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Herb library · Herb · Hydrastis canadensis

Goldenseal

A North American woodland plant with a bright yellow root, sold for colds and digestion. No rigorous studies have tested it in people, and it changes how the body handles many medicines.

Traditional use

Native to the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. Native Americans used it for digestive disorders, wounds, and skin and eye conditions, and it became one of the leading Eclectic drugs of the 1800s. Wild goldenseal has been overharvested. Today it is sold for colds and other upper respiratory infections, hay fever, diarrhea, and constipation.

What studies show

  • Insufficient

    No rigorous studies have evaluated goldenseal for any health condition in people. Berberine, one of its components, has been studied on its own, but very little berberine may be absorbed when goldenseal is taken by mouth, so those results may not apply.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • InteractionGoldenseal may change how the body processes many medications. In an NCCIH-funded study it lowered levels of the diabetes drug metformin by about 25 percent, enough to affect blood sugar control.
  • PregnancyPeople who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not use goldenseal.
  • ConditionDo not give goldenseal to infants: its berberine can be harmful to newborns.
  • AmountDoses of about 3 g a day were used for short periods in small studies without serious harm; the safety of longer use is uncertain.
  • NoteSome goldenseal products have been found to contain other herbs or ingredients not on the label, in addition to or instead of goldenseal.
  • 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.

“With hydrastis, however, the opposite is true; the plant disappears as soon as the ground is disturbed by the settler. Once plentiful along the Ohio river banks, it is now found only in isolated spots, having suffered extermination as fast as the woodland yielded to the pioneer's axe.”
Harvey Wickes Felter and John Uri Lloyd, King's American Dispensatory (1905), vol. 2, p. 1021. See the page of King's American Dispensatory, vol. 2, p. 1021 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from King's American Dispensatory, vol. 2, p. 1021

Sources

  1. Goldenseal: Usefulness and Safety (opens in a new tab) · NCCIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.