If Berberine Isn’t an Herb… What Is It?

When it comes to natural blood sugar management, berberine often heads up the list.

The catch: Berberine isn’t actually an herb, it is “part” of an herb.  And it works more like a drug than an herb. There’s a good reason for that. It’s a phytopharmaceutical, a plant-based drug-like compound. And like many drugs, berberine can come with unwanted side effects.

There are better ways, without risk of side-effects, to address what’s behind your blood sugar drops and spikes. That don’t stop with the physical, but also calm cravings and emotional eating. That support and nourish your body and brain to create better balance.

What Berberine Is and Isn’t

A lot of people, including healthcare professionals, refer to berberine as an herb. But it’s actually not.

Berberine is a plant compound – a phytochemical – found in some herbs, but it doesn’t exist on its own in nature. Berberine supplements extract and concentrate this alkaloid compound, which intensify its properties. For example, berberine lowers blood sugar powerfully, introducing the risk of pushing it too low and causing hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

Another downside: Berberine is a natural antibiotic. As a concentrated compound, it’s strong enough to kill off beneficial probiotic gut bacteria. This can send your gut microbiome into a state of dysbiosis, meaning pathogenic bacteria dominate. When that happens, those bacteria can intensify sugar cravings. By shifting gut bacteria, berberine can allow pathogenic gut bacteria to drive you to eat more sugar.

So while berberine may lower blood sugar, that can come with some unwanted tradeoffs that knock your system out of balance.

Metabolic Health Is About Balance

Better metabolic health isn’t only about lowering blood sugar.

Your metabolic system covers all the chemical reactions in your body including:

• Converting food into energy
• Creating enzymes that control essential body processes
• Storing excess glucose in the liver
• Regulating insulin levels
• Managing the hormones that control hunger and satiety

Metabolic health is all about balance in the body. When it’s in balance, it keeps blood sugar stable. It maintains healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels. And it helps you stay at a healthy weight.

When your metabolic health falls out of balance, it can lead to a whole host of problems. You can experience  blood sugar spikes. High insulin levels can lead you to burn sugar instead of fat. That can lead to weight gain, sugar cravings, and trap you in a hard-to-escape sugar cycle.

That’s why it’s so important to support your metabolic health for whole-body balance… which includes the role your brain plays.

The Emotional Side of Metabolic Health

ood cravings have both physical and emotional pieces, so you can’t focus on just the physical. Your emotions can drive you to eat, even if you’re not physically hungry. Emotional-based hunger comes on suddenly and involves cravings for specific foods, usually sugary comfort foods.

When you eat things like brownies, ice cream, or candy, it sparks your body’s reward system. Consuming sugar leads to the release of feel-good brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine. That’s how emotional eating can give you a momentary mood boost. And you begin to associate sugar with feeling happy.

There’s also a stress component that can lead to stress eating. When you feel stress, your body produces cortisol, the stress hormone. Cortisol can drive you to eat high-calorie foods because, biologically, you’ll need extra energy to escape from danger. Unfortunately, your body can’t tell the difference between physical danger and things like workplace stress or project deadlines. So the cortisol release still triggers a desire to eat sugary foods.

This is why you must address stress and emotions to achieve metabolic balance… something berberine just can’t do.

Your Three-Step Plan for Natural Blood Sugar Balance

Step 1: Reduce the sugar in your diet. Sugar creates its own unending cycle. The more you eat, the more you crave, leading to more sugar consumption followed by stronger sugar cravings. By minimizing added sugar, you take away its power. Reduced sugar means fewer cravings, and fewer spikes and dips to trip you up. The less sugar you eat, the easier it gets.

Step 2: Balance your blood sugar naturally. Rely on supplements that help your body manage and regulate blood sugar levels without the possibility of sending it dangerously low. Clinically proven options include:

• InSea2 combines polyphenols from two wild-crafted brown seaweeds to naturally balance blood sugar. Research shows that InSea2 slows down the breakdown and absorption of sugars so they enter your bloodstream slowly over time. That helps prevent sudden spikes and crashes to keep your blood sugar levels even. It helps cells respond to insulin more effectively and keep overall blood sugar levels in healthier ranges.  And it is proven to work on the very first dose.
• Chromium picolinate is an essential mineral known for its ability to manage blood sugar. Having low chromium levels can lead to high fasting blood sugar and high levels of circulating insulin. Taking chromium supplements has been associated with lower HbA1C, a measure of long-term blood sugar balance. On top of all that, chromium has been shown to work synergistically with InSea2 for overall better blood sugar control.
• Gymnema has been used safely for centuries in the Ayurvedic tradition. It’s celebrated for its ability to reduce sugar cravings, lower blood sugar, and boost insulin sensitivity. Gymnema’s superpower involves blocking the taste of sweetness on your tongue, which can help you remove sugar from your diet. And in a head-to-head clinical trial, gymnema had a better effect on blood glucose and insulin sensitivity than berberine.

Step 3: Add in emotional support. Addressing the emotional side of eating is crucial for blood sugar balance. Improving your body’s stress response and limiting cortisol spikes can help reduce cravings, and that can make it easier for you to break out of the sugar cycle.

• Adaptogens like holy basil and American ginseng help your body adapt to stress, allowing you to calm down faster and more fully in the face of stressors. These time-tested herbs balance stress hormones – including cortisol – which helps maintain blood sugar balance.
• 5-HTP is a primary building block for creating serotonin, your brain’s “happy” chemical. Your body needs 5-HTP to increase serotonin levels, which boosts your mood and helps regulate appetite.
• L-tyrosine supports a positive mood as a precursor for dopamine production.
• Stay-calm vitamins, including vitamin D, vitamin B12, and folic acid, contribute to positive moods and balanced stress management. Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to anxiety and depression, so it’s important to make sure you get adequate levels of this essential nutrient. Vitamin D plays a critical role in the production, regulation, and release of neurotransmitters including serotonin and dopamine. Your body requires both folic acid and vitamin B12 to produce serotonin and dopamine. And research shows a strong connection between effective stress management and resiliency. 

Crave Stop™ contains the support your body needs to fight against cravings and limit sugar consumption for better blood glucose balance. It takes a wholistic approach to healthy blood sugar balance and effective metabolic performance. It works best in partnership with In•Joy,™ which is designed to lift your mood, support resilience in the face of stress, and boost emotional strength. Together, these two hand-crafted formulas address both the physical and emotional components of metabolic health for sustained balance.

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