 Metformin is the most commonly prescribed medication for treatment of diabetes in the world, yet it is the most controversial drug used for diabetes as well. Today I will tell you your alternatives to metformin. Now these will include alternative natural remedies that work or regular pharmaceuticals if you're not into dietary supplements or do not believe in them. After you hear everything you will make your own mind. I am Dr. Ahmed Ergin. I treat diabetes every day. Diabetes care is my passion. I am in a war with diabetes and you are in it with me. You have the right to know all your options. So why are we talking about metformin alternatives to begin with? Because metformin side effects are very likely to occur during the treatment and the medication may not be suitable for everyone. In fact up to 90 percent of people have some sort of side effect such as diarrhea, excessive gas, bloating, burping and so on. Not so fun. Now rare side effects can even include chest pain and liver failure and so on. Now sometimes common side effects are tolerable and sometimes they are not. Sometimes side effects disappear, sometimes they don't. We don't have any way of saying who will have side effects and who will not. Also there is significant controversy over whether you can take metformin with kidney disease and whether metformin causes any kidney damage at all. Now one thing is certain that taking metformin after stage 3 kidney disease is not advised. I know that question is asked all the time that what are the metformin alternatives? What else can I take besides metformin right? Well you're lucky because you have options. If your doctor tells you the only way is his or her way or my way or highway, listen up because you will hear something different today. You'll be more educated after watching this video than the average family doctor. As an example, a newly diagnosed top two diabetic patients, particularly those overweight patients or patients who fail to comply with the lifestyle changes and so forth, and they need to control their blood sugar levels, right? Well they're typically prescribed metformin. That's pretty much the gold standard. Even pre-diabetics or people with PCOS get metformin as the first agent. Why is that? Well because it is super cheap, it is effective for those who can tolerate it. So why not, right? So most people end up using it. Some people, typically a minority of the people, love it. A majority, if not hated, but they kind of learn to deal with the side effects or learn to live with it. But if you knew your alternatives, you could make a better decision or at least discuss your options with your doctor, for example. You need to know the mechanism of action of metformin also to understand your alternatives better, right? So metformin has a number of effects on body's glucose regulation. It primarily lowers glucose synthesis, making glucose in the liver and prevents the glucose absorption in the gut. Metformin also boosts the glucose absorption through the skeletal muscle so that the glucose does not hang out in your blood. Finally, it also enhances insulin sensitivity as a result lowers your blood sugar levels. Metformin has no effect on insulin secretion. So what are your alternatives? Let's start with the simplest one, the lifestyle change, right? Well the studies have repeatedly confirmed that you can actually achieve diabetes control, especially early stages, by restricting calorie and carbon take. Because excess fat in the liver causes excess supply of fat in the pancreas, which leads to impaired functioning of the pancreas, which is the insulin producing hormonal gland in your body. Now reduced intake of calories not only decreases the production of glucose, but also contributes to weight loss along with the clearance of fat from the liver and pancreas. What is your other option? Well eccentric release metformin can be an alternative to standard metformin as well. So most of you may never heard of that, or some of you may already be taking this, but it is slightly more tolerable than regular metformin. But there is no guarantee that you will be able to tolerate eccentric release metformin if you have trouble to begin with metformin as well. Now berberine as an alternative to metformin as well, right? So berberine is a great diabetes supplement that is frequently used to treat type 3 diabetes, not by the doctors but by the people. Now berberine is a bioactive compound found in a variety of plants including the berberous shrub family. But berberine is a really good compound that can improve insulin sensitivity. Hundreds of different studies have been conducted to determine its effect on type 3 diabetes and cholesterol and most of them pointing to metformin like features. It works with a cellular mechanism called AMP kinase activation which is an enzyme that works as a partial signal switch and it helps you improve your insulin resistance by making your own body breakdown glucose better and faster as a result of that your cholesterol also improves and your LDL the bed cholesterol also improves. What else it does? It also improves the gastrointestinal flora, your bacteria in the gastrointestinal system by increasing the good bacteria and it helps to reduce the amount