There is no supplements market where I live except for protein powders for body builders. I have a sibling abroad - I could “bother” her.
I went through some threads on this forum to find info on berberine but couldn’t conclusively decide from reading those entries whether berberine is worth getting to help with insulin resistance.
From what I understand Berberine is a great supplement to keep blood glucose levels lower and in turn insulin lower. I am not a doctor or a nutritionist though so don’t just take my advice for it, do some googling, that may help. I am sure there are some studies out there, also I do not believe fasting is the best “cure” for IR, the best thing you can do in my opinion is have a low insulingenic and glycemic diet while utilizing strategies such as fasting and supplements like berberine.
I read around it a bit and I would approach with caution. @MiKetoAF is right - the best way to heal is simply keto. You could raise the topic with your GP when you next see them but I wouldn’t recommend messing around with it otherwise. I have read plenty of good reviews but also plenty of negative ones so…
I think they mean “alone” or “by itself”. Notice they later say “keto + fasting” a bit later.
And says a lot of people can not handle a complete
Diet change and fasting is “easier” for them
I do take the Berberine Plus from Ketoliving. I haven’t really noticed a difference (as with most supplements). I am not a diabetic though. It is supposed to have other anti-aging properties.
Hi all. I am not diabetic but am insulin resistant. I do I.F. and have been keto for 7+ years. Despite this, my fasting insulin is still higher than I would expect and like it to be. I have taken berberine in the past and found that it did lower my fasting blood glucose somewhat.
I have started taking it again as part of an n=1. I am no longer checking b.g. (ran out of strips years ago) but will be testing b.k. periodically. It should follow that if b.g. is lower, insulin should be lower and therefore b.k. higher. So far, only marginal differences.
that’s how i’m feeling about supplements…and most will not be replaced once they run out.
i’m not diabetic either but i’ve been taking Cinsulin for what seems like forever (pre keto) 
I had a friend that worked in R&D at Abbott. He told me:
disgusting! 
i actually “know” a former lab beagle and even years later he isn’t a “regular dog” he has a sadness about him that he just can’t shake…doesn’t run, jump, or play. breaks my heart
there’s an organization called the Beagle Freedom Project that liberates lab beagles (legally)…there are videos of the dogs playing once liberated on youtube
i use smile.amazon and a percentage of my eligible amazon purchases is donated to charity.
i chose the BFP (is Animal Rescue Media & Education on the amazon list of charities)
I also recommend and use hair products that are NOT tested on animals…believe it or not there are some really really good ones that aren’t hippy dippy and perform really well and no non-consenting living thing was needed to make them
sorry that i just jacked this supplement thread and made it cruelty-free and about charity
Hear you!!! I have a super soft spot in my heart for animals. I’m on the development board for PAWS Chicago (www.pawschicago.org) and I donate to all my donation dollars to animal organizations.
Talking about lab animals, there’s a whole bunch of lab apes released to an island near Liberia. (They cannot swim bc their center of gravity is near their chest.)
Everyday a few Liberians (the same crew it seems from how comfortable the apes seemed with them) take a boat loaded with bananas & water - I saw a YouTube video (motherboard) of these men feeding the apes with a bananas & water while also caressing them.
Some (or all?) of these apes were infected with hepatitis. Quite a number of them eventually healed themselves of the disease while living on the island.
Some cures were developed from this particular research.
However, there is probably a place for some supplements, for some situations, acute or chronic, no? Provided those supplements are of the highest quality. For eg., magnesium would probably help me with my sleep issues & migraines (but we don’t have supplements in Nepal, maybe iron syrup. There’s an Indian brand’s liver formula but laden with colors, starch, & preservatives).
(I found out today fish oil can actually do damage [Chris Kessor]. Under certain circumstances only, he recommends extra virgin cod liver oil. Talking about fish oil supplements here, not actual oily fish.)
If, for some reason one was unable to eat high nutrition foods, a good multivitamin could make a difference? I bought a bottle of very expensive (for me) food based multivitamin before I moved back to Nepal at Whole Foods in the US - that particular multi is supposed to be good. (?) The empty bottle is here somewhere - I will post its pic once I come across it.
On Peter attia’s fairly recent blog post on medium (I found the link on twitter) about longevity, of the many practices he believes (or what he practices in pursuit of longevity; his main focus of research) contributes to longevity (both life span & life quality) he cites supplements.
i meant more like “raspberry ketones will change your life…dr oz said so!” type supplements
i will continue with vitamin d3, magnesium (does wonders for my sleep), cal-mag-zinc, probiotics…just not the fancy ones that get a lot of publicity for this condition or the other
i can’t do multi’s at all…they cause extreme hunger for me…and/or make me sick to my stomach
hopefully we’re getting what we need through the foods we eat and need minimal supplementation
i also think that a lot of ppl think they have a condition just because they’ve heard some supplement will fix it.
i have a friend that wants to take a pill, serum, or powder for anything and everything…it’s easier than fixing their nutrition
IMO its much better to figure out what you’re deficient in and alter your diet to add it in, but failing that some specific vitamins (like vitamin d, magnesium, etc). The whole “Take a multivitamin every day!” is, in my opinion, just trying to put a bandaid on the nutrient lacking SAD diet that most people indulge in. The extra stuff you don’t need in that multivitamin is just going to get peed out so why pay for it? Much better to only take what you need - but that’s just my two cents
When I could buy vitamins (not available where I live currently) I bought this bottle (pricey for me) - I wonder if there are some multivitamin/multimineral brands that are good, even very good.
