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Berberine lowers blood glucose in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients through increasing insulin receptor expression. Zhang H, Wei J, Xue R, Wu JD, Zhao W, Wang ZZ, Wang SK, Zhou ZX, Song DQ, Wang YM, Pan HN, Kong WJ, Jiang JD. Metabolism. 2009 Sep 3 doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2009.07.029 Liver function was improved greatly in these patients by showing reduction of liver enzymes. Our results confirmed the activity of BBR on InsR in humans and its relationship with the glucose-lowering effect. Together with our previous report, we strongly suggest BBR as an ideal medicine for T2DM with a mechanism different from metformin and rosiglitazone.

Neuroprotective effects of berberine on stroke models in vitro and in vivo. Zhou XQ, Zeng XN, Kong H, Sun XL. Neurosci Lett. 2008 Dec 5;447(1):31-6. Epub 2008 Sep 30. PMID: 18838103 doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2008.09.064 Findings of this study suggest that berberine protects against ischemic brain injury by decreasing the intracellular ROS level and subsequently inhibiting mitochondrial apoptotic pathway.

Berberine inhibits adipogenesis in high-fat diet-induced obesity mice. Hu Y, Davies GE. Fitoterapia. 2009 Oct 25. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19861153 doi:10.1016/j.fitote.2009.10.010 Our previous studies illustrated that berberine inhibited adipogenesis in murine-derived 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and human white preadipocytes. In this study, the effects of berberine on the adipogenesis of high-fat diet-induced obesity (FD) or normal diet (ND) mice and possible transcriptional impact are investigated. The results demonstrated that in FD mice, berberine reduced mouse weight gain and food intake and serum glucose, triglyceride, and total cholesterol levels accompanied with a down-regulation of PPARgamma expression and an up-regulation of GATA-3 expression. Berberine had no adverse effects on ND mice. These encouraging findings suggest that berberine has excellent pharmacological potential to prevent obesity.

"Summer vs Winter Mode: Explaining AMPK Last year I read an article which made a statement that has not left my mind. The statement went as follows: "You are only good as your mitochondria." In fact, the more a dwell into the details of human metabolism, the more I sense that this is true - especially with the metabolic syndrome. For those who are not familiar with the concept of mitochondria, they are the tiny energy factories within the cells that produce cellular energy through aerobic means (meaning oxygen). Mitochondria utilize oxygen to ultimately produce Adenosine Triphosphate or simply ATP. ATP relays energy by donating a phosphate bond resulting in Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP). Another phosphate release would entail Adenosine Monophosphate or AMP. ATP is one of the main sources of cellular energy in the body

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and the risk of ovarian cancer. Toriola AT, Surcel HM, Agborsangaya C, Grankvist K, Tuohimaa P, Toniolo P, Lukanova A, Pukkala E, Lehtinen M. Eur J Cancer. 2009 Aug 25. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19713101 doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2009.08.002 Conclusion Overall, we did not observe a significant association between serum 25-OHD concentrations and the risk of ovarian cancer. However, we found evidence suggestive of an increased risk among women with low to insufficient serum 25-OHD concentrations.

Meta-analysis of longitudinal studies: Serum vitamin D and prostate cancer risk. Yin L, Raum E, Haug U, Arndt V, Brenner H. Cancer Epidemiol. 2009 Dec;33(6):435-45. Epub 2009 Nov 25. PMID: 19939760 doi:10.1016/j.canep.2009.10.014 CONCLUSIONS: According to available evidence from longitudinal studies, serum 25(OH)D is not associated with PC incidence.

Vitamin D and prevention of breast cancer: pooled analysis. Garland CF, Gorham ED, Mohr SB, Grant WB, Giovannucci EL, Lipkin M, Newmark H, Holick MF, Garland FC. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Mar;103(3-5):708-11. PMID: 17368188 CONCLUSIONS: Intake of 2000 IU/day of Vitamin D(3), and, when possible, very moderate exposure to sunlight, could raise serum 25(OH)D to 52 ng/ml, a level associated with reduction by 50% in incidence of breast cancer, according to observational studies.

