January 27, 2020

#028: Shawn Wells #4 - Berberine - The Best Glucose Disposal Agent Ingredient

1 hour 11 minutes

The most appealing beauty of the supplement industry is its ability to innovate. While most formulas are not groundbreaking revelations, every once in awhile, we’re hit with something that completely redefines the industry.

Berberine, a unique plant alkaloid that has been shown to improve the body’s response to insulin — to the point of working better than some pharmaceutical drugs — is one such exciting compound. This alkaloid has displayed some impressive abilities, specifically in the realm of insulin sensitivity, fasting glucose levels, HbA1c reduction, and nutrient partitioning.

While berberine has been available as a supplement ingredient for quite some time, it wasn’t always as impactful as one would hope, since it has poor bioavailability and there are many low-quality extracts on the market. The good news is that we are on the brink of another ingredient renaissance event thanks to NNB Nutrition, an ingredient innovation company who has released a new variant of berberine.

Dihydroberberine: The better part of berberine

NNB Nutrition has discovered a better way to maximize berberine’s potential. In their patented new ingredient, GlucoVantageâ“‡, the science-backed team is incorporating a superior form of the ingredient – dihydroberberine (DHB). Recent research suggests that this form of berberine is as much as six times better than its base form, which could potentially be huge for the body composition and anti-aging markets.

Even with lower-quality extracts on the market, berberine is still effective in and of itself, and is backed by a significant amount of human research. But recent studies suggest that DHB may be what powers its insulin-optimizing abilities. If so, we will see a rise in the popularity of dihydroberberine — and thus NNB’s GlucoVantage — very soon.

In this post, we’re going to dive deep into berberine – what it is, its applications, the science behind, and the potential of its hydrogen-bonded derivative, DHB. Fair warning, though – this article is going to be very science-heavy, so make sure you’ve got yourself ready to jump into some complex terminology and mechanisms!

TL;DR:

Berberine is a bioactive plant alkaloid often used for its anti-diabetic effects in supplements known as Glucose Disposal Agents (GDAs) or Nutrient Partitioners.

When supplemented, berberine demonstrates strong improvements in fasting blood sugar, HbA1c, insulin sensitivity, and lipid profiles in both humans and animals.

A landmark study of 1.5g/day berberine demonstrated identical effects to the pharmaceutical drug metformin in terms of HbA1c reduction, fasting blood glucose, and post-prandial blood glucose levels… and berberine bested metformin in terms of triglyceride reduction!

Berberine suffers from two issues: poor bioavailability and low-quality extracts on the market. This has led to a new generation of supplements:

Dihydroberberine is a derivative of berberine that is more bioavailable and can be taken at lower doses with greater results. Once absorbed, it reassembles back into berberine in the bloodstream.

GlucoVantage from NNB Nutrition is a patented and trademarked form of pure dihydroberberine that is created from pure berberine and is lab-tested.

Dosage: Standard Berberine is best dosed 3x/day at 500mg per serving, while GlucoVantage can be dosed 3x/day at 100-200mg per serving. These are best taken before meals, but can also be taken when fasting if already fat-adapted.

Berberine’s most notable side effect is GI distres…