HealthBeat News

Category: Heart and Circulation

  • Mediterranean Diet – Better, Or Just Less Bad?

    … And The Diet Wars Continue …

     

    By Nurse Mark

     

    With the publication of the latest installment in The Diet Wars, The New England Journal Of Medicine has provided the news media and diet advocates of all persuasions fresh fodder for argument.

    So far, the majority of news articles are favoring the Mediterranean Diet as being the salvation for mankind without really explaining why, except to suggest that red meat and dairy products are “limited.”

    Some examples of headlines gushing about the newest report are:

    • New Study Says Mediterranean Diet Reduces Heart Disease
    • Whip out the olive oil and toss the butter, french fries, and sugar
    • Mediterranean diet cuts risk of stroke
    • Mediterranean Diet Good for the Heart: Study
    • Mediterranean Diet Fights Heart Woes
    • The Mediterranean Diet: The New Gold Standard?

    Wow – how could any person in their right mind not want to give up red meat and dairy?

    Well, a very few sources have taken a more balanced look at the report – the Los Angeles Times penned this headline:

    Mediterranean diet, with olive oil and nuts, beats low-fat diet

    and reported in their article:

    In a head-to-head contest, a Mediterranean diet, even drenched in olive oil and studded with nuts, beat a low-fat diet, hands-down, in preventing stroke and heart attack in healthy older subjects at high risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

    They almost got it right!

    Yes, this was a head-to-head contest between two versions of a Mediterranean Diet and a low fat diet.

    Yes, the two versions of the Mediterranean Diet featured large amounts of olive oil and nuts – both items considered a no-no in “low fat” diets.

    Yes, those on the two versions of the Mediterranean Diet fared much better than those on the low fat diet.

    No, the participants in the study were not “healthy older subjects.”

    According to the authors of the study “Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet” which was published February 25, 2013 in the New England Journal Of Medicine the subjects did not have cardiovascular disease, but they were at high risk for developing cardiovascular disease:

    Eligible participants were men (55 to 80 years of age) and women (60 to 80 years of age) with no cardiovascular disease at enrollment, who had either type 2 diabetes mellitus or at least three of the following major risk factors: smoking, hypertension, elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, overweight or obesity, or a family history of premature coronary heart disease.

    Here’s my take on this report:

    The “Mediterranean Diet” – a true “Mediterranean Diet” – will always win out over a “low fat diet,” and this report offers further evidence of that.

    Indeed, the authors of the study say the same in their conclusion:

    Among persons at high cardiovascular risk, a Mediterranean diet supplemented
    with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts reduced the incidence of major cardiovascular
    events.

    But is the “Mediterranean Diet” really the “best” diet to follow?

    Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on what you are calling a “Mediterranean Diet.”

    I wrote about this a while back in a HealthBeat News article titled The Mediterranean Diet – Is It All It Claims To Be?

    That article is worth a timely re-read since we are going to be bombarded with popular news media reports on this subject over the next little while.

    Here is some of what I had to say in that HealthBeat News article:

    I cringe whenever I hear someone tell me that they are “on the Mediterranean diet” because it allows them to eat “lots of pasta and couscous and hummus on pita and bread dipped in olive oil” and drink lots of wine – though they often qualify that by saying they’ll choose white wine “because it has fewer calories.”

    Feeling pious because they are eating copious salads and fruits and low-fat foods, these people invariably have simply modified their traditional western diet to include parts of what they believe might be Mediterranean cuisine (the parts that appeal to them, like pasta, bread, hummus, rice..) and they end up with a “diet” that is neither particularly healthy nor very nutritious.

    So, the bottom line. Is the Mediterranean diet really all it’s cracked up to be?

    For someone willing to adopt the Mediterranean diet as the lifestyle that it really is – that is, a highly physically active lifestyle of daily labor, meals of predominantly locally-grown and minimally processed foods, avoidance of processed foods, convenience foods, concentrated sugars, additives, preservatives, soft drinks and “snack foods”, and replacement of butter and processed oils and fats with minimally processed olive oil the answer is a resounding “yes” – the Mediterranean diet  as a “lifestyle” is indeed healthy.

    For someone who simply wants to “cherry pick” the attractive parts of Mediterranean cuisine such as pasta, rice, hummus, baklava, and sweet breads and then add them to a junk food filled western diet of sodas, processed foods, concentrated carbohydrates, and trans-fatty fast food while continuing to live a sedentary lifestyle the answer is “no” – it is simply a self-deluding recipe for health disaster.

    So, the take-home messages?

    Don’t be fooled – low fat diets are not healthy!

    Re-Read The Mediterranean Diet – Is It All It Claims To Be? so that you know what the Mediterranean Diet is – and what it isn’t.

    Take the headlines you see in the popular media with a grain of salt – they may have an agenda of their own, or may be just sloppy in their reporting. Find the original study and read it.

  • Is It Better Butter Or Badder Butter?

