Berberine, a natural compound, may help lower bad cholesterol by helping your liver grab more of it from your blood—kind of like turning up a vacuum cleaner that sucks up cholesterol, thanks to how it blocks a protein called PCSK9 and keeps the cholesterol sensors in your liver working longer.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (0)

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No supporting evidence found

Contradicting (1)

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Update on the Benefits and Mechanisms of Action of the Bioactive Vegetal Alkaloid Berberine on Lipid Metabolism and Homeostasis

Narrative Review

Human

2018

This study talks about berberine helping lower cholesterol, but it doesn’t show how it works — the claim says it works by blocking PCSK9 and stabilizing mRNA, but this paper doesn’t prove that.

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Update on the Benefits and Mechanisms of Action of the Bioactive Vegetal Alkaloid Berberine on Lipid Metabolism and Homeostasis

Score: 1

DOI: 10.1155/2018/7173920

Similar Assertions

Berberine, a natural compound, helps your liver remove more 'bad' cholesterol from your blood by making it keep more of the receptors that grab cholesterol—kind of like a weaker version of expensive cholesterol drugs.

21

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A natural compound called berberine can significantly lower bad cholesterol in hamsters with high cholesterol, and it does this by helping their liver make more of a special protein that pulls cholesterol out of the blood.

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Berberine, a natural compound, helps lower bad cholesterol in mice and hamsters by turning down a protein (HNF1α) that normally tells the liver to make more PCSK9 — when PCSK9 drops, the liver keeps more LDL receptors to mop up cholesterol from the blood.

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Berberine, a natural compound, helped hamsters with high cholesterol by making their livers produce more receptors that grab bad cholesterol out of the blood—like putting up more trash cans to clean up the streets.

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Berberine, a natural compound, tells your liver to grab more bad cholesterol (LDL) out of your blood by turning on a cellular energy sensor, helping lower your cholesterol levels.

7

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