Berberine: A Natural Solution for Shedding Pounds

by Dr. Nick Zyrowski February 25, 2024

We know that the promise of easy weight loss may be appealing. Popular ads today will have you believe that a simple injection can help you shed unwanted pounds without trying. While that may be somewhat true, it also hides the fact that these medications can be extremely dangerous when not used for the purposes intended. (1) Alternatively, berberine has been around for centuries and is highly effective for losing weight. Let’s dive in and find out how taking berberine can help you shed those pounds without the unwanted effects of pharmaceutical drugs.

The weight loss scam

Taking pills and potions for weight loss is not new. For years, people have jumped on the bandwagon of weight loss options. The unfortunate thing is that many of these are mere marketing campaigns designed to sell you a product. There are no verified weight loss studies behind them.

You can go to any grocery store and still find bars, drinks, and supplements that claim to promote weight loss. When you read the labels, many of these items are loaded with sugar, allergens, and additives.

These newer drugs on the market were designed to control blood sugar. As a side effect, it was discovered that they also suppress appetite. (2)

What’s the harm?

Now, you may be wondering, so what if these medications weren’t originally meant for weight loss? It’s great if they help people with that, too, right? Well, not so fast.

Unfortunately, most people haven’t read the fine print regarding these drugs. Yes, they do suppress appetite, but not in the way you want. Some serious side effects come with these popular drugs, like hypoglycemia, allergic reactions, thyroid cancer, and pancreatic swelling. You have all of these risks, and you’ll most likely gain your weight right back once you stop the medicine. (3) That means you will have to continue taking this forever to keep seeing the same results. Some of the side effects your doctor may consider minor are things like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. These may not seem so minor when you go through them.

You may also notice that you lose mostly muscle rather than fat. One particularly disturbing issue is that new research shows these drugs may be associated with stomach paralysis and bowel obstruction. (4)

Real weight loss pill

Now, we want to preface this by noting that we are not promoting a wonder drug for losing weight. You know we are all about natural methods for obtaining the best health possible. Yet, we want to show you some natural alternatives to pharmaceuticals that can render some pretty amazing results.

Berberine can lower your blood sugar and suppress your appetite. The compound is found in nature and does not come with all the nasty side effects you’ll get from some of the popular pharmaceuticals. When you use Berberine ER, you won’t lose muscle, but you will see healthy weight loss results. The extended-release formula supports insulin activity and glucose metabolism. (5) It helps you maintain a healthy weight without questionable chemicals being injected into your body.

More berberine benefits

If you need more evidence that berberine is something you should know more about, studies have shown that it is just as effective as metformin, which is a popular type 2 diabetes medication. (6)

Berberine decreases your blood sugar and insulin levels. Why is that important for weight loss? It is a crucial part of losing fat because insulin blocks fat loss, so when it is lowered, you’re able to lose weight more efficiently.

If you want the benefits of fasting, berberine can improve the results. If you take berberine at the beginning of a fast, it will drive down the insulin levels and help you get into a fasted state quickly.

There are also antimicrobial mechanisms to consider. So, if you’re concerned about gut health, which we know is important for many reasons, berberine is beneficial for your gut microbiome. (7)

Should you try berberine?

If you’ve been on the fence about taking berberine because you wonder if it’s another weight loss scam, we want to give you some reasons to try it for yourself. As you can see, there are lots of benefits to taking berberine, and not all of them have to do with weight loss.

Now, we of course wanted to point out that berberine is much safer than these popular weight loss drugs that have taken the pharmaceutical market by storm. If you don’t want to risk all the crazy side effects of these harmful drugs, we’d recommend staying away from them, as berberine is just as effective and is completely natural.

Let’s say you’re someone who has high cholesterol, and you don’t want to take a statin drug. Berberine has been shown to naturally reduce cholesterol. (8)

A fascinating effect of berberine is that it also reduces plaque. That means it could significantly decrease atherosclerosis development. Atherosclerosis is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. (9)

Another common health issue berberine may help with is hypertension. High blood pressure is one of the risk factors for vascular disease, and many people are on medications to decrease their hypertension. Berberine is effective for blood pressure reduction. (10)

Improving your health naturally

As you can see, there are ways to improve your health naturally without all the side effects that come with these modern drugs. There are simple and effective ways to lose those extra pounds without resorting to extreme methods that can have dangerous consequences, like stomach paralysis or cancer.

Of course, we recommend eating a healthy diet along with taking berberine. A diet based on whole foods will keep you satiated and give you the nutrients your body needs to thrive.

We also suggest being active for your physical and mental health. When you can, get out in nature and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. It can make a world of difference in how you feel.

Berberine isn’t a new weight loss gimmick. It is natural and has been used for years to help people improve their health. Contact us to learn more about this product and how we use it clinically to help our patients become healthier and feel better than ever.

References :

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/berberine-and-weight-loss#faq

https://www.baptisthealth.com/blog/health-and-wellness/risks-of-taking-ozempic-for-weight-loss#:~:text=Serious%20side%20effects%2C%20including%20allergic,changes%20haven't%20been%20made

https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/berberine-and-weight-loss-what-you-need-to-know

https://hmri.org.au/news-article/ozempic-helps-weight-loss-making-you-feel-full-certain-foods-can-do-same-thing-%E2%80%93#:~:text=The%20active%20ingredient%20in%20Ozempic,helps%20manage%20type%202%20diabetes.

https://www.med.ubc.ca/news/weight-loss-drugs-linked-to-stomach-paralysis-other-serious-gastrointestinal-conditions/#:~:text=That's%20according%20to%20new%20research,paralysis%2C%20pancreatitis%20and%20bowel%20obstruction.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410097/#:~:text=In%20the%20regulation%20of%20lipid,group%20(P%3C0.05).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410097/#:~:text=Compared%20with%20metformin%2C%20berberine%20exhibited,activity%20is%20better%20than%20metformin.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9328669/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36941490/#:~:text=We%20found%20that%20on%20average,(2%20mg%2FdL).

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0753332218324715

https://jme.bioscientifica.com/configurable/content/journals$002fjme$002f59$002f3$002fJME-17-0014.xml?t:ac=journals%24002fjme%24002f59%24002f3%24002fJME-17-0014.xml

Dr. Nick Zyrowski
Dr. Nick Zyrowski