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Everybody knows that saturated fats will give you a heart attack – right? Why, even just looking at saturated fats can clog your arteries. And butter? Eek! That stuff will kill ya! Why take a chance, eating something as dangerous as butter, when there are nice, safe, healthy, polyunsaturated margarine spreads out there that you can buy?

    After all, everyone knows that mankind really was meant to chow down on concentrated plant fats like cottonseed oil, rapeseed oil, safflower oil, flax oil, corn oil and others. Why, the oil just fairly drips out of those plants, right? It doesn’t? You mean that you have to process the heck out of all those plants to get that oil? Who knew?

    OK, Ok… I’ll stop being so sarcastic now…

    My recent HealthBeat News article Fake Eggs And Other Food Fads drew some flak from folks who would have us abandon all animal-based foods in favor of a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. Our evil carnivorous dietary advice would bring illness, misery and premature death to our readers they said – and it would be all our fault!

    Well, hot off the medical presses is an article published in the British medical Journal (The BMJ) with the rather dry and imposing title of:

    “Use of dietary linoleic acid for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease and death: evaluation of recovered data from the Sydney Diet Heart Study and updated meta-analysis” – published 5 February 2013.

    Here’s the “short course”:

    The Sydney Diet Heart Study was a single blinded, parallel group, randomized controlled trial conducted from 1966 to 1973 that involved 458 men aged from 30 to 59 years with a recent coronary event (i.e.: “heart attack”). Their diets were modified by replacing butter with omega 6 polyunsaturated margarine.

    (Remember all that stuff I wrote about assessing research in The China Study. Again… ? Well, “single blinded, parallel group, randomized controlled” means it was a well-done study.)

    Researchers thought that they would see an improvement in health in the men who were using the polyunsaturated margarine – after all, everyone knows that margarine is healthier than butter, right?

    But here is what the researchers actually found: The margarine eaters had higher rates of all cause death, cardiovascular disease, and coronary heart disease than the butter eaters.

    Yikes! As the Chrysler car ad for the 1993 Dodge Intrepid said: “This changes everything!”

    Here are their conclusions from the study:

    Advice to substitute polyunsaturated fats for saturated fats is a key component of worldwide dietary guidelines for coronary heart disease risk reduction. However, clinical benefits of the most abundant polyunsaturated fatty acid, omega 6 linoleic acid, have not been established. In this cohort [study], substituting dietary linoleic acid in place of saturated fats increased the rates of death from all causes, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease. An updated meta-analysis of linoleic acid intervention trials showed no evidence of cardiovascular benefit. These findings could have important implications for worldwide dietary advice to substitute omega 6 linoleic acid, or polyunsaturated fats in general, for saturated fats.

    If you are reading that the researchers say that “worldwide dietary guidelines” are wrong, then you are reading the conclusion exactly the same way I am.

    You can read the full study here

    Go on – enjoy your butter. It looks like maybe it’s that so-called “heart-healthy” polyunsaturated vegetable oil margarine that’ll kill you!

  • The China Study. Again…

    By Nurse Mark

     

    There are some arguments that will never end.

     

    Republican versus Democrat. Ford versus Chevy. Pepsi versus Coke. Red Sox versus Yankees. These ongoing debates tend to assume a stridency and fervor that one might expect from a religious debate like Judaism versus Islam.

    Indeed, adherents to either side of one of these arguments can become so emotionally invested in their “righteousness” that they can be moved to verbal and even physical violence. Even something as silly as the Ford versus Chevy debate has led to bloodshed, and we know only too well where religious differences have led mankind over the course of our history!

    So it is no surprise that there are deeply entrenched adherents who support and defend dietary arguments with the same fervor and intensity and emotion as arguments about religion or politics. Or Fords versus Chevys.

    There are vigilant souls ever ready to leap vociferously to the defense of their chosen dietary regime. Many are respectful, polite, and well-meaning, while others quickly degenerate in their defensive arguments to name-calling, insulting, and even threats.

    We get plenty of “helpful” emails from those who disagree with our writings, seeking to tell us how wrong we are and why, telling us we must read their favorite book, watch a video, or talk with their messiah who will surely convert us to the “right” way of thinking. The respectful, polite, and well-meaning ones we will usually do the courtesy of reading, sometimes even replying to. The name-calling, insulting, and threatening ones respond nicely to the “delete” key.

    One thing that Dr. Myatt and I have found is that most of the people who contact us in hopes of converting us to their point of view could, as one research scientist and friend of ours put it, “be tied to a tree and have irrefutable scientific evidence paraded before them and yet remain unmoved in their opinion!” These people usually respond to contrary evidence with “yes, but…” and often go on to relate testimonial “proof” of the correctness of their position. Sometimes they’ll just insult us by telling us that we only think the way we do “because you are prejudiced” or that we are simply ignorant of the “true facts.”

    By the way, the modern, politically correct way to call someone ignorant nowadays is to tell them that they are “low information” – as in “low information voters.”

