
Article Summary:
- Berberine exerts positive health effects on gut health by beneficially influencing the gut microbiota.
- The antioxidant and immuno-modulating properties of berberine are responsible for its health-promoting effects.
- Unformulated berberine’s poor bioavailability, absorption, and palatability hinder its health benefits.
- Tesseract’s proprietary nutrient delivery nanotechnology enables targeted delivery and optimal absorption of berberine while enhancing its palatability.
The gut microbiota plays a central role in maintaining gastrointestinal health, as well as influencing overall physiology, nutrition, metabolism, and immune function. Disruption to the complex environment of more than 100 trillion microbial cells can lead to various adverse intestinal health conditions. Berberine, a phytochemical compound derived from several plants like Oregon grapefruit and barberry, interacts with the gut microbiota to help maintain its stability and exert beneficial effects on gastrointestinal health.*
Several studies indicate the antioxidant effects of berberine and its metabolites and their role in helping to maintain normal inflammatory responses in the gastrointestinal environment.* Berberine’s role in stabilizing the gut microbiota highlights its effects to help counter adverse intestinal health conditions.* Below, we discuss the benefits of berberine for gut health and explain why incorporating an advanced berberine supplement may support optimal gastrointestinal function.*
Berberine for Gut Health: An Overview
Berberine exerts its beneficial effects on health at standard doses, with a low toxicity profile. Although berberine’s exact mechanism of action is not well understood, its potential beneficial role in lipid-lowering and insulin resistance is thought to influence gut microbiota and overall gastrointestinal health.*
Let’s look at how berberine’s antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties specifically benefit gut health.*
- Berberine as an antioxidant: Berberine1 interacts with multiple biochemical pathways to enhance the levels of key endogenous antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes (glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase) to counter oxidative stress, which may contribute to damage within the GI tract.*
- Berberine as an immunomodulant: Berberine plays a role in down-regulating pro-inflammatory cytokines — the signaling molecules released by activated immune cells during immune responses.* Berberine also helps lower the levels of acute-phase proteins, a type of plasma protein that fluctuates during inflammatory responses.*
The following table highlights how these berberine properties translate to gut health benefits.
Berberine for Gut Health: What are the Benefits? |
|||
---|---|---|---|
Supporting glycolipid metabolism: Berberine promotes insulin secretion, enhances 2 insulin resistance, and inhibits lipogenesis (synthesizing fatty acids from non-lipid precursors) to address many adverse metabolism-related health conditions.*
Berberine also displays lipid-lowering activities to help maintain normal low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and enhance serum concentrations of high-density lipoprotein (HDL).* |
|||
Protecting the intestinal mucosal barrier: Berberine helps maintain 2 a healthy intestinal microecology and protects the intestinal mucosal barrier to help maintain immune homeostasis in the gut.* | |||
Strengthening endocrine capabilities: Berberine strengthens 2 the endocrine functions of the gut microbiota, which plays a crucial role in supporting a healthy liver microenvironment.* By modulating the gut microbiota, berberine may support hormonal balance and liver detoxification processes.* | |||
Alleviating visceral hypersensitivity: Berberine helps 2 alleviate stress-induced visceral hypersensitivity and intestinal permeability to counter abnormal bowel movements associated with certain adverse health conditions.* | |||
Regulating disturbed gut microbiota: Berberine alters the gut microbiota composition, enhancing the abundance of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)- producing bacteria, which further increases the beneficial content and proportion of butyric acid.* |
Although berberine significantly benefits gut health, its rapid metabolism and poor bioavailability and absorption in standard formulations may hinder its benefits.
The pharmacokinetic properties of berberine lead to its early degradation in the liver, followed by intestinal first-pass elimination in the stool. As a result, unformulated berberine must be ingested in high amounts to experience its desired beneficial effects. Unfortunately, the intensely bitter taste of berberine makes it difficult to take orally, which is an additional challenge to user compliance.
More recent and advanced berberine supplement formulations address the poor palatability, bioavailability, and absorption of unformulated berberine.
Including An Advanced Berberine Supplement in Your Diet
BerberActiv® is a hypoallergenic berberine supplement developed by Tesseract Medical Research. The formulation is available in quick-release and sustained-release formats to support your gastrointestinal health* and ensure optimal berberine absorption through the revolutionary CyLoc® – DexKey® nutrient delivery nanotechnology.
The CyLoc® technology encases individual berberine molecules in its smart delivery system to maintain its integrity during transit through the stomach. The encapsulation also helps mask the bitter taste of berberine. The accompanying DexKey® reactors release the molecules at the desired point in the intestinal tract for maximum absorption.
With Tesseract’s BerberActiv® supplement, you can realize the health-promoting benefits of berberine for your gut’s health.*
The power of Tesseract supplements lies in enhancing palatability, maximizing bioavailability and absorption, and micro-dosing multiple nutrients in a single, highly effective capsule. Shop products on our website and learn more about how they can support your gastrointestinal health .*
Citations:
1Li Z, et al. Antioxidant . . . activities of berberine. . . .” Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM vol. 2014 (2014): 289264. doi:10.1155/2014/289264
2Yang F, et al. Berberine influences . . . by modifying gut microbiota. Frontiers in Nutrition vol. 10 1187718. 3 Aug. 2023, doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1187718