I have been reading a case report by Kraft, Westman, 2009 of a 70 year old obese, Caucasian female who was suffering from Schizophrenia since the age of 17. Her symptoms included paranoia, hallucinations (auditory and visual), and many hospitalizations for psychosis and suicide attempts. Her daily diet included "egg and cheese sandwich, diet soda, water, pimento cheese, barbecued pork, chicken salad, hamburger helper, macaroni and cheese, and potatoes." Instead, she was asked to follow a low carbohydrate diet of: "unlimited meats and eggs, 4 ounces of hard cheese, 2 cups of salad vegetables, and 1 cup of low carbohydrate vegetables per day. This diet restricts carbohydrate intake to fewer than 20 grams per day." The diet was also grain free.

Dr. Staffan Lindeberg has published a new study using the "paleolithic diet" to treat type II diabetics (free full text). Type II diabetes, formerly known as late-onset diabetes until it began appearing in children, is typically thought to develop as a result of insulin resistance (a lowered tissue response to the glucose-clearing function of insulin). This is often followed by a decrease in insulin secretion due to degeneration of the insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells. After Dr. Lindeberg's wild success treating patients with type II diabetes or glucose intolerance, in which he normalized the glucose tolerance of all 14 of his volunteers in 12 weeks, he set out to replicate the experiment. This time, he began with 13 men and women who had been diagnosed with type II diabetes for an average of 9 years.

Twice single doses of 100,000 IU of vitamin D in winter is adequate and safe for prevention of vitamin D deficiency in healthy children from Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina. Tau C, Ciriani V, Scaiola E, Acuña M. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Mar;103(3-5):651-4. Epub 2007 Jan 25. PMID: 17257830 doi:10.1016/j.jsbmb.2006.12.027 These results disclosed that to prevent vitamin D deficiency for children at zones of risk at the south of our country, double supplementation of 100,000 IU of vitamin D during autumn and winter, would be adequate and safe.

"Anti-inflammatory Diet Components of an Anti-inflammatory Diet (focus on meats, fish, eggs and leafy vegetables)"

Consumption of omega-3 fatty acids is not associated with a reduction in carotid atherosclerosis: the Genetics of Coronary Artery Disease in Alaska Natives study. Ebbesson SO, Roman MJ, Devereux RB, Kaufman D, Fabsitz RR, Maccluer JW, Dyke B, Laston S, Wenger CR, Comuzzie AG, Romenesko T, Ebbesson LO, Nobmann ED, Howard BV. Atherosclerosis. 2008 Aug;199(2):346-53. Epub 2007 Dec 4. PMID: 18054937 doi:10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2007.10.020 Conclusions Dietary intake of omega-3 FAs in a moderate-to-high range does not appear to be associated with reduced plaque, but is negatively associated with IMT. The presence and extent of carotid atherosclerosis among Eskimos is higher with increasing consumption of saturated FAs.

Berberine and Coptidis rhizoma as novel antineoplastic agents: a review of traditional use and biomedical investigations. Tang J, Feng Y, Tsao S, Wang N, Curtain R, Wang Y. J Ethnopharmacol. 2009 Oct 29;126(1):5-17. Epub 2009 Aug 15. PMID: 19686830 doi:10.1016/j.jep.2009.08.009 Conclusions The modern evidences of treating cancer with Huanglian and berberine have a strong linkage with traditional concept and rules of using Huanglian in CM practice. As anticancer candidates with low toxicity, berberine and its altered structure, as well as Huanglian and its formulae, will attract scientists to pursue the potential anticancer effects and the mechanisms by using technologies of genomics, proteomics and other advanced approaches. On the other hand, relatively few in vivo studies have been conducted on anticancer effects of Huanglian and berberine. The clinical application of berberine or Huanglian as novel cancer therapeutic agents requires in vivo validations and further investigations of their anticancer mechanisms.

Synergistic anti-inflammatory effects of low doses of curcumin in combination with polyunsaturated fatty acids: docosahexaenoic acid or eicosapentaenoic acid. Saw CL, Huang Y, Kong AN. Biochem Pharmacol. 2010 Feb 1;79(3):421-30. Epub 2009 Sep 8. PMID: 19744468

Eggs distinctly modulate plasma carotenoid and lipoprotein subclasses in adult men following a carbohydrate-restricted diet. Mutungi G, Waters D, Ratliff J, Puglisi M, Clark RM, Volek JS, Fernandez ML. J Nutr Biochem. 2009 Apr 13. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19369056 We previously reported that carbohydrate restriction (CR) (10-15% en) during a weight loss intervention lowered plasma triglycerides (TG) by 45% in male subjects (P<.05). However, only those subjects from the EGG group presented higher concentrations of these two carotenoids in plasma, which were correlated with the higher concentra