May 27, 2016 Wiggy Saunders

Pharmaceutical Companies Don't Want You To Know About This Supplement

Can I tell you something you might not have known?

When Health As It Ought To Be was founded, it was because my partner in the practice had been forced out of his position as a lead physician at a different health care provider.

He never wanted to start Robinhood Integrative Health (that's the name of our physical office/practice if you didn't know), but he did so out of necessity when bigwigs at the main hospital here in town decided Dr. Lantelme was jeopardizing their business model.

And so they decided it was in their best interest if Dr. Lantelme didn't work for them anymore.

The business model they were trying to protect is one many of you are quite familiar with: treating symptoms with expensive pharmaceuticals as opposed to getting down to the root cause of issues and helping fix those.

Pharmaceutical companies are trying to make money.

Sure, many of their researchers are trying to help people, but the owners of those companies are trying to cushion their bottom lines.

If you don't think this is true, then you must have not watched the Super Bowl where Big Pharma dominated the commercial spots with $4 million ads trying to convince everyone they needed more drugs.

Truth is companies like this exist primarily to make money. Don't get me wrong, many of them produce lifesaving drugs, but at the end of the day these companies are controlled by people who want to make lots and lots of money; and the best way to do that is to ensure people are always using their drugs...and never stop.

So Is It A Conspiracy?

No, not really. Everyone knows that's how pharmaceutical companies work.

And it's not like they're out there with private detectives and hit squads trying to keep everyone from gaining access to supplements and helpful information on nutrition.

Rather, they'd prefer you not to have these supplements/information in your life because it makes them less rich - kind of the same thing as one car dealership hoping you don't find out about the cheaper car down the street.

Now all of this philosophizing about the pharmaceutical industry's foibles leads me to what I wanted to talk to you about today.

Berberine.

Never heard of it? Well, that's kind of weird, considering there have been over 2,800 studies on this awesome plant-based nutrient.

Berberine's an incredible supplement and one we recommend highly at Health As It Ought To Be. So much so we created our own supplement offering for it!

"Why?" you might ask.

Let me show you.

The Amazing (And Hidden) Health Benefits Of Berberine

Picture this for a moment:

After a great day of doing all the right things (you know, eating leafy greens and heart-healthy fats, having no sugar but plenty of water, and consuming a few hundred calories less than what you normally eat), you decide to get an intense workout in.

Arriving at the gym, you pick out your favorite exercises and have a great workout. When you're done, your heartbeat's elevated (in a good way), and your metabolism has been kicked into "Ultra Fat Burn" mode.

Well, as it turns out this is a proven way to help keep the pounds off while also protecting the health of your cardiovascular system, cholesterol levels, and improving your ability to metabolize glucose.

The crazy thing is Berberine has actually been shown to produce the same health benefits as the combination of eating well, exercise, and having a caloric deficit described above.

Berberine, as you might have guessed, is a chemical compound found in plants like goldenseal, tree turmeric, goldthread, philodendron, Oregon grape, and more.

Yes, berberine is 100% natural and it also has the amazing ability to help fortify your immune system against intruders while also helping to keep inflammation balanced in the body.

It truly is an incredibly powerful plant based and this is the one reason pharmaceutical companies would love it if you never took it for a single day in your life.

One of the top reasons pharmaceutical companies would prefer research concerning berberine stayed at the bottom of the dustbin is because of how it affects an enzyme known as AMPK.

Once you see what it does to AMPK, then you'll understand why they're worried.

Know this before going too much further:

Not only is berberine helpful with the conditions I mentioned above, but it can also help:

Improve memory
Fortify the immune system
Protect respiratory health
support a healthy microbiome in the gut
Reduce symptoms of age-related memory loss

And more.

Here You'll See Why Berberine's Affect On This Enzyme Could Change Your Life Forever

AMPK, or adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, should be one of your favorite enzymes because of how it regulates metabolism.

Sometimes referred to as the "metabolic master switch," AMPK functions to help keep your metabolism firing on all cylinders.

Well, berberine is one of the only plant-based nutrients that helps "turn on" AMPK so your metabolism functions without trouble.

To understand AMPK and how it works, as well as how berberine helps activate it, take a look at this excerpt from the Natural Medicine Journal:

"AMPK induces a cascade of events within cells that are all involved in maintaining energy homeostasis… AMPK regulates an array of biological activities that [keeps] lipid, glucose, and energy [levels balanced].

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) occurs when these AMPK-regulated pathways are turned off, [which negatively affects blood sugar, insulin response and, cholesterol and energy levels].

…AMPK helps coordinate the response to these stressors, shifting energy toward cellular repair, maintenance, or a return to homeostasis and improved likelihood of survival.

