The Benefits of Berberine For Thyroid Weight Loss

Big pharma makes billions selling weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy because they know thyroid patients are so desperate to lose weight.

You probably already know that part.

But what you may not know is this:

There are natural plant-based compounds that activate the same fat-burning enzymes as these medications, without the nasty side effects.

Are they as powerful? No, but they are way safer. And they actually work.

My favorite is berberine.

Here’s why:

How Berberine Works for Thyroid Patients

This is the same enzyme that gets activated when you exercise, and its downstream effects are nothing short of amazing.

When turned on, it tells your cells to…

• Start burning fat as energy (so you slim down faster)
• Stop storing fat (to watch the scale keep dropping)
• And balance blood sugar levels (for steady, long-term energy)

All of these help to rev up your metabolism and burn more calories at rest, making it perfect for thyroid patients who feel like their metabolism is non-existent.

Combine it With Exercise For Better Results

But don’t make the mistake in thinking that if you take berberine, you don’t need to exercise, because that’s not true at all.

On its own, it’s a mild activator of AMPK.

But if you combine it with thyroid-boosting exercises like zone-2 training and whole body resistance training, you can double-dip on the effects of both.

This is how I use it and how I recommend thyroid patients use it as well.

Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4504840/

Berberine Helps You Feel Full

It does this by slowing down your digestion, but in a good way.

It doesn’t block nutrient absorption, but it does slow how fast food moves through your gut.

This means:

• You feel full longer
• You have fewer cravings
• You’re less likely to say yes to junk food

This is huge for thyroid patients because getting your diet under control is one of the most powerful things you can do to improve your thyroid.

But biological urges driven by hyperpalatable foods are doing their best to make resisting these types of foods almost impossible.

And if you do indulge in these food cravings, which most thyroid patients do, you’ll end up in an inflammatory state that only serves to slow down your thyroid even more.

The gut-benefits of berberine can break this cycle and help you more easily take control of your appetite and desire for food.

Speaking of gut benefits, berberine also…

Pro tip: This slowdown in digestion is why some people feel nausea when starting berberine. If this has happened to you, don’t worry, because there are some newer forms of berberine that are better tolerated, which I will discuss shortly.  

Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7752296/

Berberine Heals Your Gut

If you want easier and faster weight loss, you need a healthy gut.

Why?

Because the right type of bacteria in your gut will help you:

• Balance fat-storing hormones
• Regulate your appetite
• Boost your metabolism.

The wrong bacteria will do the exact opposite by:

• Increasing how many calories you absorb from the food that you eat
• Spark cravings for unhealthy foods
• Disrupt key weight-regulating hormones
• Promote low-grade inflammation throughout your entire body
• Interfere with your immune system, exacerbating the most common thyroid disease (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis)
• Contributing to gas, bloating, and constipation, and the dreaded “thyroid belly”

Berberine solves these problems because of its action as a powerful natural antibiotic.

Taking it daily helps reset your gut by eliminating harmful bacteria, leaving room for the healthy bacteria to flourish and grow.  

Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10676105/

Berberine improves your blood sugar.

The average thyroid patient suffers from a combination of insulin resistance, high blood sugar, and metabolic syndrome, even if they don’t realize it.

In other words:

They are in a perpetual state of ups and downs when it comes to their energy and fat-burning ability.

If you have these conditions and you eat a meal, it sends signals to your body to spike insulin.

When insulin spikes, it shuts down your body’s ability to burn fat.

And swings in blood sugar leave you feeling tired and hungry (and much more likely to seek out unhealthy snacks instead of real, whole foods).

But if you can bring balance back to your insulin and blood sugar, you can steady out your energy throughout the day, dramatically reduce food cravings, and actually tap into your fat stores for a source of energy.

Berberine does this.

In fact, it has a similar mechanism of action as the pharmaceutical medication metformin, with some studies showing parity between the two.

Given the connection between insulin resistance and low thyroid states, berberine is a great option for thyroid patients who struggle with both.

Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10376565/

Bottom line?

Berberine helps with the 3 things that matter most for thyroid weight loss:

• Faster metabolism
• Less fat storing & more fat burning
• Better hunger control

And while it’s hard to get berberine from your diet, you can absolutely take it in supplement form.

Which Berberine Is Best for Thyroid Patients?

If you remember, I said that some forms of berberine can cause GI issues like nausea and diarrhea.

This is true, and one of the biggest reasons that thyroid patients can’t tolerate berberine.

But the good news is that this side effect is far less common with next-generation forms of berberine like dihydroberberine.

This version is:

• Up to 5x more effective than standard berberine
• Easier on the stomach
• Better absorbed and more effective at lower doses

If you want to use a berberine supplement, use dihydroberberine:

• 200 mg in the morning & 200 mg in the evening for a total daily dose of 400 mg
• And take it with food to reduce GI-related side effects

If you want even more synergy, take it in conjunction with a low dose of berberine hcl.

Combining both provides you with short-term and long-term AMPK stimulation that you can’t get from just one or the other.

Here’s my recommended pharmaceutical-grade dihydroberberine supplement.

If you’ve been stuck with thyroid weight that won’t move, give berberine a try.

P.S. Need more help with thyroid weight loss? Check out this article next.