What Is Goldenseal, and Is It the Same as Berberine?

Goldenseal is a North American woodland plant whose root contains berberine and a second alkaloid, hydrastine; berberine supplements are usually extracted from Indian barberry, not goldenseal. So goldenseal is a source of berberine, not the same thing, and it shares berberine's pregnancy warning and medicine interactions. Chinese goldthread, Oregon grape and barberry are the other berberine plants. Every human study of goldenseal measured what it did to a medicine; none has tested it for an infection, and the one diabetes study reported HbA1c only alongside metformin. Berberine's own trials are in the Wellgard berberine guide.

Sources checked on 30 October 2026.

What is goldenseal?

Goldenseal is Hydrastis canadensis, a North American perennial of the buttercup family.^{1, 2} The root and rhizome are used, because that is where the alkaloids sit: in a field study they held more than 3.4% berberine in every sample and 1.3 to 2.8% hydrastine, against 1.0 to 1.5% berberine in the leaves and stems.³ Listed for decades under CITES, it is in short supply, which invites adulteration: a survey of 35 products found several that came from another species or a mixture, common substitutes including Chinese goldthread and Oregon grape.^{1, 2, 4}

Is goldenseal the same as berberine?

No. Berberine is one alkaloid; goldenseal root carries it with hydrastine, which is what chemists use to tell real goldenseal from a substitute.⁵ "Berberine" on a UK label usually means berberine hydrochloride extracted from Indian barberry (Berberis aristata), whose primary alkaloid is berberine.⁶ A 500 mg capsule of goldenseal root at 3 to 5% berberine delivers roughly 15 to 25 mg of berberine (estimated); the berberine study below used 900 mg a day.^{3, 7} How to take berberine covers the label and the trial doses.

What is goldenseal used for, and what do the trials show?

Goldenseal has a long traditional use and no human outcome trial; what is known comes from laboratory, animal and pharmacokinetic studies. The US toxicology programme's report lists its folk uses, and the NIH lactation database notes that high-quality studies of its efficacy and safety are lacking.^{8, 9} A suspected infection goes to a GP or pharmacist, or 111 out of hours; goldenseal is not a medicine.

Rats fed goldenseal root powder for two years at the highest dose (about 1,175 to 1,340 mg per kilogram a day) developed more liver tumours, mostly benign adenomas; male mice showed some evidence, female mice none, and the powder was not mutagenic in standard bacterial tests.⁸ In a human liver cancer cell line, berberine damaged DNA by inhibiting the enzyme topoisomerase II, in proportion to an extract's berberine content.¹⁰ These are animal and cell findings.

Does goldenseal interact with medicines?

Yes. In 12 healthy volunteers who took goldenseal for 28 days, the activity of the liver enzymes CYP2D6 and CYP3A4/5 fell by about 40%.¹¹ In adults with type 2 diabetes stabilised on metformin, goldenseal left overall metformin exposure inside the no-effect range (ratio 0.93) but lowered it by about 20% at the lower metformin doses, 14% at moderate and 0% at the higher; HbA1c fell from 6.8% to 6.5% regardless.¹² Berberine itself does the same: in healthy men, two weeks of 300 mg three times a day reduced CYP2D6, CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 activity, and in 52 kidney-transplant recipients it left trough ciclosporin levels 29% higher than in 52 patients without it.^{7, 13} What medicines interact with berberine has the medicine-by-medicine table; berberine vs metformin has the trials.

Is goldenseal safe in pregnancy or breastfeeding?

No. Berberine displaces bilirubin from its carrier protein, which is why it is not taken in pregnancy, while breastfeeding, when trying to conceive or by children: in a jaundiced newborn the freed bilirubin can damage the brain.¹⁴ The NIH lactation database (15 May 2025) states that "No data exist on the excretion of any components of goldenseal into breastmilk" and that most sources recommend avoiding exposure of newborns.⁹ The NHS herbal medicines page (1 May 2026) says "Herbal medicines are not recommended for children" and not to take them if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.¹⁵ The French food-safety agency's 2019 opinion also advises children, adolescents and people with diabetes or liver or heart conditions not to take berberine supplements.¹⁹

What is Chinese goldthread, and is it berberine?

Chinese goldthread is Coptis chinensis (huang lian), a buttercup-family plant whose rhizome is used in Chinese medicine; its alkaloids include berberine, coptisine and palmatine.¹⁶ It is a berberine plant, not berberine: the bilirubin finding above was made on berberine as the major ingredient of huang lian.¹⁴ Rare in UK supplements, it is one of the species found substituted for goldenseal.⁴

Barberry, Indian barberry and Oregon grape: are they the same as berberine?

None of them is. Each is a plant; berberine is one compound inside it.

Indian barberry, a shrub of the Indian peninsula, supplies the root extract behind most berberine supplements; its nickname "tree turmeric" does not make it turmeric.⁶ Common barberry is the garden hedge and the dried red fruit used in cooking; the berberine is in the root, where one extract assayed at about 10% berberine chloride.¹⁷ Oregon grape stem bark carries berberine and jatrorrhizine as its two main alkaloids.¹⁸

Before you take any berberine plant: the cautions

A whole-herb product's berberine content is unknown unless the label states it, and the warnings follow the alkaloid. Goldenseal, barberry, Oregon grape and goldthread are not taken in pregnancy, while breastfeeding, when trying to conceive, by children or adolescents, or near a newborn.^{14, 9} Anyone on a medicine cleared by CYP2D6, CYP2C9 or CYP3A4, or on ciclosporin, tells their pharmacist first; anyone on a glucose-lowering medicine asks the diabetes team, because berberine's glucose effect adds to the medicine's and goldenseal changed metformin levels.^{7, 12, 13} The NHS adds kidney or liver problems to the reasons not to take a herbal medicine.¹⁵ Berberine side effects and who should avoid it covers gut effects, hypos and how to report a reaction.