The hormones leptin and adiponectin activate AMPK. In other words, activating AMPK can produce the same benefits as exercise, dieting, and weight loss—the lifestyle modifications considered beneficial for a range of [health concerns].

…One way to appreciate berberine's potential is to think of it as having the same effect on a patient as increasing exercise while at the same time restricting calorie intake. Think of the effects of AMPK suppression as similar to those of eating a high-calorie diet while leading a very sedentary lifestyle."

This alone is one of the biggest reasons pharmaceutical companies might be threatened by berberine.

By activating AMPK in such a way, berberine could help reduce thousands of instances of blood sugar fluctuations and weight gain, thus preventing the need for costly medications entirely as one ages!

Seriously, take a look at what Dr. Mercola said:

One of the most celebrated studies on berberine compared taking 500 milligrams (mg) of the compound two to three times daily for three months with the [along with a conventional treatment]. Berberine was able to control blood sugar and lipid metabolism as effectively as [the conventional treatment], with researchers describing berberine as "potent [alternative to conventional blood sugar therapies]."

A separate meta-analysis also revealed berberine helps support:

The uptake of glucose into the cells
Insulin sensitivity
Liver function

Pretty crazy, right?

We've personally used it in our practice to maintain patients' blood sugar levels over and over again, and we're confident almost anyone could benefit from its tremendous blood sugar supporting properties.

Of course, I wouldn't call berberine one of the most powerful supplements known to man if that's all it did...

Yes, Berberine Helps Boost Immune Function and Fight Inflammation

As you might have noticed up top, berberine is found in tree turmeric.

Tree turmeric is a relative of the turmeric root and, similar to its orange cousin, it has inflammation soothing properties.

As you're probably aware from my numerous writings on inflammation, anything you can do to stop inflammation is going to help reduce any immunity risk.

One of the primary authors on berberine research noted: "There is such a significant amount of published and ongoing research into berberine's [immune enhancing] potential that I have chosen not to cover it in this review but instead to review it specifically at a later time."

Another Amazing Thing We've Seen Berberine Do With Our Own Eyes

We've seen the amazing therapeutic effects attributed to berberine manifest in our practice time and time again.

And one of the things our patients love is they can protect their heart by [maintaining] triglyceride levels and cholesterol by taking nothing more than berberine.

"How does it work?" you might ask.

{In] a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, patients took either 500 mg of berberine or a placebo capsule twice a day.

After three months, berberine supplementation not only significantly lowered blood sugar but also triglycerides (35.9 percent), LDL cholesterol (21 percent), and total cholesterol (18 percent)—compared to minimal declines in cholesterol and an increase in triglycerides in the control group.

Furthermore, the group taking berberine had lower blood pressure (average drop of 7/5 mm Hg systolic/diastolic) and modest weight and abdominal fat loss.

We see similar results when patients take our brand of berberine, and the good news is, because of the improvement in blood pressure and fatty lipids in the bloodstream, they're feeling stronger and living healthier lives.

Truth is our personal experience with berberine and its ability to improve cholesterol are backed up by ample evidence.

For instance, in a review of 11 studies berberine was shown to help:

Lower total cholesterol by 0.61 mmol/L (24 mg/dL).
Lower LDL cholesterol by 0.65 mmol/L (25 mg/dL).
Lower blood triglycerides by 0.50 mmol/L (44 mg/dL).
Raise HDL cholesterol by 0.05 mmol/L (2 mg/dL).

It also has been shown to lower apolipoprotein B by 13-15%, which is something you definitely want to happen if you're at risk of any condition relating to cardiovascular disease.

Now That You Know How Powerful Berberine Is...

Because we've seen just how effective berberine is at helping to reduce blood sugar, fight infections, lower high triglyceride levels, and activate AMPK, we decided to make our own.

Now here are a few interesting facts you should know about berberine supplements:

First off, they're not widely available.

This is because you can't just make them in a lab; berberine has to come from plants and be extracted directly from them.

Which leads me to the second fact you need to know about berberine:

You don't want to use it unless it's fresh. You want berberine made in small batches, and just a few weeks old at most.

That's why we decided to make our own small-batch berberine. Other companies try to cut costs and produce thousands of bottles at a time; well, doing that might save them money, but it costs you as you don't get the maximum benefit from taking the berberine.

We make our berberine in small batches of only 100 bottles at a time, and don't get another batch going until our first batch is almost out. We're committed to providing you with fresh and pure berberine at any expense.

You should also know this about berberine. Some (not all) companies add extra fillers to berberine to help their costs go down

We don't. The ingredients contained in our berberine are cellulose for the capsule. along with berberine and a dash of rice flour to preserve the berberine's freshness.

That's it.