Barberry

Traditional Uses & Why Herbalists Value It

European and American Eclectic herbalists used barberry root bark as a bitter tonic for appetite and digestion. It also appears in bile-oriented herbal practice, sometimes described as cholagogue use, the traditional aim of encouraging bile flow. Root and separated root bark are related but distinct materials.

What Modern Research Has Found

A placebo-controlled trial of purified berberine in adults with type 2 diabetes reported improvements in glucose and blood-lipid measures. Berberine is one of barberry's alkaloids; those measured-compound findings are distinct from evidence for whole root or root-bark preparations.

Parts Traditionally Used

Root: The whole underground material, often including outer tissues, has a bitter taste.

Root bark: The separated outer root tissue emphasized in some historical pharmacopoeias; alkaloids color it yellow.

Barberry in Formulae

Colon Cleaner Gentle and Colon Cleaner Max Strength list barberry root among other bowel and digestive herbs, where its bitter underground material contributes a distinctly old-fashioned digestive note.

Products Containing This Ingredient

• Colon Cleaner (Max Strength) Turkey Rhubarb - 120 Veg Caps
• Colon Cleaner Gentle - Happy Colon (60 Veg Caps)

Sources & Further Reading

• King's American Dispensatory: Barberry >
• Placebo-controlled trial of purified berberine