Best Blood Sugar Supplements in Australia 2026: 8 Compared

Last updated: September 28, 2026 · Originally published: May 21, 2026 · By Eternal Elixir Editorial

Blood sugar supplements in Australia fall into two groups: berberine products, and chromium-based formulas with B vitamins, minerals or herbs such as gymnema and cinnamon. They are sold side by side on pharmacy shelves, but they are different ingredients with different amounts of evidence behind them, and the labels make them hard to compare on price.

This guide compares eight you can buy in Australia today, five berberine products and three chromium formulas. For each we list the amount of the main ingredient, the serve on the label, the cost of a day at that serve and who it suits. We also set out what the trials show, what they don’t, and who should talk to a doctor first. These products support normal glucose metabolism in healthy adults. They are not a substitute for medical care or prescribed medicine.

Best blood sugar supplements in Australia 2026: comparison table

Prices in AUD as of Sep 2026, single-pack price, from each seller’s own listing.

Among the berberine products, our capsule has the simplest routine: one a day, 90 days to a bottle. Bulk Nutrients and Caruso’s Berberine 500 cost less per 500mg of berberine, and we say so in their sections. The three chromium formulas are cheap per day, but each asks for three tablets a day and contains no berberine.

What a blood sugar supplement can and can’t do

A supplement can support normal glucose metabolism as part of a routine that includes food, activity and sleep. It can’t replace medical care, and it doesn’t act quickly. The trials below measured changes over weeks to months.

Most of the research was done in adults whose blood glucose was already above the normal range, and many were also taking prescribed medicine. So the results tell you what happened in those groups, not what a supplement does when your levels are already normal. If you have been told your blood glucose is high, or you take medicine for it, talk to your doctor before you start any product on this page. Berberine and chromium can add to the effect of glucose-lowering medicines.

How to read a berberine label

Berberine labels are written in two ways. Some state berberine HCl directly, as ours and Bulk Nutrients’ do. Others state a barberry or Indian barberry extract weight and then what it is “standardised to” or “equivalent to” in berberine: Caruso’s 1,000mg extract is standardised to 500mg of berberine, and Wanderlust’s 625mg extract is equal to 500mg. Compare products on the berberine figure, not the extract weight, and be wary of a label that gives only the extract weight. Our berberine HCl label guide explains the terms.

#1. Eternal Elixir Berberine HCl 500mg: best overall

Eternal Elixir Berberine HCl 500mg is our pick. Each capsule holds 500mg of berberine HCl from a 20:1 concentrate, the bottle holds 90 capsules, and the label serve is one capsule a day on an empty stomach. At $49.99, that is $0.56 a day for three months.

We rank it first because berberine has more pooled trials on blood glucose than chromium or cinnamon in the meta-analyses we cite below, and ours makes it simple: one capsule a day, one ingredient you can see on the label, and a bottle that lasts 90 days. The only other ingredients are rice flour and a cellulose capsule. The product page says our batches are third-party lab tested for purity and potency, and you can request the current batch certificate of analysis.

• Suits: adults who want a single berberine capsule a day, with the amount printed on the label, dispatched from Sydney.
• Doesn’t suit: anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, and anyone on prescription medicine who hasn’t checked with their doctor.

Price: $49.99 for 90 capsules. Save 10% on two bottles, 15% on three and 20% on five. Free shipping over $100, dispatch from Sydney within 24 hours, a 30-day money-back guarantee and Afterpay.

#2. Bulk Nutrients Berberine HCL Capsules: lowest cost per capsule

Bulk Nutrients sells plain berberine HCl, 500mg per capsule, 120 capsules for $39.00, or $36.00 each if you buy four. That is $0.33 a capsule, the lowest cost per 500mg of berberine in this comparison. The label serve is one to two capsules a day with meals, so a day costs $0.33 to $0.65. The ingredients are berberine hydrochloride and silica, and the label says it is not suitable for children under 15 or pregnant women. Shipping is a flat $9.

• Suits: buyers who want plain berberine at the lowest price per capsule.
• Doesn’t suit: anyone who prefers to take it on an empty stomach, or who wants free shipping on a single bottle.

