Berberis Aristica (berberine)

[Ricky]

Just to say thank you for mentioning Amla on this forum. I keep to maximum 20g carbs, intermittent fasting and exercise which controls the blood sugar levels - but not quite as perfectly as I would like. Since literally the first day I tried it my fasting BS dropped from mainly 6s to mainly 5s and my 2 hours after meals dropped from mainly in the 7s and an occasional 8 to mainly in the 6s and a very rare 7.

So although not a huge drop - hopefully it will be enough to drop my HB1aC from between 42 and 44 to maybe 39. My goal is between 37 and 39.

There are some interesting side effects from using Amla. After a few days I noticed that I had more energy and felt less tired and less stressed. This is my busy time of year at work and had been feeling overwhelmed by it all but now I am coping easily. Also - I have problems with glare both from the sun and from headlights but have found, day by day, I am less troubled by it.

What is this stuff - is it magic dust? More likely it is supplying something l am missing in my diet - what it is is anyone's guess.

The other plus is that I love the taste when I mix it with my kefir and inulin twice a day.

I think because my body was so damaged by diabetes (I had an HB1aC of 125 at diagnosis) my pancreas does need a little bit of extra help.

Things I have tried but don't work for me are:

Bitter melon
Gymnema sylvestre
Cinnamon - although I use it every day as I love the taste
Apple cider vinegar - although I now use it to extract more minerals from bones when I make bone broth.
Berberis

I do take moringa capsules for my eyes as they contain zeaxanthin and lutien.

Now that is an excellent idea to mix the too sweet for my taste Inulin with the Amla. FYI Amla is just an Indian fruit - nothing more!! What time of day are you taking your Amla and Inulin?

I have also tried all the other things you have with no success. I am still taking the Berberis because I have still got a tub in. Cinnamon I take every day with my cereal.

At the moment I have a cold and usually when that happens my fasting number go right up to high 6's . They are staying at the low 6's so there has been no change. I have upped the Amla to 1/2 teaspoon from 1/4. The other day I took my BS before lunch and it was 4.8 !!!!! However it was 5 hours since I ate breakfast but still.
I so hope my HbA1C will be down from the 47 it was 3 months ago when I get it done at the end of the month as required by my diabetic nurse. We are doing well

 

[Ricky]

Just had my latest HbA1c result and it is down in 3 months from 48/47 to 43 . I hoped it would be more. I am presuming it is the Amla and I will continue taking this and maybe increasing it further. I need to know the optimum time of the day to take it . I think I will start a new thread. I will stop the Berberis Aristica when I run out of them which is pretty soon
I have a higher reading set of testing strips and my fasting number this morning was 6.9!!!! BUT 3 hours after my breakfast (homemade muesli, yoghurt, fruit) it was 5.4 so as far as I am concerned that is fine!! I wish I could get that fasting one down but with my 2 hour sleep stints and reckon that is the reason for it.

Can't make my mind up about the Inulin. I don't like it because it is sweet. Have been taking it before bed to help those fasting number but it obviously isn't working for that.