Berberine vs Metformin - anyone using berberine?

[Dario]

I just read an interesting article in which metformin was compared to berberine to lower blood sugar. Members interested to read this article can find it here. I have been taking metformin plus an other array of pills for around 20 years now. I have just ordered 1 bottle of 60 berberine 500 mg capsules on Lazada. I wanna give it a try. Are there any members here who are using berberine to manage their blood sugar levels? I'd be happy to read.

I will post an update in approximately one month after I start taking the capsules.

[Oxx]

The "science" referenced in that link is two papers by Chinese authors from 2008.  Both used a very small number of patients in their trials.  Don't you think there would be more recent and reliable references if this was genuinely a treatment for diabetes?

 

The "doctor" referred to in the "interesting article" isn't a medical doctor, but a "doctor of chiropractic, certified doctor of natural medicine and clinical nutritionist".  

 

The article's author is similarly utterly unqualified, having only a Masters  of Science in Public Health Nursing according to her website.

 

In my opinion you'd be misguided to take berberine, an unregulated produced with goodness knows what inside the capsules and with unknown side effects (other than constipation).  Follow science, not quackery.

[covidiot]

52 minutes ago, Oxx said:

Follow science, not quackery.

This debate has reared its ugly head yet again.

 

It's not as simple as dismissing this stuff as "quackery". Some stuff like berberine has been used in ayurvedic and chinese medicine for a long time. In this day and age, it happens to be available directly to the consumer. 

 

But this is a complicated debate which I will not get myself dragged into yet again. I'm not getting paid enough. 

 

 

Edited May 29, 2021 by covidiot

[Dario]

Amazing what members write here.

Well, I   did a little research and landed on the page of a berberine offer  on Amazon.com where most buyers rave about berberine. Go and read for yourself. Some people get off metformin using berberine. Read again: some people get off metformin using berberine, a natural product.

Why is berberine not widely used? Because the "big pharma" does not want the general public to know, because there are billions and billions of metformin dollars at stake.

For my part, I have ordered 2 more bottles of berberine. I really want to get off metformin, whatever it takes and especially now that I got across berberine.

[Sheryl]

2 hours ago, Dario said:

Why is berberine not widely used? Because the "big pharma" does not want the general public to know, because there are billions and billions of metformin dollars at stake.

 

This is nonsense, there is no such conspiracy.  Metformin is long off patent; "big pharma" could make at least as much money, if not more, from a berberine product.

 

The "nutritional supplements" industry is also a few hundred billion dollars a year in profits (expected to ereach >US$ 300billion by 2026).  It is no more exempt from monetary concerns than the pharmaceutical industry, just much less regulated.

 

A Phase I/Phase II clinicla trial on beriberine was done, by a Chinese University in partnership with the US Natonal Institue of Health. There is no reason to question it's design, but it was very small in scale. A second  Phase II Random controlled clinical trial on use of berberine is currently underway but not yet completed and also small in scale, as Phase II trials always are.

 

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03976336

 

If results are favorable,  Phase III trials will come next. Phase II trials are too small in scale to give adequate information on side effects.

 

The risk in deciding to take berberine now, when research is still in early stages, is  (1) limited info on side effects, (2) only very preliminary data on efficacy; (3) limited info on optimal dosing and (4) no information on how best to switch from metformin to berberine/effects of taking both simultaneously.

[robblok]

Been taking berberine for quite some time. I am not diabetic at all but it helps when you take carbs evens out the blood spike. I must say that taking it in combination with exercise has really helped weight loss.

 

As for taking it to not have to use metformin. Isnt that easy to workout if you use glucose strips ? I mean you can measure if it effects you the same way as metformin ?

 

Just my 2 cents and side effects from herbal supplements are usually not as bad as those from medicine.