    We know that we will never, ever be able to pry such people free of their beliefs, and to be honest, we are not really trying to. We will simply point out why we adhere to our beliefs, and we feel that if we are going to express those beliefs publicly we should offer scientific proof for them. That is why when you look at product pages on our website you will not see glowing customer testimonials about products. A testimonial is an opinion, not proof.

    Even “scientific studies” often do not constitute “proof.” Scientific studied must be approached with caution: the first question to ask is “was this an observational or interventional study”? Did someone just gather up a bunch of statistics, massage the numbers, and reach the conclusion that supported their theory or hypothesis? Was the study done on humans, lab rats, or in a test tube? Who funded the study, and why? Who profits from the results of the study?

    On Vegetarians, Vegans, Animal Rights Activists, and The China Study…

    Regular readers know that Dr. Myatt recommends a low or very-low carbohydrate diet. This is based on personal experience, decades of clinical experience, and scientific research and study all of which have provided us with reason to believe that a low to very low carbohydrate diet is probably optimal for health in most humans.

    Note that I said “reason to believe” and not “proof.” Neither personal experience nor clinical experience constitute “proof” – they are testimonial evidence that provide support. Only a preponderance of evidence, scientifically obtained and peer-reviewed, supply “proof” and even that can be open to change in some cases.

    “Figures Lie, and Liars Figure”

    I can hear my grandfather’s voice when I write those words, and they are as true now as they were then. Given a little time, creative semantics, and statistical manipulation, one can make statistical research “prove” almost any hypothesis. Just ask the drug companies – they are experts!

    Indeed, there are people who fervently believe that the earth is flat and who will provide all manner of mathematical and geometric “proof” to that effect. Are they right? Maybe, but personally I doubt it.

    Others will trot out “research” to support their contentions.

    Sometimes this research is little more than finding and quoting the same lab-rat study that they found quoted in several dozen, or hundred, or thousand locations on the internet with a Google search.

    There are “observational” studies: The researchers observe something, for example lifestyle habits of a certain population, and make conclusions from that. “The people of Outer Elbownia are more active than the people of America. Active people live longer lives” The problem here is that there are a whole lot of other differences between the two populations – perhaps the Outer Elbownians don’t have cars and that’s why they are more active. That would also mean fewer of them are killed in auto accidents. Or perhaps they are less affluent and drink less soda pop and junk food. “We observed that every morning the rooster crows and then the sun comes up – so we conclude that the crowing of the rooster makes the sun rise in the morning” is another example of an “observational study.”

    Some will refer to a study done without adequate controls or on a very small population. This is the “12 patients were fed XYZ for a week and all lost weight” kind of study. It’s interesting, but far from proof of anything.

    Then there are the “retrospective” studies: “10,000 middle aged women were asked to describe what vitamins they took over the last twenty years.” Can you see where there might be a problem with a study like this?

    Then there are controlled, “interventional” studies: “500 men, aged 45 to 55 years, were fed XYZ supplement while eating a controlled diet and living and working and exercising in a controlled way for X months, and XX percent of those men demonstrated a change of X amount as measured by XYZ objective technique.” Whew! – Now we’re getting somewhere. There is enough information there to be able to assess the results. But is is still not “proof.”

    For something closer to “”proof” we would take two groups of 500 men and have them do everything the same except that one group would get the XYZ supplement and the other would get a placebo, but no one would know which they were getting. That is called a “placebo-controlled study” and comes closer…

    To get even closer, you would then switch the two groups around. And assign supplement/placebo randomly within the groups, and ensure that those tabulating the results did not know and could not skew the results, and on and on. There is an entire science devoted to the science of performing research of this kind.

    The very closest we get to “proof” of something however is when different, unrelated researchers perform separate studies using the same basic parameters as other studies – that is, similar study populations, similar circumstances such as diet, exercise, and environment, and similar drug, diet, treatment, or supplement studied. If a bunch of similarly conducted studies by unrelated researchers all reach similar conclusions, then we have something approaching proof.

    Massaging statistics does not make proof.

    Murders and sales of ice cream are both more common in the summer months. Does this mean that ice cream causes murders? Correlation does not equal causation. It is the basis for forming a hypothesis, not a conclusion.

    Finally, there is something called “Observational Bias.” This is where someone already has a belief or opinion and will tend to look less critically at a studies or research that agrees with their belief. As in: “I believe that big, heavy automobiles are safer – and this study commissioned by the Big, Heavy Car Association agrees with me, so it must be true.”

    So We Come To The China Study…

    We have written about this before – this has been a popular book for those who wish to believe that their vegetarian or vegan dietary habits are superior to those of omnivors or meat-eaters and feel that it provides plenty of “ammunition” for their arguments to impose their dietary beliefs on others.

    One of Dr. Myatt’s readers wrote recently:

    My husband is really fighting me about eating meat. He keeps referring to The China Study and how bad meat protein is – organic or not. I do feel bad about cooking meat at home because it does smell good and will influence him to want to eat it also, which goes against his belief system now. What advice do you have or information that can help my case?

