Berberine, a natural supplement, works a lot like statin drugs to lower bad cholesterol by helping your liver pull more cholesterol out of your blood — kind of like both are using the same key to unlock the same door.

Both berberine (a natural supplement) and statins (cholesterol drugs) help lower bad cholesterol by making more LDL receptors in your liver—but they work in different ways. Statins tell your liver to make more receptors from scratch, while berberine helps the existing instructions for making receptors last longer so more receptors get built.

Statins, which are prescription drugs, can lower your 'bad' cholesterol by about half, while berberine, a natural supplement, only lowers it a little bit — so statins work much better.

Taking berberine, a natural supplement, may help lower your 'bad' cholesterol and overall cholesterol levels if you already have high cholesterol — better than not taking anything at all.

Taking berberine pills (500 mg, 2–3 times a day) can help lower your bad cholesterol and fat levels in the blood almost as well as a low dose of statin drugs, and it might work by turning on a cellular switch that helps your body remove more bad cholesterol.

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.