Are you wondering about the health benefits of barberry bark? In this video, I'm answering a question I got on the health benefits of barberry bark.We'll delve into some of the active ingredients in this plant and its wide-ranging health benefits from blood sugar to antimicrobial activities.
LInk to Berberine: geni.us/PV1eWp (Amazon affiliate link)
Tincture Oregon Grape Root (Barberry family): geni.us/ZX27j (Amazon affiliate link)
00:00 Introduction to Barberry Bark's Health Benefits
In this video, we're going to look at the benefits of barberry bark. Barberry is a shrub, this type of plant has been traditionally used in herbal medicine practices, specifically here in the United States.
The root, and this is an alkaloid with a lot of potential health benefits and medicinal properties. Specifically, berberine has been studied for its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and even antioxidant properties. That berberine is present in various parts of the plant, including the root and bark and berries.
00:42 Exploring the Medicinal Properties of Berberine
As an antimicrobial, the berberine has activity against many different types of bacteria and even some viral and fungal activity as well, and it's very useful in addressing many different types of infections that we may have. I think this is where most of the utility and beneficial properties of berberine come from. Like the anti-inflammatory and gastrointestinal effects. Bacterial overgrowth can contribute to things like chronic inflammation, systemic inflammation in the body, and even metabolic dysfunction. One of the common things that I use berberine for in my practice is for blood sugar elevation and metabolic problems like diabetes, prediabetes, etc. I also use it for bacterial overgrowth. And it's definitely fascinating how these two things that seem to be so different are actually connected in a lot of ways.
02:32 Harvesting and Preparing Barberry Bark
And it's through that connection that I think berberine has a lot of wide-reaching benefits for human health. So as I mentioned, the berberine content in barberry is found in various parts of the plant, but the highest concentrations are typically going to be in the bark of the root. The root bark of barberry is where most of those alkaloids are going to be found. An extract or tincture from the root bark would likely yield the most berberine alkaloids if you're trying to harvest this from the wild. The basic idea is you would harvest the root and shave off the bark, and then you would soak that in an alcohol solution for about 30 days. This will ensure higher concentrations of berberine.
03:51 Diverse Health Benefits and Potential Side Effects
06:07 Conclusion and Recommendations
A couple of words of caution on this. Plants can soak up toxins that are in the soil, and this is going to be particularly concentrated in the roots of the plant. So if you don't know what soil the plant is in, it's probably not a good idea to eat or consume that plant. Also, taking plants up by their roots is definitely going to disturb them and potentially kill them. So it's important to harvest them in a sustainable way. This type of plant seems to be very strong and grows in a lot of diverse environments. And as far as I know, it's not in any danger of being extinct or anything like that. I do think it's a good idea to get to know and understand your local plants and the health benefits that they may provide to you. And there's a good chance that this one is in your local environment. Still, as it gains popularity, we may have to be more mindful about allowing this plant to thrive without human disturbance as well. All right, so back to the benefits. I'll just list some of them out here and go into some detail on some of them. So I mentioned the anti-inflammatory effects, and I think this is mediated by the improvement in your digestive health. Now, if you don't have bacterial overgrowth, this may not be of any benefit to you in terms of inflammation. The second would be gastrointestinal health. As mentioned, it can help with bacterial overgrowth and different infectious microbes that may be present in your gut or elsewhere. It also is a bitter, so it is going to help kind of tonify and enhance the natural digestive process that's occurring. On the cardiovascular health side, it can help with insulin resistance and some of the things there. It can also, independent of that, potentially help with lowering cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, or ApoB. And then we mentioned blood sugar regulation, lowering A1c and fasting insulin. There's some very good evidence for its role in that. Of course, with helping with infectious diseases and digestive health, it is going to in the long run help with your immune system. As there's a very close relationship with your digestion and immune system. And then there's also the antioxidant properties.