‘Natural Ozempic’ is unproven for weight loss – 06/14/2023 – Equilibrium

Demand for Ozempic—an injectable antidiabetic drug that has become a sought-after weight loss drug—continues to increase, and people on social media have been posting about alternatives to the product. Some praise other anti-diabetic drugs such as Mounjaro. Some promote the so-called generic Ozempic from compounding pharmacies. And some tout what they say is a cheaper option, which is already available at drugstores and online: the so-called “natural Ozempic”, better known as berberine.

Berberine is a chemical compound extracted from plants such as hydrastis canadensis It is Barberry and often sold as a supplement, usually in capsules containing a golden colored powder. The compound has been used in Asia for at least 2,000 years, and doctors have long used it to treat diarrhea and other gastrointestinal complaints. More recently, researchers have seen berberine as potentially useful in treating conditions such as hypertension and insulin resistance.

But berberine is very different from semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic. Experts say that although berberine has proven metabolic effects on the body, it remains to be seen whether it can actually induce weight loss. Some limited studies have indicated that it may play a role in weight loss, and comparisons with Ozempic are possibly derived from this, but there are no high-quality data from large clinical trials.

“It’s a very good compound and it has some good evidence for it,” says Melinda Ring, an integrative medicine specialist at Northwestern Medicine. But for her, the online hype surrounding berberine’s weight-loss effects is wildly exaggerated.

“Don’t think you’re going to take berberine and the pounds are just going to disappear,” he says.

A growing body of research over the past 20 years — some done in petri dishes, some in mice, and small but encouraging human trials — suggests that berberine may help lower cholesterol and regulate blood glucose. Researchers then studied whether the compound might be helpful for patients with diabetes, especially when used in conjunction with other treatments.

Berberine also has antimicrobial properties, meaning it can help remove harmful bacteria from the gut and improve the overall makeup of the microbiome, says Yufang Lin, an integrative medicine specialist at the Cleveland Clinic. These antimicrobial qualities can help berberine ease gastrointestinal complaints.

But when it comes to weight loss, studies with berberine are preliminary and incomplete.

Very few clinical trials evaluating weight loss in humans have been done, points out Craig Hopp, deputy division director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, and none of them have been robust. “There’s a tinge of plausibility,” he says, noting that animal models have indicated the supplement can trigger weight loss — but there’s a big gap between the evidence and the marketing.

According to Ring, most people who take berberine tolerate the supplement well, but it does have some documented side effects. People who ingest it, even in standardized doses, may experience nausea or vomiting; their blood pressure may rise and they may experience tingling in their feet and hands, says Pieter Cohen, a professor at Harvard Medical School who studies supplements.

According to Lin, berberine can also contribute to triggering uterine contractions in pregnant women.

But while the supplement itself isn’t necessarily dangerous, Cohen is concerned about the possibility that manufacturers might add another ingredient, like a stimulant, that could be harmful.

According to Cohen, weight loss supplements are among those most likely to be adulterated and potentially contaminated with banned substances. Data from the CDC (centers for disease control and prevention in the USA) show that herbal medicines sold for weight loss are the type of supplement that most often send people to the hospital emergency room, with patients often complaining of adverse effects such as tachycardia or pain in the chest.

“If the manufacturer tries to include something else, legal or otherwise, in that pill that leads to observable weight loss, then that’s where you’re going to be taking a risk,” he says.

Of particular concern are the possible interactions of berberine with other medications. Berberine acts as a “perpetrator,” says Hopp. Meaning, when you take certain drugs alongside berberine, you end up with a higher concentration of the drugs in your blood. For example, mixing berberine and metformin, a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, can be especially dangerous, says Hopp, because it can strengthen the action of metformin, and the combination can cause hypoglycemia.

“If the patient thinks ‘I’m going to start taking this here too because it’s a natural substance and it has benefits’, they can end up having problems without knowing it”, says Lin.

Translated by Clara Allain