of carbohydrates that are absorbed or broken down by your body. So although berberine like metformin can cause side effects too. So many people prefer berberine over metformin because it is completely natural and it has a lower toxic potential than the other agents like metformin and unlike pharmaceuticals such as metformin berberine is completely natural it is completely plant-based and it can be found in supplements. Now we're gonna talk about the berberine's cousin the hydroberberine a second but before that I want to emphasize that both berberine and metformin can cause gastro intestinal distress but berberine is less likely to do so. So is there anything better than berberine right? That's a question. Is there such thing? Yes the hydroberberine is a superior form of berberine. The hydroberberine's chemical structure allows it to be more readily absorbable by the body and it reduces the side effects. Simply put only a portion of the standard berberine is absorbed after passing through the gut such as like 20% of it. Now berberine has a problem with the absorption and distribution in the body overall. As a result a greater portion of the berberine is wasted and it can lead to bacteria digesting berberine causing bloating and so forth. This is why the hydroberberine is superior to berberine because when you take the hydroberberine directly the active form of a berberine is not wasted it is totally absorbed and distributed and metabolized within the body very easily. Now scientists also discovered that the hydroberberine has a higher bioavailability overall five times actually not overall five times better bioavailability. So remember in our super berberine product we have the hydroberberine and saline cinnamon in a 20 to 1 concentration very strong according to my longtime research that is the best combination and a healthier natural alternative to metformin. There are other drugs such as sulfonylurea drugs some people may say alternative to metformin but it's no it's not. The mechanism of action is totally different than metformin and the side effects of these medications like galapazide, galiburide or galamopride are totally different and worse. They make your pancreatic cells make insulin all the time without taking a break causing long-term failure of your pancreatic beta cells. You can still have even abdominal pain and diarrhea but the worst problems associated with sulfonylurea class is that it is low blood sugar and weight gain. So what are the other pharmaceutical alternatives to metformin then that is not sulfonylurea? Well pyagilthazone is one. Pyagilthazone is licensed in FDA approved for a long time. It reduces the insulin resistance in the liver muscle and fat tissue as well and as a result you know your body will be able to uptake the glucose a lot easier. So it is in a sense we call it an insulin sensitizer in a way similar to metformin although not exactly. It does not have the gastrointestinal side effects of metformin but it does cause weight gain, water retention or edema you can call it and a possible worsening of heart failure if you are taking that medication with insulin and a possible increased risk of bone fractures have been reported and a slight but questionable risk of bladder cancer that is not necessarily confirmed. However if you or someone in your family has bladder cancer I would definitely stay away from pyagilthazone. There are tons of other diabetic medications that you can replace metformin with but they do not work necessarily like metformin and they are definitely not cheap. They also come with their own sets of side effects and in my opinion and in my practice I find the hydroberberine and saline cinnamon as the best natural alternative to metformin. That is why we came up with the superberberine after a year of research and studying. So make sure that you check that out on our website. Now if you cannot afford superberberine which I totally understand you can still consider extended or leased metformin or pyagilthazone as a less expensive generic medication option or you can simply switch to a different medication that your insurance covers if keeping your glucose under control is your ultimate goal. Again berberine and the hydroberberine also provide longevity benefits, anti-cancer benefits and heart benefits as well that you may not find in other diabetic medications. Now a few medications such as Jardians, Farsiga and Osempic and Victosa are some few examples of diabetic medications that have been proven to be cardiovascularly beneficial. So make sure you discuss those options with your doctor as well. So when it comes to natural alternatives though unless your doctor is open to those things you will probably just waste your time they will block you out so don't even bother discussing those with your doctor if they are not open to it. Do your own research keep learning and at the end that's why I'm here I hope this video helped you understand the best alternatives to metformin I'll see in the next video remember to like subscribe and share see you guys later. Hey guys I hope you're enjoying this channel so far and I hope you subscribed already if you didn't do it and if you did watch this video right there I think that will help you too.