Dihydroberberine is a chemical derivative of berberine. It was developed as a supplement because berberine is poorly absorbed and can upset the stomach at higher doses; it is taken for the same reasons as berberine, mainly blood sugar.
Also known as: DHB, dihydro-berberine.
The one human study compared 100 mg and 200 mg of dihydroberberine with 500 mg of berberine, each taken four times over about a day (Moon 2021). These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling.
What studies show: in a crossover pilot study of 5 young men, dihydroberberine (100 mg or 200 mg) produced higher blood berberine levels over 2 hours than 500 mg of berberine, but there was no difference in blood sugar or insulin, which the authors put down to the short study and healthy participants (Moon 2021). One author is a paid advisor to NNB Nutrition. We found no trials of dihydroberberine for blood sugar control, weight or cholesterol in people.
Safety: in a battery of lab and rat studies, dihydroberberine did not damage DNA, and a 90-day rat study found no adverse effects at the highest dose tested, 100 mg per kg a day (Lewis 2022). Both authors report consulting for Nanjing Nutrabuilding Bio-Tech, which funded the work. There are no long-term safety data in people. The evidence is very small and industry-linked.
We could not find a published half-life for dihydroberberine in people. In the one human study, blood berberine was measured for only 2 hours after the last dose; peak berberine averaged 3.8 ng/mL after 100 mg and 12.0 ng/mL after 200 mg of dihydroberberine, versus 0.4 ng/mL after 500 mg of berberine (Moon 2021).
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