EDIT March 17, 2024: Today somebody shared a link to a two year old post of mine about a report on Berberine being neurotoxic and taking it off of my stack.
Within a few months I found other information on Berberine and, using my High School educated brain, decided that Berberine definitely needed to stay on my stack and I even increased to 1200 mg a day. I have been taking 1200 mg a day (800 in the morning, 400 at night) ever since.
I'm working with a friend right now with diabetes type 1 and made a few of suggestions to her, one of which was Berberine. Her doctor approved of all of the suggestions, which did surprise the both of us, but he did mention he was not one to recommend supplements himself. She was having glucose readings around 180 average and just 2 weeks later her readings are declining and her readings last week were 125 average. She is having a blood draw in the beginning of February to see where her HBA1C and other related parameters are. For now, she is very happy and said she will show me her results when she gets them! She is tolerating the recommendations well.
I think that people generally think that insulin resistance is just a problem with diabetes, but it is also an issue in the brain and can be a definite problem in PD, AD and cognitive issues in general. This fact makes Berberine even more important for PwP because aside from its effects on dopamine levels and cognitive function, Berberine can also improve insulin sensitivity!
Studies show 1500 mg in three divided doses of 500 mg per day as effective, but berberine interacts with some medications and may not be compatible and that is why I had my friend get her doctor's approval before starting berberine. To me it makes sense as a first line approach for pre-diabetes and newly diagnosed.
Thanks Art. Actually I read somewhere that berberine should not be consumed for more than 12 weeks. There should be a break and then you can take it for another 12 weeks. But nowadays it seems like people are taking it like regular supplement.
Pulsing can help to keep your body from adapting to it for the purpose of extending the length of time it can remain effective. It won't hurt to pulse and it may help.
Good to know! Thanks Millbrook! I have started identifying supplements for a few times a day and others for set periods I plan to rotate. I will fit Berberine into a longer calendar rotation.
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