BulkSupplementscom Berberine HCl Powder - Berberine Supplement, Berberine 500mg, Berberine Powder - Gluten Free, 500mg per Serving, 50g (1.8 oz) (Pack of 1)

Berberine seems to be all the rage especially for those looking to help their blood glucose levels.I've been taking capsule form for months now and it has definitely helped with my blood sugars bring down my morning glucose levels and preventing massive spikes after dinner.I've tried several capsuled brands of various ilk some less "yellow" than others and cracking open some of them and tasting them some tasted hardly bitter at all and subsequently those were the ones that had lower levels of efficacy.In short....the more bitter and yellow the powder usually the better the quality and potency.Inside this bag from BulkSupplements you will get some of the most yellow (near gold) and bitter Berberine I've encountered.It does not dissolve well in cold water at all. It creates this clumps and makes it harder to quaff.What I do is measure out ~600mg with a precision gram scale. I highly recommend getting a high precision scale to make sure you get the exacting amount.I then use a tea mug and pour boiling water in and use an electric whisk and that gets it where it needs to be.Once is it properly mixed I pop it in the fridge for 10 min because trust me you are NOT going to want to sip it hot.Once it is luke warm to cold I just down it nice and quick.It sits well like most Berberine capsules do and this has given me the best glucose numbers I've ever experienced after having tested 4-5 different capsuled brands so far.5/5

This is an excellent product. I fill capsules with the powder to avoid the taste many are complaining about. I buy bulk powders specifically to fill my own capsules to save a lot of money.

We bought this in powder for as a dietary supplement. We were looking forward to it but the taste is so nasty that it’s practically impossible to consume. Unfortunately, I thought that I had read that it was tasteless, but I was sorely mistaken and disappointed. The product itself may be of good quality but to get past the nasty taste presents a monumental challenge. I shoold have done more research. My bad.

First time I tried mixing it with my oatmeal. I heard it was very bitter, but i figured i could dilute it in my oatmeal. I could only eat half the oatmeal, it was terrible. I mix it with a couple spoonfuls of Greek yogurt and its not bad at all, i can get it down quickly without leaving much of a bitter taste in my mouth. I'm taking this along with Lecithin to lower my cholesterol.

It works but the flavor is awful and sticks to the back of your tongue even after brushing and chewing gum. I made servings into jello shots with the powder in the middle not mixed in. Helps alot.

When I first started using this powder a long time ago, I added it to sweet smoothies, and never liked the taste. However, once I started putting it on savory foods instead, with nutritional yeast, and sometimes pepper too, I got used to the taste no problem. Sometimes I eat a small amount with berberine and then clear my palate before eating the real meal soon after. From what I read, its bitter taste plays an important role, and the enzymes would be activated by taste. So I prefer powder over capsules.I've always eaten low calorie, but this makes doing so much easier. Everything I've read about its benefits has been exciting. I feel that during the periods I use it, my health does improve. I'm so glad this exists.

Update, 5/9/2017:Berberine did not give me good enough results to continue. After a couple weeks, I started seeing FBG (fasting blood glucose, which I take soon after I wake up) readings around 200-210; they had been 180-195 before taking berberine. And my A1c results:03/07: 7.003/26: started berberine04/28: 7.4Since berberine is supposed to be good for cholesterol and some other things, I am going to continue taking 2 caps/day until I run out (I was taking 4 capsules for blood sugar).I had better readings for a couple weeks, but I think that may have come from taking spirulina, and/or spirulina+berberine. Spirulina is supposed to improve insulin sensitivity--which is the real problem many with Type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome, PCOS, etc have; we make plenty of insulin but our bodies don't respond to it properly. I was taking 1 tablespoon of spirulina per day for about 3 weeks. One week overlapped with my berberine experiment, then I stopped taking spirulina to see if berberine worked alone. It didn't. :/ (I try to change just one thing at a time--supplement, diet, exercise, etc--so I can figure out what works and what doesn't.)In the study involving spirulina, subjects took 19g daily and insulin sensitivity improved 225%! However, that is about 2 tablespoons, and spirulina is a bit difficult to take in that quantity; it doesn't taste great! I actually found the easiest way to take it is to mix it 1 tbsp in about 4oz of iced tea and just chug it. Trying to disguise it in a smoothie, soup, protein bar or whatever just ended up being way too much food and way too many calories for me.Everyone is different, and berberine might be worth a try for you. It didn't make me sick or anything.==========First review:A little background:I went off all meds for a while, and my A1c was 6.7. Then it was 6.1 after a few months on metformin, 1500mg/day. But I cannot tolerate that much metformin--I have extremely painful intestinal cramping and bathroom emergencies all the time. I went to Victoza + 500mg metformin, and my A1c went back up to 6.7. Then I tried Bydureon (made me terribly dizzy) and Januvia, and it went up to 7.0 (highest A1c I've ever had). My insurance won't cover Victoza, which I liked because it suppressed my appetite. So I decided to look at natural remedies again.Berberine was on my list of things to try (along with taurine, spirulina, cinnamon, resistant starch, and other stuff). I read some of the reviews here, was quite impressed, ordered some, and made my own pills.I had been seeing nothing but bad readings in the last 2 or 3 months with Januvia. 180-195 fasting (which is what I was getting with NO medication, NO metformin), 160-180 2 or more hours after eating. Within a couple days of taking berberine I was seeing about 20 points lower in the morning, and 120-140 after eating. Even 100 every now and then, if several hours after eating. I hadn't seen anything like that since being on 1500mg metformin, or Victoza + metformin. I want to get those numbers much lower, but it's not bad considering I've only been taking berberine for 10 days. Victoza costs about $850/month, has many side effects, and has to be injected. I'm really hoping berberine will lower my A1--I will update next time I get it taken.I was able to make exactly 250 "00" capsules from 100g, which comes to approx 400mg/capsule. The last 50 were a little less full than the others; this stuff is VERY fluffy, and I was able to tamp it down 4 or 5 times. Berberine is really, REALLY bitter! Even a little residual powder on the outside of the capsules will leave a horrible taste in your mouth for hours; eating and drinking won't get rid of it, but everything will taste like pure evil. I put the capsules in a jar with raw rice and shook it for a while to rub off extra berberine, then rubbed each capsule with a paper towel to clean them a little more. That took a while but I did it while watching TV, no big deal. 240 400mg capsules cost about $36-45 (240x400mg/1000=96g), while 100g from Bulk Supplements cost me $22. It didn't save me that much money this time, but I plan to buy 250mg next time, and making my own capsules will save me at least $60.I've been taking 4 of these caps per day; 2 in the morning before eating, and 2 with my dinner, along with my metformin. One day I took 6 and I think it upset my digestion a little (but a lot of foods throw me off, so it may have been something else). I usually skip one or two meals per day, but I may try 6 total on days I eat more.