Barberry
Berberis vulgaris
Herbs & Roots. Western & European and Middle Eastern & Unani.
Also called Common barberry, Zereshk, Jaundice berry
Spanish: Agracejo
Avoid in pregnancy and newbornsA thorny shrub whose root bark and tart berries contain berberine, a yellow compound.
Did you know? Barberry was pulled out of farms across the United States for decades, because it hosts a fungus that spreads wheat rust.
What it may help, and how strong the proof is
- Digestion & gut health. Traditional for diarrhea and upset stomach. Its berberine has been studied mostly in other plants, not barberry.Traditional proof
- Infections. Berberine fights germs in lab tests. No good human trials exist for barberry.Traditional proof
Parts of the body
Traditional use
Herbalists in Europe and the Middle East used the root bark for liver complaints, digestion, and diarrhea. Persian cooks still add the sour dried berries, called zereshk, to rice dishes.
How it is classified
- Herbal actions
- Antimicrobial, Bitter, Cholagogue. Energy: cooling.
How people take it
Traditional use is a tea or tincture made from the bark, in small amounts. Berries are eaten as food. No trial-based doses exist for barberry itself.
Tea, tincture and food.
Where to get it
Grows in hedges and dry hills across Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and is planted in North America. Sold as dried bark and tinctures, and the dried berries are sold in Middle Eastern markets.
Be careful
Berberine can make jaundice worse in newborns, because it pushes bilirubin off the proteins that carry it in the blood. Avoid barberry in pregnancy, while breastfeeding, and in babies. It can also lower blood sugar.
Avoid if: pregnancy; breastfeeding; newborns.
Mixing with other things
- Works well together
Both contain berberine and are used for digestion and infection in folk practice.
- Works well together
The pure compound has more human studies than barberry does.
- Use cautionDiabetes medicine (metformin, insulin, glipizide, Ozempic)
Berberine can lower blood sugar, so diabetes medicines plus barberry may drop sugar too low.
Adds up with others that may lower blood sugar: , , , , , , , , , , , , , and 39 more.
The honest take
Barberry's main compound, berberine, has been studied in lab work and in some human trials of the pure compound, but barberry itself has few human studies. Its traditional uses for digestion and infection are plausible but unproven. Pregnancy and newborns are the main safety concerns.