Solaray Berberine – natural metformin

Berberine (alkaloid) is a component that can be found in the bark, leaves, twigs, rhizome and stem of more than 500 species of plants from the Berberidaceae family. Today, berberine is extremely popular and in demand as a dietary supplement, but its use for medicinal purposes dates back hundreds of years to Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine.

Some of the natural sources of berberine are: European barberry, Canadian barberry, philodendron, turmeric plant, Chinese koptis, bayberry, etc

Many recent judges indicate that berberine can block the proliferation and suppress the development of tumor cells, and it is also attributed antiseptic and antidiarrheal effects.

According to Tilhon et al. (2012) berberine helps in the treatment of metabolic syndrome and polycystic ovaries. However, the most attention is paid to research on its antitumor effect, so the same author emphasizes the following properties of berberine: inhibition of cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis (programmed cell death), stopping the angiogenic process and delaying the spread of metastases.

Berberine regulates glucose and lipid metabolism, and in a study from 2008 (Yin et al.), it was proven that the hypoglycemic effect of berberine is similar to that of metformin.