Berberine acts on the pathway your cells use to decide whether to store fuel or spend it. It has been tested in humans against the standard of care, not only against placebo. In a randomised trial published in Metabolism in 2008, berberine produced reductions in fasting glucose and HbA1c broadly comparable to metformin over three months, in newly diagnosed patients.
The weak link is absorption. Taken on its own, only a small fraction of an oral berberine dose reaches circulation, because a transporter in the gut wall called P-glycoprotein pushes it back out almost as fast as it arrives. Silymarin, the active fraction of milk thistle, inhibits that transporter. Pairing the two is not a garnish, it is the reason the number on the label means anything.
Five randomised, double blind, placebo controlled trials of the berberine and silymarin combination have been pooled in meta-analysis, covering 497 participants, with improvement across both glucose and lipid measures.