    And Dr. Myatt replied:

    The China Study has more holes in it than a kitchen colander. I can’t enumerate all the problems — it would take a book. But here are two of the most important points.

    1.) This was an “observational study,” which never proves anything. “The rooster crows and then the sun comes up — therefor the rooster crowing is what caused sunrise…”

    Observational studies can give us ideas to test in interventional studies. Since we observed the rooster crowing / sunrise phenomenon, we silence the rooster and see if the sun comes up without his help. It still does. Our original observation that the rooster crowed and then the sun rose was correct, but our extrapolation that the crowing rooster caused sunrise was wrong. And so it is with many of the observations in The China Study.

    2.) Data presented in the book often do not support the conclusions. For example, data presented in the book do not show statistically significant correlations between animal protein consumption and diseases such as cancer. Just the opposite. It appears that sugar and carbohydrates are highly correlated with cancer.

    The data show that fat is negatively correlated (meaning “protective against”) cancer. That contradicts the claim that meat is harmful, since meat is a primary source of fat.

    The long list of what is wrong with The China Study has been covered well by Dr. Michael Eades on his blog.

    If you are interested in learning more about this travesty of good science, Read More Here.

    I don’t know what else to tell you regarding your husband not wanting you to eat meat. His opinion on this, in MY opinion, ill-informed. And if he’s truly “against” eating meat, then the smell of your steak shouldn’t be a temptation for him. It should smell bad to him since he believes it is bad.

    If you lose weight, lower cholesterol and / or blood sugar levels, have better skin tone or anything else good, then you’ll see that clean meat is a health food, not the villain that some people mistakenly believe.

    Then more recently, in response to my article Fake Eggs And Other Food Fads Aaron wrote to take me to task for being obviously unfamiliar with the information contained in The China Study and in Dr. McDougall’s website:

    You could not be more wrong.
    Read Campbell and Campbell’s section on Affluent Diseases in The China Study or talk to Dr. John McDougall in Santa Rosa, CA via his web site.
    Aaron

    Well Aaron, I am rather familiar with the content of both those things. I have some serious problems with The China Study, especially with the way conclusions were drawn in the Affluent Diseases chapter, and I am very clear about Dr. McDougall’s crusade to end the consumption of animal-based foods.

    I respect Aaron’s beliefs though, and and those of his hero Dr. Mcdougall. I would never try to persuade them that they should eat animal protein. That would only offend them and frustrate me

    Granddad had a saying about that too: “Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.”

    I won’t spend any more time here rebutting The China Study – I have done so before, Dr. Myatt has given her thoughts on it, and there are others who have addressed the shortcomings of the book in far more detail and precision that I have time or patience for. In addition to reviewing the writing of Dr. Michael Eades on the failings of The China Study, there is an extremely well-written and heavily referenced formal rebuttal by Denise Minger that can be found here.

    Oh, by the way… The China that Colin Campbell’s “The China Study” praises so highly for it’s “healthy” avoidance of animal protein in the diet? That the book fans point to as evidence of the righteousness of a plant-based vegetarian diet?

    Did you know that China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of pork? That the average Chinese eats about half a grown hog each year? Or that China ranks 3rd in the world for beef consumption?

    Really… Who knew!

    Do I hear a “Yes, but…”

  • Your Cardiovascular Risk Checklist – A Gift From Dr. Myatt For Heart Month

    Dr. Myatt’s Cardiovascular Risk Checklist

     

    A Medical White Paper Presented By Dr. Dana Myatt

     

    February is “Heart Month.” Here’s Your Heart-Risk Checklist.

     

    Shocking Facts about Heart Attacks

    February is heart month, and in honor of your heart, I have prepared a special heart-risk assessment and report for you. First, some surprising statistics about heart disease. These “fast facts” will help you know why my heart-risk checklist is so potentially important.

    Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the US. 2,200 people die every day from heart disease.

    As many as 50% of all people who have a heart attack do not have ANY classic risk factors, although one study argues that this number is actually only 20%. “Only” a 20% chance of having a heart attack with no known risk factors? I don’t know about you, but that still sounds like a big risk to me. 

    As many as fifty percent (50%) of all first heart attacks are last heart attacks if you get my drift. Half of all people who have a heart attack die from “sudden cardiac death.” No second chances. No dramatic “jump-starting” the heart with a defibrillator. No heroic bypass surgery or stents. Just gone in a heartbeat.

    People with NO conventional risk factors are more likely to die “sudden death” from a first heart attack. Sudden cardiac death is the first and only sign of heart disease in this group.

    You could be a non-smoker with a normal body weight, total cholesterol below 200, LDL below 100, HDL above 50. You don’t smoke, are not diabetic and have no family history of heart disease. Good for you. You doctor has just given you a clean bill of health and told you your heart is fine. And you could die of a heart attack as you leave the doctor’s office. Remember, twenty to fifty percent of all people who have a heart attack do not have ANY conventionally-tested heart risks.