#3. Caruso’s Berberine 500: pharmacy pickup

Caruso’s Berberine 500 is $24.97 for 60 tablets at Chemist Warehouse (RRP $49.95). Each tablet holds an Indian barberry extract standardised to 500mg of berberine. The directions are one tablet up to two to three times a day with each main meal, so a day costs $0.42 to $1.25. The label says it is not recommended in pregnancy or while breastfeeding, and to take it at least two hours away from pharmaceutical medicines.

• Suits: shoppers who want to pick up berberine at a pharmacy today.
• Doesn’t suit: anyone who wants a three-month bottle.

#4. Caruso’s Berberine 750: most berberine per tablet

Caruso’s Berberine 750 packs 750mg of berberine into each tablet, from an Indian barberry extract. It is $34.50 for 60 tablets at Chemist Warehouse (RRP $69.00), and the directions are one tablet twice a day with a main meal. That is 1,500mg of berberine a day at $1.15 a day, and a pack lasts a month. It carries the same pregnancy and two-hour medicine warnings as the 500.

• Suits: people whose doctor or practitioner has suggested a higher daily amount in fewer tablets.
• Doesn’t suit: anyone starting out, or looking for the lowest daily cost.

#5. Wanderlust High Strength Berberine: plant extract, two a day

Wanderlust High Strength Berberine is $59.50 for 120 capsules at Chemist Warehouse (RRP $119.00). Each capsule holds 625mg of barberry root extract, equal to 500mg of berberine, and the directions are two capsules a day. That is $0.99 a day, and a bottle lasts two months. The label says it contains sulfites.

• Suits: people who prefer a standardised barberry extract and shop at Chemist Warehouse.
• Doesn’t suit: anyone sensitive to sulfites.

#6. Herbs of Gold GlucoPlex: a blood sugar complex without berberine

If you searched for a “blood sugar complex”, GlucoPlex is the kind of multi-ingredient formula you mean. Each capsule holds 100mg of gymnema leaf extract, 66.7mg of cinnamon bark extract, fenugreek seed extract, 200mg of alpha lipoic acid, nicotinamide, 66.6mcg of chromium, vitamin D3 and 10mg of zinc. It contains no berberine. The directions are one capsule three times a day with food, so a 60-capsule bottle at $57.00 lasts 20 days, or $2.85 a day, the highest daily cost here. The label warns that it contains zinc, which may be dangerous in large amounts or over a long period.

• Suits: people who want gymnema, cinnamon and chromium in one capsule.
• Doesn’t suit: anyone comparing on daily cost, or anyone already taking a zinc supplement.

#7. Blackmores Sugar Balance: a chromium formula, not berberine

Blackmores Sugar Balance is a chromium formula. Each tablet holds 66.6mcg of chromium (as chromic chloride and chromium picolinate), with B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin D3, 100mg of magnesium, manganese and zinc. It contains no berberine. At Pharmacy Online it is $17.95 for 90 tablets (retail price $31.99), and the directions are one tablet three times a day with meals, so a pack lasts 30 days at $0.60 a day. Three tablets give just under 200mcg of chromium.

The label says to see a health professional before use if you are pregnant or breastfeeding or have pre-existing diabetes, and to stop and see a practitioner if you get tingling, burning or numbness, because it contains vitamin B6.

• Suits: people who want a low-cost chromium and B vitamin formula from a pharmacy brand.
• Doesn’t suit: anyone looking for berberine, or anyone already taking a B6 supplement.

#8. Healthy Care Sugar Balance Plus: the cheapest per day

Healthy Care Sugar Balance Plus is $15.59 for 90 tablets on Healthy Care’s own store. Each tablet holds 66.6mcg of chromium, 100mg of magnesium, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin D3, manganese and zinc, and the directions are one tablet three times a day with meals. That is $0.52 a day, the lowest daily cost here. It contains no berberine. If you searched for Healthy Care Blood Sugar Control with Berberine, we couldn’t find it on Healthy Care’s own store, where Sugar Balance Plus is the blood sugar product listed.

• Suits: people who want the cheapest chromium formula.
• Doesn’t suit: anyone looking for berberine, or who doesn’t want three tablets a day.

What the research shows

Berberine. Berberine has been tested in dozens of randomised trials.

