your gut. And we're learning so much about how your gut health can impact your metabolism, that that can be another sort of like backdoor way for how berberine can support healthy metabolism and weight loss, just overall health.

LEAH: Yes, yeah, I've read some of that. Yeah, like there's definitely some gut benefits to berberine, blood sugar; obviously we've talked about kind of the lipid or the cholesterol lowering effects. So, I mean, lots of different potentials here. And we're still learning and there's still obviously more research coming out about this of more potential health benefits and specifically what kind of dosing are we looking at for those types of things?

How long is berberine recommended to take & are there any risks?

And another thing people may be wondering at this point too, is like, okay, if I decide to try berberine, you know, is this something that I need to take forever? Or is it, you know, is this just, can I take it for maybe a few months, just kind of help either with a little bit of a reset or just to see if it works for me, you know, any general, any potential risks with taking it.

So, so let's just talk about those. I mean, generally berberine is considered very safe for most people when it's taken at those doses that we've recommended. And actually I've even seen a little research that says a little bit higher doses than what we've recommended can still be safe.

But generally again, 100 to 500 milligrams of berberine per meal is a good safe range to experiment in. If anything goes on, the most common side effects that I've seen with it, kind of like what your client experienced was more like the GI upset. So you might have some looser stools, you might have some bloating, some gas, like usually it's a little bit more GI related, but other than that, usually fairly safe.

Of course there's always precautions, like pregnant and breastfeeding women should not be taking this, people who are already on, well like what your client mentioned, she was already on metformin, it wasn't quite doing the job that she wanted to, or like that the lab work was reflecting.

So for her berberine, adding in berberine on top of it made sense. For other people, it might be like too much of a double whammy there. If you're already taking one or even two different diabetes medications, definitely want to talk to. your doctor, a pharmacist, somebody before adding, but kind of going out and winging it with berberine a little bit more because it can interact with those medications. And I would say it might cause you to just go too low with the blood sugars if we're, if we go a little too aggressive too fast.

BRANDY: So definitely proceed with caution. If you are taking medications, talk through it with your doctor. But overall it seems to be a pretty safe and effective option for a lot of people when they're using it as we've described and the dose that we described.

BRANDY: Yeah. Yep. Yep.

Summary

BRANDY: So, I just kind of want to summarize some of what we've learned so far. Berberine is a supplement. It can help with weight loss by way of improving your metabolism, regulating your blood sugar, and it could even support your gut health. But it is not a, it's not a shortcut. So if you're going to take it, you do also need to keep in mind that diet and lifestyle are going to support everything that berberine is helping with. So berberine alone is not enough. It's in combination with diet and lifestyle.

LEAH: Yeah, exactly. It can be a great tool in the weight loss toolbox. It's just, it's not the magic pill. If you're looking for a natural supplement to support health and weight loss goals, it’s worth trying. It's just one part of that comprehensive plan that you can lay out. And this is what we help clients with day in and day out.

Like when we meet one on one with clients and even when we teach classes, like we want to take the time to lay out a plan that will actually work for you and your lifestyle and your schedule and kind of working with other people that you may be cooking for or sharing meals with.

I mean, we've got to take all of that into account. And we know that one size does not fit all when it comes to that specific diet and supplement plan. So if this is something either that you are curious about, want to learn a little bit more, or like maybe you need help putting some of those building blocks together in the first place and laying that great foundation and then fitting in potentially berberine where it makes sense, you can reach out to us.

We've got a lot of different ways you can get ahold of us. I'd say the easiest is just giving us a call at 651-699-3438. Or you can visit us on our website at weightandwellness.com.

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So we look forward to working with you and if you have any questions that we can help you with.

BRANDY: Thank you.