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.

Taking berberine pills may help lower your 'bad' cholesterol and fat in your blood by about 10–20%, which could be good for your heart.

Taking berberine pills for 3 months helped people with high cholesterol lower their bad fats in the blood—cholesterol dropped by almost a third, and triglycerides by over a third—so it might be a natural way to help manage cholesterol.

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.

Taking berberine supplements might help people who are overweight lose a little bit of weight and shrink their waistline a bit, compared to those who don’t take it.