Berberine... what's the catch?

[ebethc]

I took some berberine today, and it REALLY helped my joint pain. Naturally, I'm wondering what the catch is

1. Is it safe for long-term use?
I know that it can kill pathogens, so I'm thinking it might kill GOOD bacteria, too.

2. It's a COX 2 inhibitor - so, does it screw up your digestive tract like other COX 2 inhibitors?


thanks.

 

[ahmo]

My understanding is that it's pretty toxic to liver, meant for short term use.

 

[Beyond]

It is an strong antibiotic that doesn´t discriminate between good gut microbes and bad gut microbes so that´s an added reason to avoid lenghty usage.

 

[xrunner]

1. Is it safe for long-term use?
I know that it can kill pathogens, so I'm thinking it might kill GOOD bacteria, too.

Buhner's book on herbal antibiotics has all the pro's and cons of the berberine containing plants. Sorry I read it some time ago and don't remember the details.
As far as I'm concerned I never took this herb (goldenseal or oregon grape) for longer than a week.
Now I usually take it for food poisoning or if feeling not well in my stomach esp. after eating out. It never affected my gut anywhere near the way antibiotics did. I actually never notice anything negative. However it must kill some good bacteria because it DOES kill bad bacteria but only in the gut.

2. It's a COX 2 inhibitor - so, does it screw up your digestive tract like other COX 2 inhibitors?

I experienced its anti-inflammatory effects but no side effects.

 

[ebethc]

Okay, now for the big question: is there anything that's as effective as berberine - but doesn't have the risks? is there something w a similar mechanism of action? These are the ways that berberine helps me:

1. anti-inflammatory - cox-2 inhibitor
2. cognitive help - BUT hard to tell if this is due to the anti-inflammatory action OR a different pathway that berberine is helping
3. lowers sugar - again, this may be what's helping cognition, too.

 

[Beyond]

Well Green Tea does all of these. I am having good results using Sencha organic. I brew like 6 grams and take it all. Drawbacks are that apparently is somewhat anti-androgenic and goitrogenic and the caffeine makes me jittery with more than 6 grams. Its cognitive enhancing profile and antioxidant/antinflammatory, immuno-modulating actions are outstanding though.

I have seen coincidentally some studies showing that berberine, aside from whatever it does to the gut, benefits the brain. Maybe is safe for longterm use, we never know. What I wrote earlier comes from a nutritionist I once met, I haven´t used berberine myself. Just now I read some studies and apparently because berberine is able to kill lactobacilli and bifido it is anti-diabetic and anti-obesity. Lower microbes of these means less degration of polyssacharides, calorie absorption and stuff. Of course is nowhere as potent as an allopath antibiotic, its kind of a natural way of control for someone with too much "good" bacteria which seemingly has to do with obesity. That was an interesting find!

If you have leaky gut or anything like that, you want to keep your bifido and lactobacilli high.