Hi, and welcome back to our channel.
Today we're going to talk about blood sugar balance.
Does berberine and lipoic acid make a difference?
Now we will dig into the differences between berberine and lipoic acid, what they do differently within the body to help with blood sugar, and are there any side effects? And then finally, how can you add them in if you wish to do so.
But before we dig into our topic, my name is Marcie Vaske and I'm a licensed nutritionist with Flusso Nutrients. At Flusso Nutrients, we work really hard to help educate you on different types of supplements so that you can make the best choice for yourself. Now, if you ever have questions, you can always link them down below or comment down below, as well as talking to a supplement literate practitioner to give you more in-depth information. Now, we always need to keep in mind that some supplements can be contraindicate with medications that we take or even other supplements that we're also taking.
So without further ado, I should say, let's dig back into our topic, which is all about blood sugar balance.
[Video Transcript Below + Supplement Links Discussed In Video]
Does Berberine and Lipoic Acid Support Blood Sugar Balance?
Berberine and lipoic acid have been extensively researched and do show a lot of promising signs for supporting our blood sugar. Now, most recently as berberine has really been in our social medias, the news, because of course all of the weight loss GLP ones are also in the news and people trying to find different ways to help support their blood sugar in a more natural and safe way may have turned to berberine. And so we're really learning more about this, but we've known about this herb for many years. And in fact, a lot of times berberine has been shown to outperform even metformin, which is a very common type two diabetic drug that is used to balance blood sugars. So I want to dig into the difference between berberine and lipoic acid and just kind of share more so you can make a better choice for yourself.
How Berberine Works to Support Blood Sugar Balance
And so what it does is it actually activates our NPK raw enzyme, and this enzyme is a crucial role really in regulating our blood sugar, our energy balance, and improving our insulin sensitivity. Now, berberine also helps to support insulin sensitivity, meaning that your cells are more receptive to taking up insulin instead of having them float around in our bloodstream. Berberine also helps in reducing glucose production in our liver. So by helping to lower that glucose production in our liver, that helps to keep our fasting blood sugars in more control. And lastly, berberine is an outstanding way to help balance your microbiome. It actually is kind of an antimicrobial that helps to get rid of sort of imbalanced flora that we don't want or an opportunistic flora. So by having a better balanced flora with healthier bacteria and microbes, that helps our metabolism and in essence, our blood sugar.
So now we know how berberine actually works in the body, and studies have also shown that berberine can lower our fasting glucose up to 1.5%, which is a very nice amount and is very comparable to that drug I spoke about, which is called metformin. So metformin balances it by one to 2%. So berberine is pretty effective. As I said, berberine helps to support insulin sensitivity and in turn can promote mild weight loss. And it does this because if our blood sugar is balanced better, our body is going to stay in better balance and not hold on to excess sugars that turn into fat in our fat cells.
How Lipoic Acid Helps Maintain Blood Sugar Balance
Now, lipoic acid or alpha lipoic acid, ALA works in a little bit of a different way than berberine, and it is a natural occurring antioxidant and it plays a very critical role in our mitochondrial energy. So ALA or lipoic acid helps to support insulin sensitivity by enhancing the glucose uptake into the cell. In this way, it reduces our blood sugar levels. It also helps to reduce oxidative stress in our body. It protects against those free radicals that cause a lot of issues and keep a higher blood sugar. It also helps to support our nerves. So sometimes we hear about neuropathy and ALA really helps to support that protective covering over our nerves and because it keeps our blood sugar balanced.
So overall, ALA or lipoic acid does help to improve our insulin sensitivity, it reduces inflammation and it can support diabetic neuropathy. So now we've learned what berberine does and how that supports our blood sugar as well as lipoic acid. There is a where you can take both of them at the same time and can kind of combine what they both provide to help support you.
Can You Take Berberine and Lipoic Acid Together?
Now of course, you don't want to be taking both of these. If you are taking any kind of blood sugar lowering medications, this can put you into a very low blood sugar. You won't feel well, you could pass out all the things. So you want to make sure that if you are going to try one of these blood sugar supplements, that you are either being monitored by a practitioner or you're not taking medication and just using one on its own or both. As I said, you can put them synergistically together to help get both combined efforts and supports of both of them. But as we know with any supplement, there is always a potential for side effects.
Potential Side Effects of Berberine and Lipoic Acid
And with berberine, the biggest side effect here is going to be kind of GI issues. So gastrointestinal issues. So some people may experience more constipation, may experience diarrhea, or even bloating.
So this is where you want to begin just really slowly, like we've told you many times on this channel, if you're starting supplements, just go slow. Don't jump in thinking you can tolerate everything because maybe your body can't. So by maybe just starting by taking one capsule of berberine with a meal and seeing how that feels and just working yourself up. Also, berberine can interact with different medications. So if you're taking blood thinners or even blood pressure drugs, you just want to be wary and aware of doing so, then maybe you're going to be a better ALA or lipoic acid may be a better fit for you.
Now, there's also the potential for hypoglycemia, which is low blood sugar if you're combining these with other glucose lowering medications. Now the side effects of ALA really look more like more mild gastrointestinal issues. So you might feel more of just a little bit of nausea or some stomach upset.
You can also, same with berberine, if you're taking it with another blood sugar lowering medication that you could have hypoglycemia and not feel very good because of that. And then for using long-term, the only thing you want to pay attention to here is that it can affect our thyroid hormone levels. So just be mindful about taking any supplement anytime if you have questions to talk to somebody about is this a good fit for you or not? And always start slow. So as we've walked through this video and explained what berberine does, what lipoic acid does, sort of the side effects how they benefit you, and you're thinking, okay, well maybe I should try one, sort of struggling with a little bit of higher blood sugar, but nothing that's going to be diabetic and nature or diagnosed as that.
How to Take Berberine and Lipoic Acid for Blood Sugar Balance
So if you're thinking about trying one of 'em dosing. So berberine, you want to take between 900 to 1500 milligrams per day. This is in divided doses. I always recommend taking one per meal. And again, as I said just seconds ago, really go slow. So start berberine, take one maybe with your dinner, see how that feels for a few days. Then you can add another one in. So that's kind of the base for berberine.
Now, lipoic acid, you want to be between 300 to 600 milligrams per day for thyroid help. If you're taking the lipoic acid more for that diabetic neuropathy, you're going to want to take more at about 600 to 1800 milligrams per day.
Final Thoughts: Natural Ways to Support Blood Sugar Balance
So this just puts another tool in your toolbox in of supplements. If you're having some blood sugar issues show up or you're just feeling like you're fasting, blood sugar is a little bit higher than you want it to be, as it should be between 75 and 95. That's a healthier place to be and it's maybe close to like 95 or maybe 99, a hundred, somewhere in there, and you just want to do something to help support yourself. These are great alternatives that can be really supportive.
So again, if you have questions, leave them in the comments below. I will also link a couple supplements that I love and use often for clients. So you can easily click on the link and if you feel comfortable trying it, you can definitely purchase it there. And I hope this educated you more, gave you more information on how you can take control of your own health.
So thanks for watching and we'll see you next week.
Check out the high-quality supplements we discussed in this video - links below for your convenience!
1) Berberine Pro: https://flussonutrients.nutridyn.com/berberine-pro
2)Â Alpha Lipoic Acid: https://flussonutrients.nutridyn.com/alpha-lipoic-acid-1433
3) ALL PROFESSIONAL QUALITY SUPPLEMENTS: https://flussonutrients.nutridyn.com & https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/flussonutrients