Video: Can Berberine REALLY Support Blood Sugar? What Research Shows

I love the herbal extract berberine, such a powerful type of natural medicine I use in my practice all the time. And you know, berberine is a phenomenal plant extract that can help revolutionize your health. So, watch closely as I review the shocking truth about berberine. I'm Dr. Mark Stengler. I'm a naturopathic medical doctor. I've been practicing for over 30 years, written over 20 books, and I want to share with you in this video the shocking truths about berberine. You know, berberine really is a pharmaceutical company's dream since it has multiple studies establishing great benefits for metabolism, weight loss, blood glucose reduction, lipid balancing, and other benefits. But, the problem for drug companies is that berberine is a natural compound, so they can't patent it and they can't make it into a prescription drug, which I'm sure they'd like to. But, right now you can get it as a very potent dietary supplement. But, there's one big downside to berberine, and that's its absorption. But, there are technologies available that can help you overcome the absorption issue. I use a product that has the phytosome technology where it wraps in a certain type of phospholipid and greatly enhances the absorption through the gut. But, let me get into the seven shocking mechanisms that berberine has to offer. First, weight reduction. Yes, berberine actually has studies on it for weight reduction. It inhibits fat-forming and lipogenic genes involved in fat regulation. So, it works on a genetic level. It increases the genetic expression muscles to enhance heat production, oxygen consumption, glucose and fat metabolism. And number three, it activates AMPK, and I'll talk a bit more about this in a minute. But, that increases energy production and reduces energy storage, all of which helps your metabolism. Now, AMP refers to activated protein kinase, just a type of enzyme or AMPK, you could call it. And that's an enzyme that acts as a master regulator of energy within your body cells. Think of it as a highly sensitive fuel gauge and a cellular energy manager. Its primary role is to monitor the energy status of the cell and respond by restoring energy balance. So, what exactly does AMPK do to have all these benefits? Well, the activation of AMPK, it's triggered by an increase in the ratio of AMP, something called adenosine monophosphate, to ATP, which you know about for energy, adenosine triphosphate. And again, ATP is the cell's main energy currency. So, when you're using a lot of energy, like for example, exercising or if you're involved in calorie restriction, your ATP levels drop and your AMP levels rise. And this signals a state of low energy to the cell. And AMPK gets activated in the cell to fix the problem. So, once activated, AMPK initiates a cascade of metabolic changes that can be summarized as the following. First, it turns on energy-generating processes and turns off energy-consuming ones. Also, it increases ATP production, as I mentioned earlier, so you're generating energy. It does this ATP production support by boosting glucose uptake. So, AMPK tells cells, again, mainly in the muscles, to increase their uptake of glucose from the bloodstream. And this is a crucial function for managing blood sugar levels and making energy available for immediate use. Also, it promotes fatty acid oxidation. So, it activates the processes that break down fatty acids or fats for energy. And this is why AMPK is often linked to fat burning and again, weight management. It effectively switches the cell's primary fuel sources from glucose to fats, so you can burn that fat. Well, berberine also helps through the AMPK by enhancing mitochondrial biogenesis. Fancy words, but basically they mean that's encouraging the creation of new mitochondria. Remember, the mitochondria are the powerhouses, the energy factories of the cell. More mitochondria means more efficient energy production and greater metabolic capacity over time. Berberine through the AMPK also reduces ATP consumption. And this leads to inhibiting fat synthesis, or making fat. So, it deactivates key enzymes involved in the creation of new fats, such as those that are used to make cholesterol, those used to make triglycerides. So, it's a direct way of helping to prevent the storage of excess fat. Also, a berberine through the AMPK pathway reduces protein synthesis. And since protein synthesis is an energy-intensive process, it requires a lot of energy, AMPK activation temporarily slows it down to conserve more energy for other critical functions. We know AMPK regulates cellular growth. So, it puts the brakes on cell growth and proliferation, which are processes that consume a lot of energy. This is one reason AMPK is a potential target in cancer research. Essentially, AMPK activation is the cellular equivalent of an energy-saving mode. It helps the body become more metabolically efficient, using its fuel more effectively, and shifting its focus from storage to energy production. This is why lifestyle interventions like exercise and calorie restriction are powerful activators of AMPK and so beneficial for your overall health, whether you have insulin sensitivity, or if you want to increase longevity, and of course to help with weight management. Well, berberine's also unique. It has a shocking effect of transporting glucose and free fatty acids into the mitochondria to burn for energy. So, obviously, that's a very beneficial thing. Berberine also reduces inflammation, and it increases the body's clearing of the LDL cholesterol. And it does this by enhancing the uptake of LDL receptors in your liver. If you look at studies, berberine extract can reduce your LDL cholesterol anywhere from 20 to 50 mg per deciliter. It reduces triglycerides nicely, 25 to 55 mg per deciliter. It can lower total cholesterol. It can increase your good HDL cholesterol. And it does this by different mechanisms than other supplements, say like red yeast rice or even medications like statin drugs. So, again, it is unique in its effect on the liver LDL receptors without harming your liver. And it also reduces at the intestinal absorption and uptake of cholesterol. Well, there's another amazing thing about berberine that's quite shocking for people who are unaware of it. And that is berberine improves symptoms of polycystic ovarian syndrome, also known as PCOS, and it reduces excess testosterone associated with this condition. Remember up to 10% of premenopausal women have polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS. And if you look at like a review of some of the major studies, take five major studies where they compare berberine and pharmaceutical therapies for PCOS. This is what they found. Berberine improved the redistribution of fat, so taking fat like from the hips and midsection and redistributing it in the body for a better balance. It reduced visceral fat, fat in the organs, even in the absence of women not losing weight. It improves insulin sensitivity similar to the drug metformin. It improves insulin resistance in the cells of the ovaries again, and that helps with ovulation and hormone balance. It's been shown in studies to improve ovulation. It's been shown to improve fertility and live birth rates. And as I mentioned before, it does reduce testosterone levels. It can reduce that free testosterone in the body of women with PCOS by almost 33%. So that's helpful if they're experiencing scalp hair loss, they're experiencing acne, they're getting hair growth in areas they don't want to have it, you know, like around the chin and other areas of the body. And so that is a unique feature of berberine for women with PCOS. And then another amazing fact, surprising fact, is that berberine kills bad bugs in your gut. So if it's bacteria that shouldn't be in your gut, that are infectious parasites, candida or yeast, it does this bug-killing effect, but while maintaining a balance of the microbiome. So when they've done studies, not only did it get rid of the bad bugs, but it actually had more of a balance on the good bugs in your microbiome, which is a very unique feature of berberine. Well, there you've seen some of the phenomenal effects that you can get with berberine. I hope you enjoyed this video. I do have other videos on berberine you can watch where I compare berberine with the common diabetes drug metformin in head-to-head studies and some of the other amazing things about berberine. So, look for those on my YouTube channel. And if you haven't subscribed, now's a good time to subscribe. Well, it's been good being with you and I look forward to talking with you in the next video.

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