What is Bioperine?
Bioperine is a pure piperine extract obtained from black pepper fruits that are cultivated in the damp, nutrient rich soil regions of southern India. The delicate pepper berries are hand harvested just prior to ripening and then sun dried to assure optimum maturity and quality. The extract of piperine, in the form of Bioperine®, has been clinically tested in the United States and shown to significantly enhance the bioavailability of various supplemented nutrients through increased absorption. It is manufactured by the Sabinsa Corp.
How does Bioperine work?
The metabolic process that generates energy at the cellular level in our body is called thermogenesis. While thermogenesis has typically been categorized as a key factor in weight loss, to confine the scope of its function to this aspect alone is incomplete. Thermogenesis plays an integral role in our body's ability to properly utilize the daily foods and nutrients we take in. It sets in motion the mechanisms that lead to digestion and subsequent gastrointestinal absorption.
Piperine, in the form of Bioperine®, enhances the body's natural thermogenic activity - hence the term Thermonutriene™. This enhancement may be explained as a means of increasing thermal energy sufficient to "power up" mechanisms related to thermogenesis. This in turn results in increased metabolic processes that create a "demand" for "supply" of a broad range of nutrients that contribute to metabolism, i.e. vitamins, minerals, herbals, amino acids, etc. It is as if Bioperine® activates a metabolic paddle wheel, of sorts, that selectively provides a more efficient mode of nutrient transportation into the blood. Based on available research, piperine is unique in its thermonutrient activity.
Clinical Studies
The subtle, yet potent properties of Bioperine® have been measured in several clinical studies with healthy volunteers in the U.S. These studies measured the absorption of three distinct categories of products. The categories evaluated with and without Bioperine® were fat soluble (beta-carotene), water soluble (vitamin B6) and a mineral (selenium, in the form of selenomethionine). Gastrointestinal absorption of all the studied nutrients, as measured by amounts present in the blood, increased dramatically when administered with Bioperine® as compared to the control group receiving the nutrient alone. Selenium levels increased by 30%, beta-carotene increased by 60%, while the vitamin B6 increase was slightly higher than beta-carotene.
