CK Nutraceuticals’ Metaberine Improves Metabolic Health Markers: Study

A bioavailable berberine ingredient marketed by CK Nutraceuticals as Metaberine was shown to support measures of metabolic health in the first study of its kind on the ingredient, at a low daily dose of just 200 mg. The findings were published in the International Journal of Clinical Trials.

“Berberine shows promise for metabolic health but suffers from poor bioavailability requiring high daily doses (500-1500 mg/day) that frequently cause gastrointestinal side effects,” the authors wrote. “We evaluated a biooptimized berberine formulation developed using BioSolve technology that could provide meaningful metabolic benefits at a substantially lower dose.”

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial recruited 36 healthy adults with a fasting glucose of 100-125 mg/dl, administering either Metaberine or a placebo once daily for two weeks followed by a week-long washout period before crossing over. The primary outcomes assessed were fasting and post-meal glucose during a 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test at 0, 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes. Secondary outcomes included plasma GLP-1, glucose concentration parameters (AUClast, Cmax), lipid profile, and safety.

Key Findings

The authors reported that Metaberine supplementation significantly improved all glycemic parameters.

Fasting glucose decreased by 9.08 mg/dl versus 1.36 mg/dl with placebo, with significant reductions at all postprandial time points. Baseline-corrected glucose AUClast and Cmax decreased by 13.5% and 12.7%, respectively. Plasma GLP-1 increased by 29% (fasting) and 22% (postprandial) with Metaberine versus minimal change with placebo.

Lipid profiles improved, with decreases in total cholesterol and LDL-C and an increase in HDL-C, the authors noted.

There were no supplement-related adverse events, and the study had a 100% participant retention rate.

“These findings demonstrate that biooptimized berberine at 200 mg/day, a five-to-seven-fold lower dose than conventional formulations, significantly improves glycemic control, enhances incretin response, and favorably modulates lipid metabolism in healthy adults at metabolic risk, supporting its potential as a functional nutritional ingredient for metabolic wellness,” the authors concluded.

Metaberine was developed by Zeus Hygia earlier this year. A pharmacokinetic study that compared a 200 mg dose of Metaberine versus a conventional berberine extract powder found that the maximum concentration of Metaberine was 37 times greater than that of the berberine powder. The time to reach Cmax for Metaberine was 30 minutes, compared to 8 hours for the berberine powder. Additionally, the area under the curve showed that Metaberine was 9 times more bioavailable than the berberine powder.