Numbers looking good at last, but now what?

[Hevski]

I don't want to start recommending brands and so on, but from what I have read (please confirm this for yourself, because I am no doctor) berberine has a very short half life in the body, so I am taking 600mg 3 times a day before meals.

Can I just ask, have you heard of this from anywhere else! I’m horrified. Big Pharma strikes again. I don’t know if we are allowed to discuss this kind of thing or not. I wonder if Viridian will stop selling it. That has really annoyed me.
I’m fuming, mentally, more than physically.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Berberine has been restricted in the UK and Europe to some degree for years I think. One reference suggested 1970!

The clinical evidence for it seems pretty thin, and my suspicion with many of these supplements is that if the compounds involved showed wider promise, they would have been extracted, purified, concentrated and subjected to full clinical trials by now.

That’s not to say that some individuals might have positive experiences (much like some swear by cider vinegar or cinnamon) but the nature of the ‘natural supplements’ market makes me pretty wary.

 

[Fox]

Can I just ask, have you heard of this from anywhere else! I’m horrified. Big Pharma strikes again. I don’t know if we are allowed to discuss this kind of thing or not. I wonder if Viridian will stop selling it. That has really annoyed me.
I’m fuming, mentally, more than physically.


View attachment 31811

This is new to me, Hevski, but it would not be on my radar.

I was recommended this by someone in the US, who at least claims to know something about it.

There is this paper on efficacy, with the caveats that the Frontiers journals have a questionable reputation, and that I have not fully evaluated the paper for myself, just the abstract, results and conclusions: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9709280/

It is not (yet?) on the UK government list of banned or restricted herbal ingredients: https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...-use/banned-and-restricted-herbal-ingredients

For the moment I am not having any trouble obtaining the stuff.

 

[Fox]

Can I just ask, have you heard of this from anywhere else! I’m horrified. Big Pharma strikes again. I don’t know if we are allowed to discuss this kind of thing or not. I wonder if Viridian will stop selling it. That has really annoyed me.
I’m fuming, mentally, more than physically.


View attachment 31811

Also, in the interests of balance, there is this: https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/berberine-dont-swallow-hype-or-pill

There are some big caveats about berberine, including its insolubility in water. My glucose is coming down, and I am throwing the kitchen sink at the problem, but I strongly suspect this one is not contributing very much.

 

[Hevski]

@Fox @everydayupsanddowns this is the paper I read on it, it was a study. I don’t know if it’s a dodgy paper. It was trials? conducted years ago. They compared Metformin and Berberine. 500mg of Berberine compared to 500mg of Metformin… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410097/

Viridian replied back, they said they’re not discontinuing their Oregon Grape Root, but it’s only 350mg. It seems it affects only Berberine as a supplement on its own. So they can still sell their product, though as you can see in the study it says you’d need to same amount as the Metformin, 500mg to see the same benefits.

Here is the new legislation or whatever, which will apply to Berberine being sold. The guy from Viridian sent it me. I don’t think it has been restricted from sale on its own yet, but eventually will. It mentions that it’s toxic etc. But what isn’t? https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/sp.efsa.2023.EN-8246

All goes over my head..

To Fox, what do you think is helping you the most? Are you on Metformin? Did I see you mention Cinnamon too?

 

[Hevski]

From the second article.