How Berberine Can Help You

How Berberine Can Help You : Berberine is a name that you may not have heard before, but can be found in beautiful red plants called Berberis Vulgaris, Berberis Thunbergii, Berberis Aristata, and a number of other plants of the Berberis family.

Some of these plants, like the Japanese Barberry have been utilized for medicinal needs for thousands of years, especially in eastern Asian countries. However, the West hasn’t put significant investment into the plants and effects of the Berberis family until the last few decades.

Following global research and studies, Berberine has been found to pose a number of health benefits. In this article we will outline berberine benefits, and explore a number of ways that berberine can help your nutritional health.

What is Berberine?

Before we delve into the possible positive effects of berberine on your body, we need to understand what berberine even is. While we touched on this before, berberine refers to an alkaloid that occurs naturally in plants of the Berberis family. There are hundreds of these plants, and likely a number native to your own region of the world. It is this natural alkaloid that poses most of the health benefits within a Berberis plant. So why has berberine only recently become an available supplement?

While east Asian countries have been utilizing berberine for literally thousands of years, western nations avoided the natural alkaloid, and due to lack of research, it was not commonly utilized or administered. However, over the last ten plus years, western medicine has begun to research berberine and discover a number of health benefits. Some of these were less surprising than others, as east Asian countries have already been utilizing berberine for healing topical and bleeding injuries, to improve skin health, and to assist with gut pain and poor health. The more recent discoveries, and those especially prominent in the west are related to blood sugar and cholesterol.

What Does Berberine Do?

Berberine has been found to be especially successful at lowering, and maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. What is unique about this alkaloid is that it does not directly affect blood sugar, but rather causes the release of an enzyme that regulates the metabolism and lowers glucose production. Due to this, berberine has begun to gain popularity as a diabetes treatment.

Berberine has also been found to be highly effective at treating high cholesterol. Because of the enzyme release that it causes, and the body’s reaction to the alkaloid itself, the liver absorbs, and moves bad cholesterol more quickly through the body, and good cholesterol percentages increase. This makes this substance an excellent method for improving and sustaining cardiovascular health.

An Inflammation Killer

There is a reason that berberine has been utilized for thousands of years in the healing of wounds, bruises, and even skin problems: because it fights inflammation. Inflammation is among the greatest enemies of the human body. It can cause gut issues as our stomach and intestinal system becomes inflamed due to foods and allergens, or even stress. Our skin can become inflamed. Even our neurons can become inflamed due to our lifestyle, or stress levels. Due to this, fighting inflammation has been a fight as old as humanity.

While berberine is not a cure-all, it is a highly functional fighter of inflammation. Because of this, taking berberine can help those with anything from IBS, to liver trouble, to neurological diseases. This type of broad anti-inflammatory effect can help a person combat a number of inflammation-related issues at one time, and may also serve to push people struggling past a wall of improvement.

Is it Worth Taking?

For most people, berberine has minimal to no side effects. If you are suffering from conditions such as inflammation, gut pain or disease, high cholesterol, or high blood sugar, berberine may be a worthwhile supplement for you to try. If you have no noticeable side effects and only see improvement, excellent, you have found a way to improve your health and wellness. If you experience negative side effects, you can step away from berberine and seek alternatives. Some suffer mild constipation while taking berberine, but healthy dietary habits can help those utilizing the supplement to avoid this.

Do Your Own Research

If you are still trying to decide whether or not berberine is for you, do your own research. There are over 1,000 scientific papers regarding the effects of berberine and a number of studies. Look at how berberine has affected people with your condition, consult with your healthcare provider about the possibility of taking berberine, and take notes if you begin utilizing it to observe how it affects your health. Berberine is not a dangerous substance, but you should also be conscious regarding any new supplement and health-improvement routine.