Today I am very excited to bring you part one of Supplement Spotlight, a series exploring anti cancer supplements. Today we are putting the Spotlight on Berberine. Let’s go.
Have you guys heard of this one? This supplement has been gaining popularity for its possible weight loss benefits, and some people even call it “Nature’s Ozempic.”
I am not here to wrestle that crocodile, but luckily for all of us, the benefits of Berberine go way beyond just weight management.
So what is berberine?
Berberine is a bioactive alkaloid found in several plants such as Berberis and Coptis. It has a long history of use in traditional medicine, particularly in Chinese and Ayurvedic practices. Alkaloids are organic compounds that often have physiological effects. Caffeine and nicotine are two examples of well known alkaloids.
Berberine certainly does have a wide range of physiological effects. Let’s take a look at some.
1. Blood Sugar Regulation:
First of all, Berberine's impact on blood sugar levels is one of its most well-known effects.
It increases insulin sensitivity by activating a key enzyme called AMPK. AMPK is crucial in regulating metabolism. Studies have shown that berberine not only decreases insulin resistance but also enhances sugar breakdown in cells and reduces sugar production in the liver. It is so effective at doing this that it could help manage metabolic diseases such as diabetes and it rivals pharmaceutical drugs such as metformin.
2. Heart Health and Neuroprotection
Berberine helps protect cardiac muscles, promotes neuroprotection, and even shrinks plaque build-up in arteries.
3. Improves lipid profiles
Additionally, it improves lipid profiles, meaning that it reduces “bad cholesterol,” or triglycerides, and raises “good cholesterol” HDL, leading to healthier cholesterol levels overall.
This supplement packs such a punch
Here are some more benefits:
4. Antimicrobial
5. Anti viral
6. May help reduce symptoms of depression
7. Weight management
Yes indeed, there have been multiple published studies that found that supplementing with berberine led to significant reductions in body weight, body mass index, and belly fat.
I mean what more do you want, this stuff sells itself. I think I want some right now!
This is all great, but it’s not why we’re here. What is of the most interest to us is how berberine can be an addition to an integrative approach to healing chronic disease, which for many of us means cancer. Well, stick around, because this stuff is a powerhouse.
Today I will be pulling all of the information I share from this article:
You can see it for yourself in the link, and I highly recommend you do!
So right up front spoiler alert, the big takeaway is that berberine is absolutely a powerful anti cancer supplement.
But there are many reasons why.
DNA Interaction
Berberine is like a key that can interact with different parts of our cells, including the DNA.. Berberine can interact with DNA directly and disrupt the process of gene expression, where instructions from DNA are used to make proteins. The article mentions several proteins connected to various cancers.
For example:
GADD: Berberine can trigger a protein called GADD153, which responds to DNA damage and stress. When activated, GADD153 helps cells to stop growing and can even lead them to self-destruct, also known as apoptosis.
MCL1: Another protein that berberine interacts with is MCL-1. Over-expression of Mcl-1 has been observed in a variety of cancers, including leukemia. It is associated with cancerous cell growth, survival, and angiogenesis. Berberine has been reported to down regulate the expression of MCL 1.
DAXX: DAXX is a protein that is Associated with neuroblastoma. It was observed that berberine down regulated DAXX and led to apoptosis.
Telomerase: Telomerase has a crucial role in cellular immortalization and tumorigenesis, being detected in 80%–90% of human cancers. Telomeres are repeating sequences of DNA that are meant to get shorter over time. Elongation of telomeres is supported by telomerase and contributes to cancerous cell growth and proliferation. Berberine essentially down regulates telomerase and blocks this from happening.
These were just a few examples. The article goes on and on to list more proteins and signaling pathways that berberine interacts with. In the interest of time, I will spare you all of the scientific acronyms and lingo, you can always look for yourself, but here is a list of the cancer cell lines that the article mentions directly:
Breast
Thyroid
Ovarian
Prostate
Lung
Melanoma
Neuroblastoma
Osteosarcoma
Liver
Colon
Cervical
Leukemia
Nasopharyngeal
Renal
Oral
Gastric
Esophageal
Wow.
Special shout out to my teal sisters healing cervical cancer, this stuff has been found to literally suppress HPV. It’s THAT good.
In addition to triggering apoptosis, berberine has been found to induce another process called autophagy in cancer cells. Autophagy is a process that breaks down and recycles damaged parts of cells. Berberine interferes with tumor progression and invasion, and prevents migration, otherwise known as metastases.
So if I could boil it all down to one simplified sentence, and there would be one takeaway for you today, let it be this: Berberine promotes cancer cell death and supports healthy metabolism. Please note that I used the word promote and not the word cause, and definitely not the word cure. I am not saying that berberine cures anything, but I AM saying that it is a powerful tool in a larger toolbox. It acts like a cellular traffic controller, directing cells to stop growing and dividing, especially in cancerous situations. This alone makes it a promising candidate for further research into cancer treatment, but we aren’t even done yet.
There’s more.
In addition to fighting cancer all on its own, Berberine has shown that it also plays well with others.
Berberine has been used in combination with drugs or radiation with notable results. It was found to work well in combination with taxol and cisplatin, two frequently used chemotherapeutic drugs, by increasing their cytotoxic effects on many cancer cell types. Berberine was combined with irinotecan to potentiate the cytotoxicity on colon cancer cells; The use of Berberine in combination with the microtubule poison vincristine has been effective against hepatoma cell lines. Also the combination of conventional radiotherapy and Berberine exerts a synergistic cytotoxic effect.
Finally, I left this last one as a takeaway for ALL of us.
Berberine has some very interesting effects on inflammation, which is a problem that goes beyond cancer to the world at large. Inflammation is a common root cause to a multitude of diseases and health conditions, and is especially problematic in modern society as it flourishes by way of stress and poor lifestyle decisions.
Berberine to the rescue :-)
Let me briefly mention two enzymes that regulate inflammation in the body: COX 1 and COX 2. COX 1 is typically found in most tissues throughout the body and is involved in maintaining normal physiological functions, such as protecting the stomach lining and supporting kidney function. COX-2, on the other hand, is primarily induced by inflammatory stimuli and is responsible for promoting inflammation, pain, and fever in response to injury or infection. When you take Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin and ibuprofen, both COX 1 and COX 2 are blocked. While this reduces pain and inflammation, it can also have some unwanted side effects. Long-term use of NSAIDs can lead to issues with the stomach and gastrointestinal tract, due to the inhibition of COX-1.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to down regulate ONLY COX 2?
Does anyone have a guess as to what I’m going to say next? Who wants to call it?
Yep that’s right, friends. Berberine reduces inflammation by blocking COX 2 while leaving COX 1 alone. I didn't find anything in the research saying that berberine relives pain, so don’t throw away your Advil yet. But it does reduce inflammation. By reducing inflammation, you are basically taking away the house that cancer lives in. NSAIDS are an interesting topic of discussion and I look forward to addressing them in a future episode. They can oftentimes have their own place in an anti cancer regiment.
I mean I know Im a special breed and all, and I can geek out hard on this stuff, but can we all admit that berberine is pretty amazing? It’s no wonder why I chose it as the first supplement to review. It’s truly one of my favorites. I can’t really say much on how much to take and when because Im not a doctor. However, I will say that I am a fan of the supplement company Thorne, not sponsored in any way. I buy several of my supplements from this company and have been a happy customer.
I hope you learned something today. Was this helpful? Let me know in the comments. And also let me know if you take this supplement and if you’ve noticed any positive changes from taking it.
Thank you so much and until next time, keep thriving!
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