4 Ways Your Liver Sabotages Your Sugar While You Sleep... And How You Can Help It Stop
It starts around 4 in the morning. Here's what's happening while you're asleep, why it shows up on your meter at breakfast, and what helps.
Let me guess how your morning went.
You didn't eat a thing after dinner. You slept. You got up, pricked your finger, and the meter read higher than it did last night.
So where did that sugar come from? Here's the part nobody explains at the doctor's office: your liver made it. While you slept. On purpose.
Your brain runs almost entirely on sugar, and it never clocks out, not even at 3 in the morning.1 So your liver acts like an all-night gas station, and it has four ways to keep you fueled. Let's walk through the night.
The pantry raid
Every time you eat, your liver tucks a little extra sugar away in a storage form called glycogen. Think of it as a pantry. Once you're asleep, it takes that sugar back off the shelf and drips it into your blood a little at a time. The pantry holds about a night's worth.2
The workshop opens
By the small hours the pantry is running low, so your liver starts building sugar from scratch, mostly out of protein. When dinner's protein runs short, it borrows from your own muscle.3 Doctors call this gluconeogenesis. I call it the workshop, and the night shift starts around 4 AM.
Amazing results already
I am already seeing much better blood sugar numbers with this addition to my daily supplements.
The recycling bin
Even lying still, your cells make a leftover called lactate, the same “burn” you feel on a flight of stairs.4 Your liver collects it, rebuilds it into sugar, and ships it back out, all night long.
The fat cracker
So what can you do about it?
Your liver has an off switch. When it's working, it tells the liver to ease off the sugar-making overnight. Here's how to help it.
The switch a walk flips, and how berberine helps keep it on
Inside your cells there's a switch called AMPK. Think of it as your body's fuel gauge.13 When it's on, your liver eases off its sugar-making and your cells pull more sugar in to burn for energy.
A walk after dinner flips that switch. And there's a plant compound called berberine that research shows flips the same one.14 In studies, people taking berberine showed improved insulin sensitivity and healthier blood sugar metabolism.1516
The catch is that berberine on its own is hard for the body to absorb. That's why Barton Nutrition's Berberine pairs a clinically studied dose with milk thistle, which helps your body take it up and put it to work. It's two small capsules with your first meal of the day.
Give your liver's night shift some help
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Try Berberine risk-freeSo why do I call it sabotage?
There's nothing wrong with any of those four. The trouble starts when the liver won't stop.
Normally, after you eat, insulin tells your liver, “We're full. Close the pantry. Shut the workshop.” When your cells stop listening to insulin as well as they used to (your doctor might call this insulin resistance), the liver never gets the message and keeps making sugar around the clock.7
Then, before dawn, your body sets off a little alarm clock of hormones that tells the liver to make some extra. A body that hears insulin soaks that right up. A body that doesn't? It's waiting for you on the meter at breakfast.8
That's why your doctor watches your fasting number and your A1C. Your fasting number is mostly a report card on your liver's night shift, not on last night's dinner.7 Your liver did that. Not your fork.
An important addition
An important addition to CinnaChroma! This really helps with blood sugar control.
Three evening habits that help your liver hear “stop”
- 1
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2Eat the protein and vegetables before the bread or potatoes.
It slows the sugar rush before bedtime.11
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3Keep your bedtime and dinnertime steady.
A short night makes that 4 AM alarm louder.12
All three help your body hear insulin's “stop” signal, the same signal berberine pushes on. Stack Berberine on top of the habits and you get more out of every bit of the work.
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If it doesn't earn a place next to your evening walk, you get your money back. No hard feelings.
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Real reviews from people watching their morning numbers
Verified Berberine buyers, in their own words. Individual results vary.
Amazing results already
I started taking the Berberine in May of this year. I am already seeing much better blood sugar numbers with this addition to my daily supplements.
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No side effects! Sweet, and my numbers are staying where they need to be. Yeah!
Berberine
I am very pleased with Berberine as I believe it is working with CinnaChroma to lower my blood sugar.
Berberine
Since taking Berberine I have more energy. What effect it has had on my HbA1c and cholesterol I will not know until my next blood tests, but I feel the readings should be as good, if not better than the last tests.
