in today's video we are going to be talking about the best alternatives to metformin
also known as glucophage metformin is a drug prescribed to people who are dealing with
conditions relating to insulin resistance this includes pre-diabetes type 2 diabetes and pcos
but a lot of people who are prescribed metformin are not told about the long list of side effects
that affect 75 percent of people some of the most common are diarrhea fatigue and nausea but beyond
that it also depletes vitamin b12 vitamin b9 and other nutrients and these nutrient deficiencies
can lead to more serious consequences now the point of this video is not to scare you off of
metformin but rather to inform you that there are natural alternatives that have been shown
in studies to be as effective and with fewer side effects so in today's video we're going
to be talking about these alternatives and how to know if they're right for you
hey guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name is kait i'm a certified health and
nutrition coach i post videos twice a week here on youtube talking all things insulin resistance
weight loss sleep and more so if you're ready to take control of your metabolic health make sure to
click that subscribe button and you can also find me on tick tock and instagram where i share new
posts every single day now it should go without saying but i just want to make it very clear
that you should never stop taking your prescribed medication without talking to your doctor first
and i also want to mention that insulin resistance pre-diabetes type 2 diabetes pcos all of these
conditions are reversible yes metformin and the alternatives we're going to talk about today
they can help in this process but if you're not making the necessary diet and lifestyle changes
these things are only going to help to manage the condition and they're not going to help you to
reverse it now i have tons of other videos on my channel about reversing insulin resistance and the
associated conditions i'm gonna link that up above for you guys and you can check it out afterwards
but before we get into the alternatives let's quickly summarize what metformin is and what
it does metformin which is also sold as glucophage is an oral prescription drug that improves how our
bodies respond to insulin and regular viewers of my channel will know and i kind of also mentioned
it at the start of this video insulin resistance is the cause for pre-diabetes type 2 diabetes pcos
so by improving insulin sensitivity you're improving these diseases
insulin is the hormone that shuttles sugar from our blood to various cells throughout the body
but when we're insulin resistant our cells stop responding to insulin correctly and this
eventually leads to high blood sugar and a type 2 diabetes diagnosis metformin helps your cells
to accept the glucose once again so there isn't as much floating around in your bloodstream
for women with pcos metformin is also effective because the symptoms that define pcos which are
an irregular period high testosterone and ovarian cysts they are all caused by high insulin levels
now with all that being said there are a few alternatives which are about to talk about
that have been shown to be as effective as metformin also known as glucophage and the first
one is berberine a natural compound that comes from certain plants some of these plants include
european barberry goldenseal oregano grape and most well-known turmeric so if you've heard about
the benefits of turmeric for blood sugar it's because of the berberine but other than getting
it from these foods berberine can also be isolated into a supplement a 2012 review that looked at 14
studies found that berberine was just as effective as metformin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes
and there is a lot of other research on berberine which is found the same now it should be noted
that berberine has been shown to have fewer side effects than metformin but for some people it does
still cause some some people experience digestive distress and headaches those are the main two so
if you've tried berberine and you've experienced side effects then it might be worthwhile to give
the second alternative a try and that alternative is inositol inositol is a nutrient that is found
in certain foods like citrus fruit but the body can also synthesize it and because the body can
synthesize it it's considered a non-essential nutrient aka we don't have to get it through diet
an example of an essential nutrient is vitamin b12 for example but since our bodies can make inositol
it is considered non-essential however a lot of people do not synthesize it well
and there are also certain things in our modern environment that can deplete us of it which is why
supplementing it can be beneficial so once again inositol helps to improve insulin sensitivity
helping to reverse insulin resistance it improves our cells ability to accept glucose
and it also helps our bodies to burn fat for energy more efficiently there have been studies
done on women with gestational diabetes and pcos who saw improvements in blood sugar and
other symptoms when supplementing inositol now if you're wanting to try berberine or inositol
my absolute favorite brand that i recommend is so well health they have berberine capsules which
are combined with chromium and cinnamon which can also help with insulin sensitivity and their get
so synced capsules include two types of inositol magnesium vitamin b9 and vitamin d3 again all of
these can help to play a role in regulating blood sugar and insulin i will link both of these in the
description box down below and i do have a promo code for 10 off which i will put down there as
well but anyways guys that's all i have for you today so let me know in the comment section down
below what your experience has been with metformin or glucophage did you experience a lot of side
effects did you get good results let me know down below thank you again for watching this video and
if you did enjoy it you might also enjoy my video on the most common side effects of metformin i'm
going to link it right here if you want to catch up on my most recent upload you can find it here
and if you want to check out my coaching programs including my 7 day insulin resistance master class
which comes with a 7 day meal plan you can find it here thanks guys i'll see you next time bye