Three totally natural health supplements that may be more powerful than prescription drugs??
No joke! Such things do exist. What are they?
At least one you probably have in your kitchen right now.
What? You don’t have a big box of berberine right behind the corn starch? That’s neither surprising nor is it necessarily a bad thing. Although not well known, berberine is quite possibly one of the most powerful supplements on Earth.
What is it?
Berberine is an ammonium salt found in plants ranging from Oregon grape, barberry, tree turmeric, as well as a host of different roots, stems and barks.
What does it do?
All sorts of things, but most famously, it lowers blood sugar levels (some say, as effectively as the diabetes drug, metformin. Berberine also lowers cholesterol, as well as blood pressure levels and blood triglycerides. Berberine has also been shown to have anti-bacterial effects, and may be effective in the treatment of everything from heart failure to cancer.
Is there a down side?
There has been some concern that it can cause brain dysfunction in newborns, so even though this is unproven, you probably shouldn’t take it while pregnant. And since it is a humdinger of a supplement, you might want to check with your pharmacist or ND about taking it in combination with other drugs or supplements. And Oregon grapes are not just tart. They’ll make you pucker so hard your face may implode. So you may not want to eat them right off the tree. Other than that, berberine is a brilliant supplement you may want to track down and add to your list of favourite things.
2. Statin drugs are widely prescribed to reduce production of cholesterol in the blood. Even though recent studies suggest that cholesterol may not be the yellow-eyed demon it has been portrayed as in the media for the past thirty years, you still don’t want a system chock full of cholesterol.
And if you’re looking for a natural statin, you need look no further than that big bag of red yeast rice that’s hiding in there behind the berberine. Okay, we’re kidding. As far as we know, Red yeast rice isn’t sold in bags. But it is used as a food colouring, additive, and preservative. And it’s been used in China and other Asian countries for centuries as a traditional medicine.
Red yeast rice naturally contains several ingredients that may help control cholesterol levels. These include a number of monacolins, most importantly monacolin K. It also contains sterols, isoflavones, and monounsaturated fatty acids, or “healthy fats.”
The down side?
Red yeast rice contains monacolin K, also known as lovastatin, the active ingredient in the prescription drug Mevacor. If you suspect that something like that might have trouble getting Health Canada approval, you’d be dead right. Much to the chagrin of many NDs, Canadian products containing Red Yeast Rice don’t contain enough to provide a pharmacologically active dose.
3. Garlic
If you’re a vampire, you’re out of luck, but otherwise, no-one can control your access to garlic!
The active ingredient in garlic is allicin, which is a wonderful, natural heart health supplement. So go away you heartless vampires! Garlic is known to lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure, thus decreasing your risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and even boosting your immune function which may help you win the ongoing battle against the common cold.
The biggest upside of all
Chances are, you probably have some garlic in your kitchen, right now! And it’s yummy!!
