The Power of Berberine

Blood sugar management is essential for maintaining a healthy body, yet millions of Canadians struggle with ailments related to poorly controlled blood sugar and insulin levels.

Often called a "natural Ozempic alternative", Berberine is a compound extracted from the roots of various plants, including barberry, goldenseal, and Oregon grape.

Evidence has shown that Berberine promotes blood sugar metabolism and supports cardiovascular health by maintaining healthy blood lipid levels. The unique ways Berberine acts on the body makes it a useful natural option for improving blood sugar, triglycerides, and cholesterol levels.

Uses & Benefits

• Maintains healthy blood sugar balance
• Promotes insulin sensitivity
• Supports weight management
• Manages blood lipid levels
• Promotes cardiovascular health
• Blocks the digestion of carbohydrates

How Berberine works

Berberine lowers blood glucose and improves insulin sensitivity through various physiological mechanisms. Most of its actions involve AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) – an enzyme that regulates the body’s energy levels. By targeting this pathway, this enzyme helps transport glucose into cells to get converted into energy. Berberine also promotes insulin sensitivity by increasing the number and activity of available insulin receptors, which allows the same quantity of insulin to be more effective at processing glucose out of the bloodstream. Using insulin more efficiently is a foundation for successfully managing diabetes.

Activating AMPK is also essential to Berberine’s function in regulating blood lipids, such as LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglycerides. This enzyme acts as a master switch, regulating energy production, storage, and lipid metabolism. It helps burn fatty acids within cells, stabilize the receptors for LDL cholesterol, and inhibit the formation of lipids by the liver.

Berberine also helps block the digestion of carbohydrates, including starch, by inhibiting disaccharidases, the enzymes needed to break carbohydrates down. As a result, only a limited amount of glucose can be absorbed through the intestines and pass into the blood. The glucose that does get absorbed into the bloodstream, Berberine helps move it into cells more efficiently by enhancing the transport proteins responsible for moving it across cell membranes.

Modern evidence shows Berberine works to restore the insulin sensitivity needed to maintain healthy blood sugar levels and promotes cardiovascular health by helping to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol in people with poorly controlled blood sugar.