    Emerging Risk Factors: The “Other Risks” No One Is Telling You About

    Routinely screened conventional risk factors include blood fats (total cholesterol, LDL, HDL), blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes. Additional testing might include a cardiac stress test (the “treadmill test”). Overweight/obesity, family history and activity levels should also be considered.

    Unfortunately, 20-50% of people who have heart attacks are “normal” for all of these tests and markers. It’s the folks with “all normal” risk factors who have the greatest likelihood of having a fatal heart attack.

    Conventional medicine acknowledges that there are a number of other risk factors for heart disease. These are called “emerging risk factors” because the information is still “emerging” or coming to light.

    Unfortunately, tests for these “emerging risk factors” are not yet ordered by most conventional physicians nor are they typically covered by insurance. Many of them will be “standard of care” in conventional medicine some day in the future. Will “some day” be soon enough for you or me?

    Good News About “Emerging Risk Factors”

    The good news is many of the most important of these “other risks” can be tested at an affordable price. They are not obscure tests with thousand-dollar price tags.

    The OTHER good news is that there are safe, natural, proven options for correcting abnormalities if and when they are found. After all, what good would it be to know about a risk factor if there was nothing you could do about it?

    I have researched and prepared a Medical White Paper that discusses these risk factors in detail. To celebrate Heart Month I am making this paper available to you free of charge. I hope you will take advantage of this offer and download and study this document. Print it and discuss it with your doctor. Use it to reduce your risk factors so that you can enjoy a long and healthy life – and continue to be a HealthBeat News subscriber!

     

    Please visit this webpage at Dr. Myatt’s Wellness Club to obtain your copy of my Cardiovascular Checklist.

     

    In Health,

    Dr. Myatt

     

    Nurse Mark Comments:

    Please print this Medical White Paper, including the pages of references, so that you can show it to your doctor / cardiologist. When he / she tells you that 1) he has never heard of some of these tests, 2) you don’t need them, 3) he’s not going to order them for you, and 4) your insurance won’t pay for them anyway, please visit Dr. Myatt’s Wellness Club where Dr. Myatt will make these tests available to you, and at a very reasonable cost.

    Dr. Myatt’s Cardiovascular Risk Profile Lab Testing information.

  • The "Swiss Army Knife" Of Supplements

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Wouldn’t it be great if there were one supplement that could serve a variety of health-improving functions?

    What about a supplement that could:

    • lower and stabilize LDL (bad) cholesterol
    • help in weight loss
    • lower and stabilize high blood sugar
    • reverse metabolic syndrome and diabetes
    • reduce inflammation
    • exert powerful broad-spectrum antimicrobial and antifungal effects
    • have antiarrhythmic effects on the heart
    • be useful in treating congestive heart failure
    • treat fatty liver disease
    • treat a wide variety of cancers
    • treat polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
    • protect the kidneys of diabetics
    • helps prevent formation of cataracts in diabetics
    • help to protect the brain during and after a stroke
    • even mimic the beneficial effects of exercise in the body

    What one substance could do all these things?

    Berberine!

    Long overshadowed by other, more commercially popular herbs Berberine has become the subject of a number of recent research studies that are proving it to be one of the more versatile and popular natural supplements.

    What is berberine?

    Berberine is an alkaloid that is found in such plants as Oregon grape, barberry, tree turmeric, goldenseal, Phellodendron amurense, Chinese goldthread, prickly poppy, Californian poppy and others. Berberine is usually found in the roots, rhizomes, stems, and bark of these plants.

    Why the sudden interest in Berberine?

    Dr. Myatt and some other naturopathic practitioners have successfully used this herb in their practices for a long time – perhaps Big Pharma is just now taking notice and wondering if they can muscle in with a synthetic version but needs to fund the research that will justify their efforts.

    Let’s look at the details of Berberine’s “magic” and the research that is being done:

    Berberine and cholesterol:

    Big Pharma, smarting from the failures of it’s dangerous statin drugs, is suddenly very interested in Berberine and is investigating it as if it is a drug to be patented and marketed. Here is just one of a number of studies:

    This study was published in Phytomedicine in July of 2012 and is titled “Lipid-lowering effect of berberine in human subjects and rats.”

    Our previous studies demonstrated that berberine, an alkaloid originally isolated from traditional Chinese herbs, prevented fat accumulation in vitro and in vivo. […] But more interestingly, the treatment …500 mg berberine orally three times a day for twelve weeks… significantly reduced blood lipid levels (23% decrease of triglyceride and 12.2% decrease of cholesterol levels) in human subjects. […] Tests of hematological, cardiovascular, liver, and kidney function following berberine treatment showed no detrimental side effects to this natural compound. Collectively, this study demonstrates that berberine is a potent lipid-lowering compound with a moderate weight loss effect, and may have a possible potential role in osteoporosis treatment/prevention. (1)

    Weight Loss and berberine:

    It is worth noting that the study quoted above also showed that berberine exhibited “a moderate weight loss effect” – something else that Big Pharma would like to be able to put into a pill! (A pill that doesn’t cause heart attacks or diarrhea, that it…)

    Berberine and Blood sugar and Diabetes:

    Given the health disasters encountered with recent diabetes drug offerings, it is no surprise that Big Pharma would love to figure out how to synthesize something with berberine’s safety and effectiveness. Here is one study (slightly edited for clarity)

    “Efficacy of berberine in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus” was published in Metabolism in May of 2008:

    Berberine has been shown to regulate glucose and lipid metabolism in vitro and in vivo. This pilot study was to determine the efficacy and safety of berberine in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients.

