Supplement Spotlight - Bergamot BDF
Bergamot is a citrus fruit that originates from Italy and southeast Asia. (Perna et al., 2019) It is about the size of an orange and has a yellow peel. It has primarily been used in essential oils due to its pleasant smell as well as some of its anti-inflammatory effects when taken orally. Bergamot and its flavonoids have been researched for multiple clinical uses. Many practitioners and patients use Bergamot to help improve cholesterol, diabetes, anxiety, stress, sleep and mood. Clinically, I have primarily used Bergamot for its improvement in blood lipids. Primarily using Bergamot to help reduce total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) along with good lifestyle modification in patients who have high cholesterol. One key way that Bergamot helps with cholesterol is that it helps to reduce and stop the oxidation (inflammation) of LDL particles (C. Nauman & J. Johnson, 2019). LDL cholesterol can become oxidized due to a poor diet that includes excessive processed sugars and vegetable oils, lack of exercise and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) also known as free radicals. Food containing high amounts of vegetable oils such as: soybean oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, canola oil, etc have inflammatory fatty acids that can affect the size and shape of LDL. High fructose corn syrup, sucrose and other refined sugars can also have a similar effect.
Bergamot mainly works on 2 enzymatic pathways to help lower total cholesterol. This is the HMG CoA and AMPK pathway. HMG CoA is responsible for packaging and making cholesterol. Statin drugs like Lipitor®, Crestor®, etc work similarly but are much stronger and have significantly more side effects than Bergamot flavonoids. By working on HMG CoA, Bergamot can help to reduce total cholesterol and LDL. The less LDL a patient has the less likely there is oxidized LDL to damage the vessels in the heart and the circulatory system. AMPK is a pathway most notably understood to affect sugar due to the common diabetic medication, Metformin, used to help improve blood glucose metabolism. AMPK, though, works on multiple different enzymatic pathways including blood pressure and lipid metabolism. Bergamot helps to activate this pathway by reducing total blood sugar and improving total cholesterol. The less sugar in the blood stream, the less inflammation and oxidation to cholesterol carrying lipoproteins in the blood.
Bergamot BDF by Orthomolecular contains Bergamonte® BPE-C which consists of the white rind material on the peel of the Bergamot fruit which often is lost in most other extracts derived from the Bergamot fruit. Unlike many competitors, Bergamonte® keeps the rind portion of the peel in the extraction process which creates a product that mimics the whole fruit keeping the flavonoids intact. This makes this product superior to other formulations at helping to improve cholesterol and reduce blood sugar.
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1) Perna, S., Spadaccini, D., Botteri, L., Girometta, C., Riva, A., Allegrini, P., Petrangolini, G., Infantino, V., & Rondanelli, M. (2019, January 25). Efficacy of bergamot: From anti‐inflammatory and anti‐oxidative mechanisms to clinical applications as preventive agent for cardiovascular morbidity, skin diseases, and mood alterations. Food Science & Nutrition, 7(2), 369–384. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsn3.903
2) C. Nauman, M., & J. Johnson, J. (2019). Clinical application of bergamot (Citrus bergamia) for reducing high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease markers. Integrative Food, Nutrition and Metabolism, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.15761/ifnm.1000249
