If TikTok influencers are to be believed, the plant-based compound called berberine could be a replacement for popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
The use of berberine as a supplement has become so prevalent, in fact, that it has been dubbed “Natural Ozempic” by social media users. Some manufacturers are jumping on the trend.
“Berberine has become my new best friend because it’s been helping me with weight loss,” said one influencer, adding that one of the herbal supplement’s makers is offering her — and some of her viewers — a year’s supply.
As an extract from plants such as goldenseal, barberry, and various poppies, berberine is considered a dietary supplement by the Food and Drug Administration, a US agency similar to ANVISA, and is therefore regulated as a food, not a drug.
“That’s the problem with berberine and all these herbal substances – they are typically not rigorously studied in large randomized clinical trials where we submit real drugs. So you have to be very careful,” said Dr. Caroline Apovian, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
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“As for being the Ozempic of nature, there is no evidence to suggest that this is true,” added Apovian, who was lead author of the Endocrine Society’s clinical practice guidelines for the pharmacological treatment of obesity.
Is the weight loss effect of berberine significant?
This does not mean that the herb has no impact on the body’s metabolic systems.
A pooled meta-analysis of several small clinical studies on berberine’s impact on cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, found a very small but statistically significant weight loss benefit.
“But statistical significance does not mean clinically significant,” said Dr. Justin Ryder, a pediatric obesity researcher and associate professor of surgery and pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.
“What I mean by this? On average across studies, the pooled response was about a 0.25 reduction in body mass index or BMI compared to placebo,” she said.
The body mass index is a measure of a person’s body fat based on height and weight.
“For Ozempic and Wegovy, the decrease in BMI compared to placebo was 4.61 BMI units, or 18 times more effective than berberine,” added Ryder.
“So, does berberine have an effect? The data suggest yes. Is the effect significant? Probably not.”
history of berberine
Some of the approximately 500 different plant species that belong to the Berberis genius have been used for centuries in Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine to fight inflammation and heal wounds, cure constipation and hemorrhoids, and fight infections of the ear, eye, mouth, and digestive tract.
“It is part of the arsenal of herbs used by naturopathic doctors,” said Dr. Joshua Levitt, a naturopathic doctor in Hamden, Connecticut.
“When it comes to glycemic control and regulation of cholesterol and other lipids and antimicrobial uses, there are some cool things to do with herbs and nutrients.”
In fact, the Assyrian emperor Ashurbanipal’s library has clay tablets dating back to 650 BC, stating that the spicy fruit of the barberry plant was used as a blood purifying agent.
“It’s usually used in its whole plant extract form — leaves, roots, bark, all made into a powdered tincture or something like that,” Levitt said.
Scientists were able to extract berberine as an active ingredient in these plants more than 100 years ago, he said, and began studying the compound for metabolic problems like cholesterol, diabetes and obesity.
Berberine may increase the body’s natural production of GLP-1, or glucagon-like peptide 1, a gastrointestinal hormone used in Ozempic and other newer weight-loss drugs.
This is how compost “fits into this discussion. However, in terms of weight loss benefits, they are modest at best,” he said.
Possible side effects of berberine
Berberine can have side effects when mixed with other medications, including the drug metformin, which is often prescribed for people with diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome and, more recently, for weight loss.
“Metformin lowers blood sugar and berberine lowers blood sugar,” Levitt said.
“And if you take two items that lower blood sugar at the same time, you could have a problem like excessive hypoglycemia, when your blood sugar drops.”
Additionally, berberine is “directly antimicrobial,” which was its most common use in historical herbal medicine, Levitt said, “The antimicrobial effects can irritate the GI tract, unless a person has an overgrowth of bad bugs can cause problems. digestives”.
Berberine can be dangerous if taken with cyclosporine, an immunosuppressant drug used to treat post-transplant organ rejection, as it can increase the effects of that drug and possible side effects.
Another known interaction is with sedative medications, as berberine can cause additional drowsiness and slowed breathing, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Also, berberine should not be taken during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
“Berberine can cross the placenta and harm the fetus. Kernicterus, a type of brain damage, has developed in newborns exposed to berberine,” notes the National Library of Medicine on its website.
For these reasons, it’s important to check with your doctor first if you’re considering taking berberine or any other unregulated supplement.
Despite research investigating the herb’s potential impact on diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease, the FDA “has yet to approve berberine for any prescription or over-the-counter drug use and has sent notices of violation to companies that have made drug claims in their sites,” according to the American Chemical Society.