    In study A, 36 adults with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus were randomly assigned to treatment with berberine or metformin (0.5 g 3 times a day) in a 3-month trial. The hypoglycemic effect of berberine was similar to that of metformin.

    Significant decreases in hemoglobin A1c (from 9.5%+/-0.5% to 7.5%+/-0.4%, P<.01), fasting blood glucose (from 10.6 to 6.9), postprandial blood glucose (from 19.8 to 11.1), and plasma triglycerides (from 1.13 to 0.89) were observed in the berberine group.

    In study B, 48 adults with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus were treated supplemented with berberine in a 3-month trial.

    Berberine acted by lowering fasting blood glucose and postprandial blood glucose from 1 week to the end of the trial. Hemoglobin A1c decreased from 8.1 to 7.3. Fasting plasma insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index were reduced by 28.1% and 44.7%, respectively. Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were decreased significantly as well. Functional liver or kidney damages were not observed for all patients.

    In conclusion, this pilot study indicates that berberine is a potent oral hypoglycemic agent with beneficial effects on lipid metabolism.

    In summary, that berberine is a potent oral hypoglycemic agent with modest effect on lipid metabolism. It is safe and the cost of treatment by berberine is very low. It may serve as a new drug candidate in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.(2)

    Berberine and Metabolic Syndrome:

    Wouldn’t Big Pharma just love to come up with a drug that could stave off the damaging effects of this latest health epidemic! It seems however that Mother Nature has beaten them to it…

    A study titled “Berberine reduces insulin resistance through protein kinase C-dependent up-regulation of insulin receptor expression” published in Metabolism. 2009 Jan states:

    Natural product berberine (BBR) has been reported to have hypoglycemic and insulin-sensitizing activities; however, its mechanism remains unclear. This study was designed to investigate the molecular mechanism of BBR against insulin resistance. […] Our results suggest that BBR is a unique natural medicine against insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome.(3)

    Berberine to reduce inflammation?

    “The anti-inflammatory potential of berberine in vitro and in vivo.” was published in The Cancer Letter in 2004 and states in part:

    Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid, has a wide range of pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammation […] (4)

    And Berberine as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial? The drug companies wish they could offer something as safe and effective as this supplement…

    A paper titled “Effect of berberine on Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm formation” published in 2009 in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents says:

    berberine at a concentration of 15-30mug/mL was shown to inhibit bacterial metabolism. Data from this study also indicated that modest concentrations of berberine (30-45mug/mL) were sufficient to exhibit an antibacterial effect and to inhibit biofilm formation significantly (5)

    So, it’s effective against bacteria… but how about viruses? It turns out that maybe Big Pharma is barking up the wrong tree with their “flu vaccines”…

    An article titled “Inhibition of H1N1 influenza A virus growth and induction of inflammatory mediators by the isoquinoline alkaloid berberine and extracts of goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis)” [Note: goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is another name for berberine] published in International Immunopharmacology, November 2011 states:

    We found strong effectiveness at high concentrations, although upon dilution extracts were somewhat less effective than purified berberine. Taken together, our results suggest that berberine may indeed be useful for the treatment of infections with influenza A. (6)

    What about the cardiovascular actions of berberine? Well, here is a paper that is oddly enough titled “Cardiovascular actions of berberine” that was published in the fall 2001 issue of Cardiovascular Drug Review that says, in part:

    The cardiovascular effects of berberine suggest its possible clinical usefulness in the treatment of arrhythmias and/or heart failure. (7)

    Can berberine really treat fatty liver disease? The Chinese are very interested, and published the following article in 2011: “Research on therapeutic effect and hemorrheology change of berberine in new diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes combining nonalcoholic fatty liver disease” in which the authors conclude:

    Berberine can obviously improve the conditions of new diagnostic T2DM [type II diabetes] patients with non alcoholic liver lesions, effectively reduce hemorrheology indicators, and has good application prospect. (8)

    Am I going to make claims that berberine can treat a wide variety of cancers? No, I’ll let the researchers do that…

    The article “The natural alkaloid berberine targets multiple pathways to induce cell death in cultured human colon cancer cells” in the European Journal of Pharmacology, August 2012 says:

