VIDEO LENGTH: 27 minutes

Berberine has attracted a lot of attention recently, especially as a potential treatment for for SIBO, gastrointestinal infections, and metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Berberine’s health effects are likely mediated by the microbiome, and berberine is also known to affect the microbiome.

Watch this edition of Microbiome Update to learn what’s currently known about how berberine impacts the microbiome, and what implications this influence may have on health.

Summary Points

• Gut bacteria can convert berberine into a more absorbable form, increasing its bioavailability
• Berberine has a large impact on the microbiome:
  • Large initial reduction overall, by inhibiting bacterial cell division
  • Negative effect on many potential pathogens: Proteobacteria (E. coli, Shigella, Salmonella, Klebsiella, Proteus, Vibrio), Staphylococcus, etc.
  • Increases the relative proportion of some key beneficial groups: Clostridia (butyrate producers), Bifidobacteria, possibly Lactobacilli
• Berberine can also inhibit Candida and other potential opportunistic pathogens and parasites
• Berberine cautions:
  • It can cause an initial broad-spectrum reduction in microbiome, similar to antibiotics
  • It may reduce the overall diversity of the microbiome, also similar to antibiotics
• The effects of berberine likely to be very individual:
  • The microbiome composition (degree of dysbiosis) varies among individuals, so berberine is likely to have differing effects depending on these inter-individual differences