dietary supplement berberine

Berberine currently sold as a dietary supplement on the market is essentially an isoquinoline alkaloid extracted from Ranunculaceae plants such as Coptis chinensis and Cortex Phellodendri. It is by no means a "universal health-care miracle drug" as spread on the Internet. It only has a clear auxiliary improvement effect on bacterial intestinal infections and some people with abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism assessed by doctors. The risk of blind use by healthy people is much higher than the potential benefits, and daily routine supplementation is not recommended at all.

I was browsing short videos a while ago and came across several bloggers touting berberine as "natural metformin" and "a miracle drug that can control sugar and reduce fat without dietary restrictions." The comment section was full of requests for links. There is a kid next to me who has just been diagnosed with impaired glucose tolerance. Follow me I stocked up on three bottles of imported berberine, and one pill was almost 10 times more expensive than the berberine sold in the drug store. Within two weeks of taking it, I came to me with a sad face, saying that I had to go to the toilet three or four times a day, my mouth was always bitter, and I couldn’t even taste the aroma of my favorite butter hot pot.

In fact, many people don't know that the main ingredient of "berberine" that we often took when we were children with diarrhea is berberine. This use has been clinically proven for decades - bacterial diarrhea caused by eating unclean things can be quickly relieved after taking it for 1-2 days, with minimal side effects and high cost performance. This is its only effect that is generally recognized by drug regulatory authorities in various regions around the world.

As for the effects of sugar control and blood lipid regulation that everyone is most concerned about, they are indeed not groundless. There are many large-sample clinical studies in China that show that patients with type 2 diabetes supplement about 1.5g of berberine every day for 3 months. The regulating effect on fasting blood sugar, postprandial blood sugar and glycated hemoglobin is basically the same as that of low-dose metformin. It can also slightly reduce triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and the burden on the liver is smaller than that of many statins. But on the other hand, the evidence-based medicine system in Europe and the United States still has a lot of controversy over this conclusion. The sample sizes of many studies are small and interfering factors have not been completely eliminated. Therefore, the FDA has not approved the marketing of berberine as a hypoglycemic and lipid-lowering drug. It is only allowed to be sold as a dietary supplement, and there are strict restrictions on the promotion of its efficacy.

When I went out with a teacher in the nutrition department, I met many people who took berberine as an ordinary vitamin. There was an aunt in her fifties who heard from her square dancing partner that berberine can clear blood vessels and help lose weight. She took 3 pills every day for more than two months, but she did not lose two pounds in weight. Instead, she had abdominal distension and diarrhea every day. She went for a colonoscopy and found that the intestinal flora was seriously disordered. It took half a year of treatment to slowly recover. Don’t think that natural means safe. Berberine itself has clear pharmacological effects. In addition to gastrointestinal discomfort and taste changes, berberine’s common side effects are long-term consumption of large amounts can also affect the absorption of B vitamins, and even cause peripheral neuritis in severe cases. ； If you are taking hypoglycemic drugs, antihypertensive drugs or anticoagulants, they may interact with these ingredients, either amplifying the drug effect and causing hypoglycemia and hypotension, or affecting metabolism and increasing the burden on the liver and kidneys. Pregnant and lactating women are absolutely prohibited from touching them.

All said and done, berberine is not a scourge, but it is definitely not a universal supplement suitable for everyone. If you occasionally have a stomachache due to bad food and bacterial diarrhea, go to the drugstore and buy a bottle of berberine for a few yuan and take it for a day or two. It's totally fine. ； If you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes or dyslipidemia, and the doctor determines that you are suitable for berberine-assisted regulation after evaluation, then just follow the doctor's instructions and eat it in the right amount. There is no need to spend a lot of money on imported "dietary supplements" as the active ingredients are the same. But if you are a healthy person and want to rely on it to offset the harm of staying up late, eating and drinking, or want to rely on it to lose weight and prevent the three highs, I advise you to give up this idea as soon as possible. It is really better to drink one less cup of milk tea every day and walk for half an hour more without any side effects.

A while ago, I had diarrhea after taking berberine, so I threw the remaining bottles into the deepest part of my locker. Now I play badminton with me for half an hour every day after get off work. I have controlled my refined sugar intake for two months. I went for a sugar tolerance check last week and found that the index has completely fallen back to the normal range. He told me that before he always wanted to find a shortcut to adjust his body without suffering any pain. Now he realizes that there is no shortcut. In the end, supplements are just auxiliary things. They really cannot replace eating well and exercising, especially supplements that have medicinal properties. The IQ tax paid by eating blindly is a trivial matter. If you eat the body badly, it will really outweigh the gains.