    The results of the current study demonstrated that berberine has the ability to cause cell cycle arrest, induce apoptosis and inhibit inflammation in colon cancer cells. The magnitude of the effects observed suggests that berberine may be worth considering for further studies of its potential applications for improving health, either as a preventative or a potential treatment. (9)

    The journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology in July 2006  published an article titled “Inhibitory effect of berberine on the invasion of human lung cancer cells via decreased productions of urokinase-plasminogen activator and matrix metalloproteinase-2” that reported:

    These findings suggest that berberine possesses an anti-metastatic effect in non-small lung cancer cell and may, therefore, be helpful in clinical treatment. (10)

    “Berberine-induced growth inhibition of epithelial ovarian carcinoma cell lines” was the article in Journal of Obstetrical and Gynaecology Res. in March of 2012 that said:

    Berberine treatment can inhibit proliferation through a cell cycle arrest in OVCAR-3 and SKOV-3 cells. Thus, berberine may be a novel anticancer drug for the treatment of ovarian cancer. (11)

    And another: “Berberine suppresses the TPA-induced MMP-1 and MMP-9 expressions through the inhibition of PKC-α in breast cancer cells” was published in the Journal of Surgical Res. July 2012 edition and states:

    The TPA-induced PKC-α phosphorylation is suppressed and then the MMP-1 and MMP-9 expressions are also inhibited by berberine. Therefore, we suggest that berberine may be used as a candidate drug for the inhibition of metastasis of human breast cancer. (12)

    Sounds like there is some good evidence of anti-cancer effects in those studies…

    Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) responds well to berberine too – as is shown in this January 2012 article in the European Journal of Endocrinology titled “A clinical study on the short-term effect of berberine in comparison to metformin on the metabolic characteristics of women with polycystic ovary syndrome”

    Berberine (BBR) is an isoquinoline derivative alkaloid extracted from Chinese medicinal herbs that has been used as an insulin sensitizer. BBR may have a potential therapeutic value for PCOS. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of BBR in comparison to metformin (MET) on the metabolic features of women with PCOS. […] Intake of BBR improved some of the metabolic and hormonal derangements in a group of treated Chinese women with PCOS. Main effects could be related to the changes in body composition in obesity and dyslipidemia. (13)

    Can berberine really protect the kidneys of diabetics from diabetes-induced damage? An awful lot of lab rats seem to think so – there are a number of studies that have been done that show a powerful protective, even healing effect on the kidneys of lab rats that have been damaged by diabetes. One such study was published in the June 2012 issue of Phytomedicine titled “Ameliorative effect of berberine on renal damage in rats with diabetes induced by high-fat diet and streptozotocin” and says:

    The results revealed that berberine significantly decreased fasting blood glucose, insulin levels, total cholesterol, triglyceride levels, urinary protein excretion, serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in diabetic rats. The histological examinations revealed amelioration of diabetes-induced glomerular pathological changes following treatment with berberine. In addition, the protein expressions of nephrin and podocin were significantly increased. It seems likely that in rats berberine exerts an ameliorative effect on renal damage in diabetes induced by high-fat diet and streptozotocin. The possible mechanisms for the renoprotective effects of berberine may be related to inhibition of glycosylation and improvement of antioxidation that in turn upregulate the expressions of renal nephrin and podocin. (14)

    Berberine really protects against the brain damage of a stroke? These researchers think so, and they presented their findings in the December 2008 issue of the Neuroscience Letter in the article titled: “Neuroprotective effects of berberine on stroke models in vitro and in vivo”:

    We found that berberine improved neurological outcome and reduced ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced cerebral infarction 48h after MCAO. The protective effect of berberine was confirmed in in vitro study. Berberine protected PC12 cells against oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced injury. The results showed that berberine inhibited reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and subsequent release of pro-apoptotic factor cytochrome c and apoptosis-inducing factors (AIFs) evoked by OGD. Findings of this study suggest that berberine protects against ischemic brain injury by decreasing the intracellular ROS level and subsequently inhibiting mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. (15)

    There is evidence that berberine can help to prevent the formation of cataracts in diabetics. A 2002 report in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry revealed that berberine is an aldose reductase inhibitor.

    …berberines and palmatines may be useful as lead compounds and new agents for aldose reductase inhibition. (16)

    Aldose reductase plays a role in diabetic cataract formation, and inhibition helps prevent cataract formation.

    Inhibition of aldose reductase could significantly prevent progression of existing cataracts. (17)

    And finally, surely nothing but grunting, sweating exercise can produce the beneficial effects of exercise in the body, right? Well, that may not be entirely true – it looks like berberine might just be able to have some of those same beneficial effects. In a December 2012 article titled “Clinical Applications for Berberine” Dr. Jacon Schor states:

    Berberine activates AMPK in a manner similar to how exercise stimulates increased strength and weight loss. Thus, any condition that would be favorably impacted by a patient losing weight and/or exercising more may be impacted favorably by oral berberine supplementation. It makes sense to consider using berberine in patients with insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, heart disease, dyslipidemia, cancer, depression, and other neuropsychiatric diseases. (18)

    So, is berberine “the defining miracle of the 21st century”? Maybe not. But is sure is looking like an effective and safe “Swiss Army Knife” for treating a wide variety of medical conditions. What has been presented here is only a tiny sampling of the research available on this amazing substance!