• A 2021 meta-analysis in Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity pooled 46 randomised trials in adults whose blood glucose was above the normal range. Berberine, alone or alongside prescribed medicine, lowered HbA1c by 0.73 percentage points, fasting glucose by 0.86 mmol/L and two-hour glucose after a meal by 1.26 mmol/L compared with control (Guo and colleagues).
• In one of the best-known single trials, 116 adults with raised blood glucose and blood lipids took 1.0g of berberine a day or a placebo for three months. In the berberine group, fasting glucose fell from 7.0 to 5.6 mmol/L and HbA1c from 7.5% to 6.6%. Five people in the berberine group had mild to moderate constipation (Zhang and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2008).
• An umbrella review of earlier meta-analyses, published in Clinical Therapeutics in 2024, reached the same conclusion for fasting glucose and HbA1c in adults (Nazari and colleagues).

Our label serve is one 500mg capsule a day, which is less than the 1.0g a day in the Zhang trial. Don’t take more than the label serve.

Chromium. A 2014 meta-analysis of 25 randomised trials in adults whose blood glucose was above the normal range found that chromium lowered HbA1c by 0.55 percentage points and fasting glucose by 1.15 mmol/L on average. The effects were clearest with chromium picolinate, and the authors suggested more than 200mcg a day may be needed (Suksomboon and colleagues, Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics). The chromium formulas here give just under 200mcg a day at the label serve.

Cinnamon. A 2013 meta-analysis of 10 trials with 543 people found that cinnamon at 120mg to 6g a day for 4 to 18 weeks lowered fasting glucose, but had no significant effect on HbA1c, and the results varied widely between trials (Allen and colleagues, Annals of Family Medicine).

What hasn’t been shown. We found no good evidence that any of these ingredients changes blood glucose in people whose levels are already normal. Most trials ran for three months or less and many were small. No supplement has been shown to replace prescribed medicine. Our best berberine supplements in Australia comparison and berberine dosage guide go deeper on berberine.

Safety: who should talk to a doctor first

• If you have diabetes or take any medicine that lowers blood glucose, talk to your doctor before taking berberine or chromium. Both can add to the effect of those medicines.
• If you take any prescription medicine, check with your doctor or pharmacist. Berberine can interact with a number of medicines, and Caruso’s labels say to take their berberine at least two hours away from pharmaceutical medicines. Our berberine drug interactions guide covers this.
• Not in pregnancy or while breastfeeding. Several of the labels above say so.
• Expect some stomach upset at first. Constipation was the side effect reported in the Zhang trial. Our berberine side effects guide covers what people report.
• Stay within the label serve of whichever product you choose.

How we ranked them

Eternal Elixir makes Berberine HCl 500mg, and it is our pick. We rank it first on its label facts: berberine in a single 500mg capsule a day, with 90 days to a bottle and Sydney dispatch. We ordered the other seven by:

• The main ingredient and its evidence. Berberine products come before chromium formulas, because the berberine meta-analysis we cite pooled 46 trials against 25 for chromium.
• Label clarity. Whether the amount of berberine or chromium per unit is printed plainly.
• Cost at the label serve, worked out from each listing’s price, unit count and directions.
• Anything else worth knowing, such as sulfites, zinc or vitamin B6.

We haven’t lab-tested any of these products, ours included. Everything about a competitor comes from its own listing.

Building a routine around berberine

If you also take TUDCA and glutathione, our Metabolic Wellness Stack already includes this berberine with TUDCA 500mg and Reduced L-Glutathione, so you don’t need a separate bottle. Our TUDCA comparison and glutathione comparison cover those two.

People whose interest in metabolic health is really about ageing often look at Ca-AKG 500mg. It isn’t a blood sugar supplement and we don’t rank it as one, but our best Ca-AKG supplements guide explains what it is. For wider routines, see our longevity supplement stack guide and mitochondrial support supplements, or browse the full Eternal Elixir range.

Verdict: which blood sugar supplement should you buy?

