BARBERRY BARK (Berberis vulgaris)
Barberry isn’t just a pretty shrub - it’s a golden-rooted powerhouse for liver health, digestion, and metabolic balance, trusted since 650 BC.
Note: This a nutritional, functional food supplement and not veterinary medicine. For more information, refer to Dr Kellon's Horse Sense - Nutrition is not 'Alternative' Therapy
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💧Tincture
Our human-grade tinctures give you a ready-to-absorb potent source of phytonutrients at the highest-strength available, for immediate absorption straight into the bloodstream and to the body’s cells.
- Berberis vulgaris
- Cut Bark, Dried
- Decocted 1:3 35%
- Wild Crafted
Feed Guide
- 6ml/100kg bodyweight, daily in feed.
- Always shake the bottle to disperse any sediment.
- 3-year shelf-life.
- Our tinctures come in a heat-sealed, twin-neck, child-resistant HDPE plastic dosing bottle, complete with dosing chamber. *HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene) plastic is 100% recyclable, and energy-efficient to produce. Safe for food/water storage, it reduces waste and emissions while resisting wear. A top sustainable choice to match the EquiNatural ethos.
🌿Dried Herb
- Berberis vulgaris
- Cut Bark, Dried
- Wild Harvested
- Origin Pakistan
Feed Guide
- 5g/100kg bodyweight per day, thus for an average 500kg horse add 25g daily to feed.
- 1-year shelf-life.
- Want a scoop? You can add a scoop to your basket during checkout.
- Supplied in a resealable, food-grade foil pouch for freshness.
Footnotes
- Pregnant or nursing mares - always seek veterinary advice before feeding.
- ♻️ Eco Note: Our packaging is recyclable and refillable.
- 🧊 Storage Tip: Keep cool and dry.
Functional Nutritional Value
Constituents: Isoquinoline alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, phenolic compounds, triterpenes, sterols, flavonols.
- Our range of botanicals are all grown, harvested and dried without the use of agri-chemicals, non-irradiated and GMO free - see our Quality page for Quality Management & Certification Documents.
- Laboratory tested for identification and compliance to the British and European Pharmacopoeia standards
- Human grade.
- Please be aware that if you're purchasing our dried botanicals for human use, our dried range is cut to appropriate sizes for feeding to horses.
More ...
Barberry might look like just another pretty garden shrub with its deep maroon leaves - but behind that ornamental beauty is one of the most versatile and time-honoured herbs in the world.
Its healing reputation goes way back to 650 BC - when a clay tablet from the library of King Ashurbanipal of Assyria praised barberry for its “blood-cleansing” powers. Since then, it has found a firm place in Western herbalism, Ayurveda, and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
What’s it used for?
It’s the roots and stem bark that do the heavy lifting. Traditionally, barberry has been used to:
- Support the liver and gallbladder as a cholagogue and hepatic herb
- Act as a gentle antimicrobial for diarrhoea, dysentery, and parasites
- Serve as an alterative or “blood purifier” in spring tonics
- Work as a bitter tonic for sluggish digestion
- Even soothe the eyes as a cleansing eye wash
But that’s not all - barberry’s influence extends to modern concerns too. Herbalists use it for inflammatory issues, women’s hormonal health (including PCOS), and even metabolic challenges like diabetes and high cholesterol.
The berberine
connection
The real magic in barberry lies in its bright yellow alkaloid, berberine. This compound has been widely studied for its anti-diabetic effects.
Studies show barberry can:
- Help lower blood glucose, insulin, and triglycerides
- Reduce total and LDL cholesterol
- Improve insulin function and support better glucose metabolism
In short: barberry helps the body use sugar more efficiently and keep those metabolic wheels turning smoothly.
With its roots in ancient medicine and its value confirmed by modern science, barberry is far more than a pretty plant—it’s a powerful ally for liver health, digestion, immunity, and metabolic balance.
We blend Barberry Bark into our MetaTonic & MetaCOMBO , as well as three of our Immunity CARE blends - LymeCARE , OptimaCARE , and SiboCARE
Safety
- Barberry is generally considered safe when consumed orally and within the recommended dose (Arayne et al., 2007).
- Berberine is metabolised in the liver by the enzymes CYP2D6, CYP2C9, or CYP3A4 (Imenshahidi & Hosseinzadeh, 2019), and therefore has the potential to interact with a wide range of prescription drugs, for example phenylbutazone (Mills & Bone, 2005).
- Not to be used during pregnancy as berberine may increase levels of bilirubin , which can be harmful to a foetus (Chan, 1993 in Arayne et al., 2007).
- There are no reliable studies on berberine’s effects during lactation/nursing so we don't recommend feeding it to nursing mares.
