Berberine is a yellow alkaloid found in plants such as barberry (Berberis), goldthread (Coptis) and goldenseal. Supplements usually contain berberine chloride or hydrochloride.
Also known as: berberine HCl, berberine chloride.
Berberine has no intake value or upper limit. Published human pharmacokinetic studies used single doses of 300 mg (Li 2019) and 500 mg (Petrangolini 2021) of berberine chloride. These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling. There is no FDA-approved berberine drug.
Very little berberine reaches the blood: after 300 to 500 mg by mouth, peak levels were in the picogram to low nanogram per mL range (Li 2019; Petrangolini 2021). A 2026 review (Dumitru) describes berberine as an inhibitor of the liver enzymes CYP3A4, CYP2D6 and CYP2C9 and of drug transporters, with possible added effects alongside drugs that lower blood sugar or blood pressure. If you take prescription medicines, ask your prescriber or pharmacist before adding it. These are trial protocols, not personalized advice; confirm any dosing with your prescriber.
In healthy volunteers given a single 300 mg dose of berberine chloride (Li 2019), the half-life was 30.6 hours on average and levels peaked at about 4 hours (3.96 hours), with wide variation between people (SD 23.7 hours for the half-life). After a week of dosing every 8 hours, the half-life was about 33 hours. In another study (Petrangolini 2021), plain berberine peaked at about 3.6 to 4.6 hours. Dose Track uses 30.6 hours and 4 hours.
Numbers shown are the values Dose Track uses, listed only where they agree with the source above. Half-life varies from person to person and with injection site.