I’m taking Berberine in a plan that includes other products which, as a package, are definitely contributing to an improvement in my health and feeling of well being. Ordering was easy and I was able to track my package between despatch and delivery. I’m very happy with Barton Nutrition’s service.
An important addition to CinnaChroma! This really helps with blood sugar control.
This product performs as advertised. I take it daily and appreciate its benefits. Thank you!
Reviews are collected and verified by Yotpo, an independent review service. Results may vary. Berberine is a dietary supplement and is not a replacement for any medication or for the advice of your doctor.
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Questions people ask before they order
How do I take Berberine?
Take two small capsules of Berberine with your first meal of the day, preferably at the same time each day.
What's in it?
Each serving pairs a clinically studied dose of berberine with milk thistle extract, which helps your body absorb it. Every dose is listed on the label, so you can see exactly what you are taking.
Can I take it with my prescriptions?
Please ask your doctor or pharmacist first, especially if you take anything that lowers blood sugar. Bring the bottle to your next appointment. Most doctors are glad to see the label.
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Our packages ship the next business day, Monday through Friday, from our US warehouse. If you order on a Friday, it ships on Monday. If there is a US national holiday, it ships on the next business day. You will get an email with tracking as soon as it leaves.
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See the research behind this article (16 studies)
The numbered notes in the article point to these studies. Click a journal name to open the study at its publisher or PubMed record.
- Mergenthaler P, Lindauer U, Dienel GA, Meisel A. Sugar for the brain: the role of glucose in physiological and pathological brain function. Trends in Neurosciences. 2013;36(10):587-597.
- Rothman DL, Magnusson I, Katz LD, Shulman RG, Shulman GI. Quantitation of hepatic glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis in fasting humans with 13C NMR. Science. 1991;254(5031):573-576.
- Cahill GF Jr. Fuel metabolism in starvation. Annual Review of Nutrition. 2006;26:1-22.
- Brooks GA. The science and translation of lactate shuttle theory. Cell Metabolism. 2018;27(4):757-785.
- Baba H, Zhang XJ, Wolfe RR. Glycerol gluconeogenesis in fasting humans. Nutrition. 1995;11(2):149-153.
- Gerich JE, Meyer C, Woerle HJ, Stumvoll M. Renal gluconeogenesis: its importance in human glucose homeostasis. Diabetes Care. 2001;24(2):382-391.
- Rizza RA. Pathogenesis of fasting and postprandial hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetes: implications for therapy. Diabetes. 2010;59(11):2697-2707.
- Monnier L, Colette C, Dejager S, Owens D. Magnitude of the dawn phenomenon and its impact on the overall glucose exposure in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2013;36(12):4057-4062.
- Reynolds AN, Mann JI, Williams S, Venn BJ. Advice to walk after meals is more effective for lowering postprandial glycaemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus than advice that does not specify timing: a randomised crossover study. Diabetologia. 2016;59(12):2572-2578.
- Richter EA, Hargreaves M. Exercise, GLUT4, and skeletal muscle glucose uptake. Physiological Reviews. 2013;93(3):993-1017.
- Shukla AP, Iliescu RG, Thomas CE, Aronne LJ. Food order has a significant impact on postprandial glucose and insulin levels. Diabetes Care. 2015;38(7):e98-e99.
- Donga E, van Dijk M, van Dijk JG, et al. A single night of partial sleep deprivation induces insulin resistance in multiple metabolic pathways in healthy subjects. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2010;95(6):2963-2968.
- Winder WW, Hardie DG. Inactivation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase and activation of AMP-activated protein kinase in muscle during exercise. American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism. 1996;270(2):E299-E304.
- Lee YS, Kim WS, Kim KH, et al. Berberine, a natural plant product, activates AMP-activated protein kinase with beneficial metabolic effects in diabetic and insulin-resistant states. Diabetes. 2006;55(8):2256-2264.
- Zhang Y, Li X, Zou D, et al. Treatment of type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia with the natural plant alkaloid berberine. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2008;93(7):2559-2565.
- Di Pierro F, Villanova N, Agostini F, Marzocchi R, Soverini V, Marchesini G. Pilot study on the additive effects of berberine and oral type 2 diabetes agents for patients with suboptimal glycemic control. Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity. 2012;5:213-217.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Results vary. Always consult your physician before starting any supplement, especially if you take medication that lowers blood sugar.
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