YahGarden

Herb library · Herb · Berberis vulgaris

Barberry

A spiny shrub with sour red berries and a bright yellow root bark rich in berberine. Small trials suggest barberry may modestly improve blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and weight, but the trials are small and larger ones are needed.

Traditional use

A European shrub long grown in gardens for its red berries, which were made into preserves; its wood gave a yellow dye. Culpeper used the bark and berries for jaundice and "choler." In America a tea of the bark was taken in spring as a "blood purifier." Today barberry fruit and extracts are sold for blood sugar, cholesterol and weight, and berberine, its main alkaloid, is sold on its own.

What studies show

  • Limited

    Metabolic syndrome: a 2025 meta-analysis of 11 randomized trials (718 people) found modest improvements in blood pressure, weight, cholesterol, triglycerides and fasting blood sugar with barberry, but no effect on HbA1c or body mass index.

  • Limited

    Type 2 diabetes: a 2025 meta-analysis of 8 randomized trials (451 people) found reductions in weight, blood fats and blood sugar measures, with no effect on blood pressure. The authors say more extensive trials are needed to confirm any benefit.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • NoteLiverTox says berberine, the main alkaloid in barberry, has not been linked to liver enzyme elevations or to clinically apparent liver injury.
  • PregnancyBarberry contains berberine. LactMed says berberine can displace bilirubin in the blood, a concern for newborns because bilirubin can build up in the brain, and that most sources advise keeping newborns away from goldenseal, another berberine plant. Ask before using barberry if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
  • InteractionIf you take medicines for diabetes or blood pressure, ask before using barberry: the trials above report that it lowers blood sugar and blood pressure.
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.

From the old books

What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.

“The shrub is so well known by every boy and girl that has but attained to the age of seven years, that it needs no description.”
Nicholas Culpeper, Culpeper's Complete Herbal (1814), p. 16. See the page of Culpeper's Complete Herbal, p. 16 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from Culpeper's Complete Herbal, p. 16
“The fruit is a bright scarlet berry, and has an intensely, yet agreeably acid taste. It is said to make excellent preserves; was highly esteemed by the ancients, and probably would be now, if other fruits had not been cultivated to such a degree of excellence.”
Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd, King's American Dispensatory (1898), vol. 1, p. 345. See the page of King's American Dispensatory, vol. 1, p. 345 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from King's American Dispensatory, vol. 1, p. 345

Sources

  1. Berberine (LiverTox) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Goldenseal (LactMed, Drugs and Lactation Database) (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  3. The effect of barberry supplementation on components of metabolic syndrome: a GRADE assessment systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  4. The Effect of Berberis (Vulgaris and Integerrima) on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis, and GRADE Assessment (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.