• Best overall (our pick): Eternal Elixir Berberine HCl 500mg, one capsule a day, $0.56 a day.
• Lowest cost per capsule: Bulk Nutrients Berberine HCL, $0.33 a capsule.
• Pharmacy pickup: Caruso’s Berberine 500, from $0.42 a day at Chemist Warehouse.
• Most berberine per tablet: Caruso’s Berberine 750, $1.15 a day.
• Barberry extract, two a day: Wanderlust High Strength Berberine, $0.99 a day.
• Multi-herb complex: Herbs of Gold GlucoPlex, $2.85 a day.
• Chromium from a pharmacy brand: Blackmores Sugar Balance, $0.60 a day.
• Cheapest per day: Healthy Care Sugar Balance Plus, $0.52 a day.

Whichever you choose, check the amount of the main ingredient on the label, stay within the label serve, and talk to your doctor first if you take any medicine.

Blood sugar supplements: frequently asked questions

What is the best supplement to support healthy blood sugar?

Our pick is Eternal Elixir Berberine HCl 500mg: 500mg of berberine HCl per capsule, one capsule a day on an empty stomach, 90 capsules for $49.99, dispatched from Sydney within 24 hours. Eternal Elixir makes it. One meta-analysis pooled 46 randomised trials of berberine and blood glucose. Talk to your doctor first if you take any medicine.

Add Berberine HCl 500mg to cart · $49.99

Do blood sugar supplements really work?

Some have trial evidence. Berberine and chromium lowered fasting glucose and HbA1c in meta-analyses of adults whose blood glucose was above the normal range, and cinnamon lowered fasting glucose but not HbA1c. The effects are modest, most trials were short, and there is little evidence in people whose levels are already normal.

Shop Berberine HCl 500mg · $49.99

What lowers blood sugar quickly?

No supplement on this page works quickly, and none should be used for a high reading. The trials measured changes over weeks to months. If your blood glucose is high and you feel unwell, follow your doctor’s plan or get medical help.

Is berberine a traditional Chinese herb?

Berberine is the main active compound in Rhizoma Coptidis (goldthread), which has been used in traditional Chinese formulas for a very long time. It is also found in barberry and Indian barberry, the sources used in several products above.

Is Blackmores Sugar Balance a berberine supplement?

No. Blackmores Sugar Balance is a chromium formula with B vitamins, magnesium and zinc, and its ingredients list contains no berberine. For berberine, look at the first five products in this comparison.

Berberine or chromium: which is better for blood sugar support?

In the meta-analyses we cite, berberine had more trials behind it (46 against 25) and a larger average drop in HbA1c. Chromium formulas are cheaper per day and add vitamins and minerals, but the chromium trials suggest benefits appear above 200mcg a day, and the formulas here give just under that.

How much berberine should I take?

Follow the label of the product you buy. Ours is one 500mg capsule a day on an empty stomach. Other labels range from one to three units a day. Don’t take more than the label serve, and check with your doctor if you take any medicine.

Can I buy berberine at Chemist Warehouse?

Yes. Chemist Warehouse sells Caruso’s Berberine 500 and 750 and Wanderlust High Strength Berberine, among others. Our berberine at Chemist Warehouse guide covers the range. Our own Berberine HCl 500mg is sold online and dispatched from Sydney.

Sources

1. Guo J, Chen H, Zhang X, et al. The effect of berberine on metabolic profiles in type 2 diabetic patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. 2021. PubMed 34956436
2. 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 and Metabolism. 2008;93(7):2559-2565. PubMed 18397984
3. Nazari A, Ghotbabadi ZR, Kazemi KS, et al. The effect of berberine supplementation on glycemic control and inflammatory biomarkers in metabolic disorders: an umbrella meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Clinical Therapeutics. 2024. PubMed 38016844
4. Suksomboon N, Poolsup N, Yuwanakorn A. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of chromium supplementation in diabetes. Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics. 2014;39(3):292-306. PubMed 24635480
5. Allen RW, Schwartzman E, Baker WL, et al. Cinnamon use in type 2 diabetes: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Family Medicine. 2013;11(5):452-459. PubMed 24019277
6. Product listings, read September 2026: Eternal Elixir Berberine HCl 500mg, Bulk Nutrients Berberine HCL, Caruso’s Berberine 500, Caruso’s Berberine 750, Wanderlust High Strength Berberine, Herbs of Gold GlucoPlex, Blackmores Sugar Balance, Blackmores Sugar Balance ingredients, Healthy Care Sugar Balance Plus