Taking a low-cost natural product like berberine to manage roller-coaster blood sugar sounds great, but does it work?

The answer is a qualified yes.

Pilot studies find that taking 500 mg of berberine three times daily reduces insulin resistance and fasting blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes just as well as taking the prescription drug metformin.

“Berberine appears to stimulate glucose transporters, allowing cells to take up blood sugar from the bloodstream without the need for insulin,” says leading authority on herbal medicine Tieraona Low Dog, M.D., of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine.

While these findings are very exciting, it’s important to remember that the large studies required to confirm these early results have not yet been performed.

Additionally, there is early evidence that berberine (found in plants such as goldenseal, barberry, goldthread and Oregon grape root) may interact with some prescription drugs. So make sure you speak with your physician or pharmacist before taking this supplement, especially if you have been prescribed tamoxifen, codeine, or antiarrhythmic drugs for your heart, says Dr. Low Dog. And finally, berberine is not considered safe for pregnant women.

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Scientists are also testing the herbal product’s ability to:

Trim Triglycerides: Preliminary studies show that taking berberine (500 mg three times daily) reduces triglycerides, a lipid or fat that is often elevated in people with diabetes. Researchers suspect the herb targets carbohydrate metabolism in the intestine, preventing uptake.

Fight Germs: Traditionally used in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for treating infections, modern research now confirms berberine’s significant antimicrobial activity. In China, berberine hydrochloride is available as an over-the-counter drug for treatment of gastrointestinal infection. Interest in the herb’s hypoglycemic effects surfaced in the 1980s when doctors noted diabetic patients taking berberine to relieve diarrhea experienced a drop in blood sugar.

Tieraona Low Dog, MD, is author of National Geographic’s Life is Your Best Medicine (2012).

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It’s still early in the game, but people with diabetes may want to consider boosting blood sugar control with the potent antioxidant harbored in red wine and grape skins often touted for heart health, says Heather Hausenblas, Ph.D., Director of the University of Florida’s Exercise Psychology Laboratory. In a recent study, diabetics taking a concentrated resveratrol product for three months boosted blood sugar control while lowering total cholesterol and blood pressure compared to the control group.

In early 2012, National Institute of Health researchers and their colleagues reported that resveratrol may confer its health benefits by attaching to and inhibiting a category of proteins called phosphodiesterases or PDEs. This important discovery may help settle the debate surrounding the natural product’s biochemistry and pave the way for resveratrol-based therapies.

“Resveratrol has potential for treating diverse diseases such as type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and heart disease,” says lead study author Jay H. Chung, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the Laboratory of Obesity and Aging Research at the National Institute of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. “However, before researchers can transform resveratrol into a safe and effective medicine, they need to know exactly what it targets in cells.”

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