What we don't know

No trial has tested goldenseal for an infection or any other health outcome.⁹ How much berberine a whole-root product delivers is unknown unless the label states it; across 20 products it ranged seven-fold.⁵ The rodent liver tumours have no human study behind or against them, and the French assessment could not set a safe intake from the toxicology available.^{8, 19}

Frequently asked questions

Does goldenseal contain berberine?

Yes, with hydrastine; across 20 products the berberine ranged from 0.82% to 5.86%.⁵

Is goldenseal an antibiotic?

No. No trial has tested it in people with any infection, and it is not a medicine.⁹

What is goldenseal root good for?

Its traditional uses are digestive and urinary complaints, bleeding, and skin, mouth and eye infections; no trial has tested any of them.^{8, 11, 12}

Goldenseal leaf vs root: which is used?

The root and rhizome, which hold at least twice the berberine of the leaves and stems; root products carried about fourfold the alkaloid content of products labelled as goldenseal herb.^{3, 5}

How much goldenseal is too much?

No regulator has set a safe intake for goldenseal; the French agency could only propose an indicative value of 0.1 mg of berberine a day for a 60 kg adult, which most supplements exceed, and alkaloid content varies several-fold between products.^{5, 19} Anyone not listed above checks with a pharmacist first.¹⁵

This article is general information, not medical advice; never stop or change a prescribed medicine on the strength of a supplement.

Sources

1. Bedir E, et al. Micropropagation of Hydrastis canadensis: goldenseal a North American endangered species. Planta Medica, 2003. Laboratory propagation study. PubMed 12567290.
2. Wallace ED, et al. Detection of adulteration in Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal) dietary supplements via untargeted mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 2018. Laboratory survey, 35 products; no conflicts declared. PubMed 30031041.
3. Douglas JA, et al. Seasonal variation of biomass and bioactive alkaloid content of goldenseal, Hydrastis canadensis. Fitoterapia, 2010. Field study; government research institute. PubMed 20550958.
4. Liu Y, et al. FT-NIR characterization with chemometric analyses to differentiate goldenseal from common adulterants. Fitoterapia, 2018. Laboratory method study. PubMed 29421241.
5. Edwards DJ, Draper EJ. Variations in alkaloid content of herbal products containing goldenseal. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 2003. Laboratory survey, 20 products. PubMed 12836794.
6. Marchelak A, et al. Berberis aristata DC. (Indian barberry). Fitoterapia, 2025. Narrative review; no conflicts declared. PubMed 40239774.
7. Guo Y, et al. Repeated administration of berberine inhibits cytochromes P450 in humans. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2012. Randomised crossover, healthy men, 300 mg three times a day for 2 weeks; no conflicts declared. PubMed 21870106.
8. National Toxicology Program. Toxicology and carcinogenesis studies of goldenseal root powder (Hydrastis canadensis) in F344/N rats and B6C3F1 mice (feed studies). NTP Technical Report Series, 2010. Rat and mouse studies, 2 years; US government programme. PubMed 21372858.
9. Drugs and Lactation Database (LactMed). Goldenseal. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised 15 May 2025. Database monograph. PubMed 30000926.
10. Chen S, et al. Mechanism study of goldenseal-associated DNA damage. Toxicology Letters, 2013. Cell study; US FDA laboratory. PubMed 23747414.
11. Gurley BJ, et al. In vivo effects of goldenseal, kava kava, black cohosh, and valerian on human cytochrome P450 1A2, 2D6, 2E1, and 3A4/5 phenotypes. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 2005. Crossover study, 12 healthy volunteers, 28 days; funding not stated on PubMed. PubMed 15900287.
12. Nguyen JT, et al. The pharmacokinetic interaction between metformin and the natural product goldenseal is metformin dose-dependent. Clinical and Translational Science, 2025. Three-arm crossover, adults with type 2 diabetes on metformin; no conflicts declared. PubMed 39943692.
13. Wu X, et al. Effects of berberine on the blood concentration of cyclosporin A in renal transplanted recipients. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2005. Randomised controlled trial, 52 versus 52 kidney-transplant recipients, 3 months; funding not stated on PubMed. PubMed 16133554.
14. Chan E. Displacement of bilirubin from albumin by berberine. Biology of the Neonate, 1993. Laboratory and rat study. PubMed 8513024.
15. NHS. Herbal medicines and complementary therapies. Page last reviewed 1 May 2026. nhs.uk. Read 30 October 2026.
16. Zheng Y, et al. Coptis chinensis Franch. Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry, 2024. Narrative review. PubMed 39136504.
17. Ahmad S, et al. Quantification of berberine in Berberis vulgaris L. root extract. Antioxidants, 2019. Laboratory assay and rat study; no conflicts declared. PubMed 31248160.
18. Slobodníková L, et al. Antimicrobial activity of Mahonia aquifolium crude extract and its major isolated alkaloids. Phytotherapy Research, 2004. Laboratory study. PubMed 15476315.
19. ANSES. Opinion on the safety of berberine-containing plants in food supplements, saisine 2018-SA-0095. Agency opinion, 1 August 2019. anses.fr.

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