    Dr. Myatt recognized the value of berberine a very long time ago, and she makes a high potency, pharmaceutical grade berberine available to her patients – and to you. Find Berberine + Ultra here.

     

    References

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    2) Jun Yin, Huili Xing, and Jianping Yeb. Efficacy of Berberine in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes. Metabolism. 2008 May; 57(5): 712–717. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2410097/

    3) Kong WJ, Zhang H, Song DQ, Xue R, Zhao W, Wei J, Wang YM, Shan N, Zhou ZX, Yang P, You XF, Li ZR, Si SY, Zhao LX, Pan HN, Jiang JD. Berberine reduces insulin resistance through protein kinase C-dependent up-regulation of insulin receptor expression. Metabolism. 2009 Jan;58(1):109-19. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19059538

    4) Kuo CL, Chi CW, Liu TY. The anti-inflammatory potential of berberine in vitro and in vivo. Cancer Lett. 2004 Jan 20;203(2):127-37. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14732220

    5) Wang X, Yao X, Zhu Z, Tang T, Dai K, Sadovskaya I, Flahaut S, Jabbouri S. Effect of berberine on Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm formation. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2009 Jul;34(1):60-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19157797

    6) Cecil CE, Davis JM, Cech NB, Laster SM. Inhibition of H1N1 influenza A virus growth and induction of inflammatory mediators by the isoquinoline alkaloid berberine and extracts of goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis). Int Immunopharmacol. 2011 Nov;11(11):1706-14. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21683808

    7) Lau CW, Yao XQ, Chen ZY, Ko WH, Huang Y. Cardiovascular actions of berberine. Cardiovasc Drug Rev. 2001 Fall;19(3):234-44. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11607041

    8.) Xie X, Meng X, Zhou X, Shu X, Kong H. [Research on therapeutic effect and hemorrheology change of berberine in new diagnosed patients with type 2 diabetes combining nonalcoholic fatty liver disease]. [Article in Chinese] Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2011 Nov;36(21):3032-5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22308697

    9) Chidambara Murthy KN, Jayaprakasha GK, Patil BS. The natural alkaloid berberine targets multiple pathways to induce cell death in cultured human colon cancer cells. Eur J Pharmacol. 2012 Aug 5;688(1-3):14-21. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22617025

    10) Peng PL, Hsieh YS, Wang CJ, Hsu JL, Chou FP. Inhibitory effect of berberine on the invasion of human lung cancer cells via decreased productions of urokinase-plasminogen activator and matrix metalloproteinase-2. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2006 Jul 1;214(1):8-15. Epub 2006 Jan 4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16387334

    11) Park KS, Kim JB, Lee SJ, Bae J. Berberine-induced growth inhibition of epithelial ovarian carcinoma cell lines. J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2012 Mar;38(3):535-40. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22381105

    12) Kim S, Han J, Lee SK, Choi MY, Kim J, Lee J, Jung SP, Kim JS, Kim JH, Choe JH, Lee JE, Nam SJ. Berberine suppresses the TPA-induced MMP-1 and MMP-9 expressions through the inhibition of PKC-α in breast cancer cells. J Surg Res. 2012 Jul;176(1):e21-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22381172

    13) Wei W, Zhao H, Wang A, Sui M, Liang K, Deng H, Ma Y, Zhang Y, Zhang H, Guan Y. A clinical study on the short-term effect of berberine in comparison to metformin on the metabolic characteristics of women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Eur J Endocrinol. 2012 Jan;166(1):99-105 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22019891

    14) Wu D, Wen W, Qi CL, Zhao RX, Lü JH, Zhong CY, Chen YY. Ameliorative effect of berberine on renal damage in rats with diabetes induced by high-fat diet and streptozotocin. Phytomedicine. 2012 Jun 15;19(8-9):712-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22483555

    15) Zhou XQ, Zeng XN, Kong H, Sun XL. Neuroprotective effects of berberine on stroke models in vitro and in vivo. Neurosci Lett. 2008 Dec 5;447(1):31-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18838103

    16) Lee HS. Rat lens aldose reductase inhibitory activities of Coptis japonica root-derived isoquinoline alkaloids. J Agric Food Chem. 2002;50(24):7013-7016. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12428952

    17) Kawakubo K, Mori A, Sakamoto K, Nakahara T, Ishii K. GP-1447, an inhibitor of aldose reductase, prevents the progression of diabetic cataract in rats. Biol Pharm Bull. 2012;35(6):866-872. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22687477

    18) Schor Jacob, Clinical Applications for Berberine, 12/5/2012, Natural Medicine Journal (online) http://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/article_content.asp?edition=1&section=2&article=384