BioPerine Review

Bioperine logoBioperine is brought to you by the same company (Sabinsa) that came up with ForsLean.

Bioperine is an extract from the fruit Piper nigrum L (black pepper) or Piper longum L (long pepper). Both of these contain the active ingredient that you’re looking for: Piperine. They call it a “thermonutrient” because it “enhances the body’s natural thermogenic activity.”

Is it the real deal?

The Bioperine website did cite one study on their website, that showed an increased absorption of beta-carotene, vitamin B6 and selenium (fat soluble, water soluble, and a mineral, respectively).

Asian cultures anciently have used long and black pepper for medicinal/health purposes, but obviously actual research is much more welcome. To that end, this was of particular interest from the Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, India ((Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2007;47(8):735-48.)):

Many physiological effects of black pepper, its extracts, or its major active principle, piperine, have been reported in recent decades. Dietary piperine, by favorably stimulating the digestive enzymes of pancreas, enhances the digestive capacity and significantly reduces the gastrointestinal food transit time. Piperine has been demonstrated in in vitro studies to protect against oxidative damage by inhibiting or quenching free radicals and reactive oxygen species. Black pepper or piperine treatment has also been evidenced to lower lipid peroxidation in vivo and beneficially influence cellular thiol status, antioxidant molecules and antioxidant enzymes in a number of experimental situations of oxidative stress. The most far-reaching attribute of piperine has been its inhibitory influence on enzymatic drug biotransforming reactions in the liver. It strongly inhibits hepatic and intestinal aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase and UDP-glucuronyl transferase. Piperine has been documented to enhance the bioavailability of a number of therapeutic drugs as well as phytochemicals by this very property. Piperine’s bioavailability enhancing property is also partly attributed to increased absorption as a result of its effect on the ultrastructure of intestinal brush border.

I don’t know if the ability to absorb more nutrients will directly translate into lost weight, but the added health benefits of Bioperine should not be overlooked.