Berberine, does it really help with weight loss? Well, you probably heard the news that two of
the major weight loss companies, Weight Watchers and Noom, have decided to market those miracle weight
loss prescription drugs as part of their program. Well, that's big news and I'm not going
to mention the names of those drugs, the names that will not be spoken here. But let's get this clear. Those weight loss drugs work by suppressing your
appetite, by stopping gastric emptying so that you always feel full and oh, by the way, at least 40% to
45% of the weight loss those drugs, make no mistake, they do produce weight loss, is from
muscle loss, muscle mass reduction. And if you follow anything about
aging, you want to keep your muscles. In fact, keeping your muscles is one
of the hallmarks of successful aging. So, yeah, great. I'm glad everybody loses weight on
the drugs that will not be named. But weight loss as a goal should not include
the loss of nearly 50% of your muscle mass. Ok. So enter berberine. And berberine has
gotten a lot of interest as maybe the poor man's natural alternative
to these weight loss drugs. And there is some evidence
that berberine can act as a GLP1 inhibitor, which is what these drugs do. But berberine is much more than that. In fact, I am a huge fan of berberine. So much so that berberine is an ingredient in
many of my products here at Gundry MD. So I'm a big fan and I know a
lot about how berberine works and it's so much more than just a natural
alternative to these prescription drugs. First of all, berberine is a
compound in several plants. Oregon grape root, which is totally
different than grape seed extract. It's present in barberry, it's
present in several compounds. It is a polyphenol, son of a gun. And
berberine is actually one of the most potent mitochondrial uncouplers that's ever been discovered. Now, if you've read The Energy Paradox,
if you've read Unlocking the Keto Code, if you read the upcoming Gut Check,
you'll know that uncoupling mitochondria is one of the long term keys to long-term health. Number two, you know that uncoupling mitochondria
is doing a caloric bypass on energy metabolism. It makes your mitochondria,
waste fuel, waste calories. And if you're wasting
calories, you will lose weight. So let's get this straight. Berberine first
and foremost, and you won't see this on the internet, is a potent mitochondrial on
coupler and that's why I really like it. What else does it do? Well, berberine is known to
activate an enzyme called AMPK. Now, AMPK is one of the major regulators of
metabolism and energy expenditure in the body by stimulating AMPK. Berberine can actually enhance fat
burning and increase calorie expenditure regardless of the fact that it's
a mitochondrial uncoupler. So that means you are more efficient at metabolism
and will support your weight loss efforts. It also has been shown to reduce blood sugar. It controls blood sugar and it
also reduces insulin levels. Now let's back up to insulin. Insulin is the hormone that literally handles the sugars and the
proteins that you ingest. And simplistically, insulin is a sales person that sells
sugar and protein to your muscles. And if your muscles are hungry, then insulin has a really easy job of selling the sugar
and protein you ate to your muscles. They basically go, yeah yeah yeah, I love what you're selling. I want to buy it. On the other hand, most Americans, even 50% of
normal-weight Americans are insulin-resistant. 88% of overweight Americans are insulin resistant. 99.5% of obese Americans are insulin resistant. That means that they do not listen to
the sales pitch that insulin is making and they are resistant to the sales pitch. That means that you make more
insulin and more insulin to try to convince your muscles to take the
sugar and protein out of your blood. And unfortunately that doesn't happen. And that's why your blood sugar goes up. That's why your hemoglobin A1C goes up. That's why your fasting insulin goes up. That's why you are insulin resistant. So what insulin is also a fat storage
hormone and the higher your insulin goes, the easier it is for you to make fat out
of the sugar and protein that you eat. And that's the catch 22. The more of the
stuff you eat, the more insulin you make, the more fat you deposit and the more
insulin you need to keep things happening. And that's what's so bad about our current diet. So, berberine drops insulin levels and
drops blood sugar. It's a great way to start. In addition, what berberine does is it lowers
insulin which then lowers the enzymes involved in fat synthesis and that can eliminate or at least
lessen the accumulation of fat and fat cells. Now, it can also reduce the expression of
genes involved in fat production and can also increase the expression of genes involved
in fat breakdown, which can promote weight loss. So, berberine has got like a three-mode
approach in producing the weight loss that you're looking for in these
prescription drugs that are now so wildly popular that two weight loss
programs are going to use them and that goes counter to everything that we
wanna do for long term good health. Now, drug companies know this. Drug companies
want you to be a consumer for life, they're not peddling quick fix solutions. If a quick fix solution was useful, I can assure you drug companies
would not be interested in this. They want you, these companies that are going
to use this drug, to be a customer for life. And that's the last thing any
of us want for good health. We want good health for life
without the aid of pharmaceuticals. And that's what I've devoted the last years of my practice and my research
to giving you other options. And that's why berberine is a
part of my Armamentarium in a number of my products because it's going
to give you the benefits from a natural compound without the drawbacks of being
addicted to a pharmaceutical for life. More amazing episodes just like this one! Watch now. Supplements are great
for you as long as you know what the dose you really need to have an effect.
