Berberine can cause digestive side effects, such as: upset stomach. constipation. nausea.
When taken by mouth: Berberine is possibly safe for most adults. It's been used safely in doses up to 1.5 grams daily for 6 months. Common side effects include diarrhea, constipation, gas, and upset stomach. When applied to the skin: Berberine is possibly safe for most adults when used short-term.
The effects of berberine are not immediately felt if you take it for only a few days. Instead, taking it for more extended periods is necessary to see its effects. Some studies suggest that berberine's effects can be seen when taking supplements for at least three months.
Animal experiments showed that berberine (5 mg/kg body weight) administration increased whole-body energy expenditure by 20% without changes in physical activity.
Taking berberine along with medications that lower blood pressure might cause blood pressure to go too low. Monitor your blood pressure closely. Berberine might slow blood clotting. Taking berberine along with medications that also slow blood clotting might increase the risk of bruising and bleeding.
The usual starting dose of berberine for blood sugar control is 500 mg per day. The supplement should be taken with dinner or at bedtime. Your healthcare provider may increase your berberine dosage to 500 mg twice daily with meals. Sometimes, doctors advise taking berberine 500 mg three times a day.
The sub-acute concentrations of berberine lead to altered liver function, gastric troubles, hepato and hematotoxicity, hemorrhagic inflammatory consequences, damage to immune cells and induced apoptosis.
Berberine might cause sleepiness and drowsiness. Medications that cause sleepiness are called sedatives. Taking berberine along with sedative medications might cause too much sleepiness.
64, 65 A growing number of studies have demonstrated that berberine can affect mood by regulating plasma corticosterone levels. Palmatine, a quaternary protoberberine alkaloid, produced antidepressant‐like activity by decreasing plasma corticosterone levels.
The results demonstrate that berberine exerts beneficial effects directly in the brain: enhancing cholinergic neurotransmission, improving cerebral blood flow, protecting neurons from inflammation, limiting hyperphosphorylation of tau and facilitating β-amyloid peptide clearance.
The mechanism for berberine extract is very unclear. For decades it has been a well-researched herbal treatment for intestinal infections, like Giardia, but it came with the warning to avoid long-term use due to the potential undesirable and antimicrobial effect in the gut.
How long should I take berberine? Continual use of berberine can impact cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes in the liver which may affect drug-to-drug interactions. Therefore, it's recommended to use it in a pulsed 8-week cycle with two to four weeks off, then starting again if symptoms have not resolved.
Emerging research suggests that berberine is beneficial for balancing hormones, especially when it comes to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Berberine provides numerous benefits for women living with PCOS, including improved fertility, weight loss, and reduced inflammation.
Findings revealed that treatment of 300 mg of Berberine three times a day for 12 weeks resulted in a significant reduction of 5.2 cm in waist circumference. Berberine has the potential to reduce belly fat after 12 weeks of treatment. Significantly, all participants did not change their lifestyle during the study.
Research has suggested that berberine can help treat diabetes, obesity, and inflammation, among other conditions. However, side effects can include upset stomach and nausea. Berberine has been a part of Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years.
Following administration of berberine, mice experienced a 31% increase in norepinephrine secretions, a 47% increase in serotonin secretions, and a 31% increase in dopamine secretions across the brain.
Berberine improves physiological stimulation of glucose via cascade reaction of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), thus inducing secretion of insulin in the body, reducing insulin resistance, and improving sensitivity of liver, muscle tissues and fat to insulin (16).
BER exerts neuroprotective, antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, antitumor, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties in various animal models of CNS-related disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease (PD), forebrain ischemia, depression, and anxiety [19,22,23,24].
Depending on how healthy a patient's liver is, berberine's beneficial effects can persist for as long as 20 hours, meaning that a once-per-day dosing schedule is sufficient for most patients. When taken once per day, berberine is safe to take for at least 12 months.
The recommended dosage of berberine is 500 mg three times a day. It should be taken half an hour before meals. It does not cause severe side effects, so taking it on an empty stomach should be ok. But be careful, as it can cause some stomach problems.
Berberine can induce cell death of harmful intestinal bacteria and increase the number and species of beneficial bacteria (Habtemariam, 2020).
“There is not yet enough evidence to suggest that taking berberine daily long term is safe,” says Davis. MedlinePlus, for example, states that it's been safely used when taken for up to six months (in doses up to 1.5 g daily). That's why it's so important to get your doctor's input.
Taking berberine supplements regularly appears to lower total cholesterol, “bad” cholesterol, and triglycerides in people with high cholesterol. It works differently from today's standard cholesterol medications, so it may help treat people who are resistant to other cholesterol-lowering drugs.
The absorption of berberine gradually increased with incubation time up to 90 min, and it was absorbed at various intestinal segments although the absorbed dose was small. Absorption was the greatest in the jejunum, followed by the duodenum and ileum.