There’s no mandatory development and approval process for supplements. If a plant-derived substance is classified by the US Food and Drug Administration as a pharmaceutical drug, it must undergo rigorous testing before it’s approved.īut if a plant-derived substance is classified as a supplement, rigor goes out the window. Aspirin comes from willow bark metformin, the diabetes medicine to which berberine is often compared, is derived from a plant known as French lilac. “We don’t really have much data to show that taking berberine will lead to weight loss,” she says.Īlthough they are sometimes embraced as alternatives to modern medicine, botanical ingredients are an undeniably vital component of mainstream pharmacology. Despite TikTok claims about berberine’s weight-loss benefits, its functionality as a dieting aid hasn’t actually been proven in peer-reviewed studies. She does not recommend it for shedding body mass. “I think any supplement you’re introducing should be monitored by a health care practitioner,” she says when her clients start on it, Makeeva orders blood work to watch how and if it impacts their blood sugar. Makeeva has even made TikTok videos about berberine’s effects-but she has reservations about how the supplement has turned into a fad diet product. Lisa Makeeva, an Ontario-based dietician who often treats digestive disorders, has recommended berberine to some of her patients for years. When she does incorporate herbs containing berberine into a recipe, she pairs them with other herbs that will help temper its effects, following traditional methods. “I’d worry about antibiotic resistance with using berberine.” Taylor does not instruct her clients to take berberine to lower blood sugar or for weight loss. “It does get a little scary to me when we’re talking about extracts of particular herbs, because that gets to be as strong as a pharmaceutical medication,” Jaquelyn Taylor, an herbalist in Chicago, says. And even alternative healthcare practitioners have concerns. But that does not mean it’s wise to start ingesting this powerful pharmacological compound as casually as a cough drop. It is a remarkable substance, and it’s easy to understand why people are excited about its benefits. Studies also suggest that it can indeed reduce insulin resistance. “This is not something you’re supposed to take on on a long-term basis, because you are changing the dynamics of your gut microflora.” Plus, berberine is known to interfere with enzymes in the body that break down other drugs, so it can cause dangerous interactions.īerberine has antibiotic properties, as Quave noted, which is why it is often used to treat bacterial diarrhea on a short-term basis. “Berberine is a natural antibiotic, so it interferes with the growth of different bacteria in the intestines,” she says. She finds the fad for casually taking berberine to lose weight troubling for several reasons. Quave is wary of the easy availability of single-ingredient supplements like berberine, which are sold in powerful compound form with few warnings about potential side effects, and without the same regulatory scrutiny as over-the-counter or prescription medications. Yet, culturally, people often view supplements as benign additions to their diets, rather than remedies that can be both effective and intense. A supplement like berberine can be as beneficial as a pharmaceutical, but also as strong as one. But some alternative medicines sold as supplements are worth scrutinizing not because they’re ineffective but because they’re so potent. When people criticize alternative medicine, it’s often for being new-fangled snake oil. The first option touted “GI support” and “immune support.” The second highlighted its gluten-free, “non-GMO” formulation. One bottle contained 200-milligram capsules of berberine, while the second contained pills with berberine and cinnamon, divided into 2,000-milligram capsules. They arrived on my doorstep the next day. What was the harm? It was natural, after all. After a few consecutive nights getting served these giddy pro-berberine videos, I ordered two different kinds of berberine capsules online. Now, with an increased chance of developing type 2 diabetes, I’ll do just about anything to avoid it. I developed gestational diabetes a few years ago to keep my blood sugar in check, I followed a carb-restricted diet and went through my pregnancy staring longingly at bagels and pricking my finger three times a day. I saw it over and over: “Lowers blood sugar.” It was as if the algorithms knew precisely what would push me over the edge to actually purchase the stuff. Amid all this hoopla, one specific claim about berberine got my attention.
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