A question I get asked often is which supplements can help with PCOS symptoms or lower insulin levels. My philosophy is a food first approach. I firmly believe that you cannot out supplement a bad diet. However, there are times when supplements can help. For PCOS-related symptoms, I am a big fan of berberine (see my Stories for the berberine blog link). In randomized trials, head-to-head, looking at berberine versus metformin, berberine outperforms metformin on several levels. Other things include inositol. This is a B vitamin that is incredibly effective. There was an article in the NEJM looking at PCOS and D-chiro-inositol that was published back when I was in medical school but yet no-one ever talked about using B vitamins or inositol to help with PCOS symptoms.
➡️Dr. Amy Shah asked me if berberine can be used in situations of high insulin levels in general? Does it have some of the same benefits? Based on my own experience and on that of my patients in the clinic, there is no one magic formula that makes a difference when it comes to insulin resistance and elevated insulin. To combat insulin resistance or insulin block as I usually describe it, you need to tackle it from multiple directions. With the way that you eat and when, which would include adding on intermittent fasting. Different nutraceuticals help as described above. I would say berberine is just one of many. It is associated with weight loss in randomized trials. It’s associated with insulin sensitivities but then so is fish oil and chromium, so is lipoic acid. As you can see, there are lots of different ways that we can work on the insulin signal and berberine is just one of several.
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#PCOS #berberine #insulin
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Sara Gottfried MD, the original hormone expert for women, has written multiple New York Times bestselling books that empower women and show them how to improve their healthspan, lose weight, balance their hormones, manage stress – and feel back home in their bodies. Dr. Sara does not treat problems or symptoms, she treats people. She treats women. The method is Precision and Personalized Medicine.
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