Elderberry Syrup: A Healthy Flu Fighter

Did you know elderberry syrup has been studied and shown to be a powerful flu fighter? Did you know that taken during the flu elderberry has been shown to lessen severity and duration of the flu, even better than prescription antivirals? Did you know it is extremely easy, quick, and cost effective to make your own natural flu fighter, elderberry syrup? Have you ever considered making your own elderberry syrup?

Below you will find my quick and easy elderberry syrup recipe that will keep you healthy and save you money.

Making your own elderberry syrup not only saves you a ton of money (elderberry syrup can be made for about 1/4 of what it costs in stores), it ensures that it is pure elderberry syrup and not just elderberry juice combined with sugar, corn syrup and other juices.

Did you know that elderberry syrup has many benefits? Some of these include being a powerful flu fighter and strong antiviral.

In this post you will find:

1. Links to mainstream medical studies on elderberry benefits
2. How we use elderberry with adults and children
3. My easy 4 step recipe
4. A video tutorial
5. An elderberry syrup success testimonial
   Thanks for visiting and be sure to leave a comment with your elderberry ideas and success stories.

The wonderful benefits of elderberry syrup :

Elderberry flavonoids bind to and prevent H1N1 infection in vitro

Randomized study of the efficacy and safety of oral elderberry extract in the treatment of influenza A and B virus infections

Elderberry Supplementation Reduces Cold Duration and Symptoms in Air-Travellers: A Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Inhibitory activity of a standardized elderberry liquid extract against clinically-relevant human respiratory bacterial pathogens and influenza A and B viruses 

How we take elderberry syrup:

We take our elderberry syrup at the onset of any symptoms or as soon as we know we have been exposed to some nasty virus.

For adults and children over 10 we take 1 -3 Tablespoons every 4 hours until a day after illness is gone or for up to a week after exposure as a preventative.

****Note : Elderberry syrup should not be taken everyday.

 **see notes below for suggestions on how to use elderberry daily

Elderberry syrup for infants over 6 months  & toddlers:

For infants (over 6 months) and young toddlers do NOT use the honey, instead use the mix without the honey or add vegetable glycerin instead.

We give infants and toddlers 1/2 – 3 teaspoons of the mix with NO HONEY every 3 to 4 hours at the onset of an illness or exposure. If your baby is over 12 months and has had honey before then please use your own discretion.

HONEY IS NOT RECOMMENDED for children under 12 months of age. Their bodies and guts are not equipped to deal with the possible botulism found in raw honey until they are over 12 months. Please use the syrup WITHOUT the honey in infants.

***DO NOT GIVE ELDERBERRY or  ANY HERBS TO CHILDREN WITHOUT FIRST CONSULTING A PEDIATRICIAN*** 

Using elderberry daily:

If you would like to incorporate the health benefits and preventative properties of elderberries into your daily routine, here are a few ideas:

• Make it into a juice : use your syrup and cut it 2 quarts of water to 1 cup of juice, add honey and lemon to taste
• Make a hot tea, 1 tablespoon of elderberry syrup in a cup of hot water and add honey and lemon to taste
• Make jam to use on toast, biscuits and sandwiches
• Make an elderberry / (insert another fruit here) pie
• Make elderberry wine (for the adults of course)

Really you can juice and use elderberries like any other fruit, just don’t take the concentrate daily. 😉

Elderberry syrup is very concentrated juice. Taking it daily could cause sensitivity, upset tummies, or even cause it to be less effective in times of need. It would be HARD, nearly impossible to overdose on it, but it is still a potent herb and you shouldn’t consume it daily in the concentrated form.

Think of it like juice concentrate (you know the frozen juices you mix with water). You would not take those straight every single day. 😉

The 4 steps to make your own elderberry syrup :

• COOK
• SMASH
• STRAIN
• JAR

Really that’s it. Watch the video or check out the recipe below.  Cook, smash, strain, jar. 😉 elderberry syrup: a video tutorial:

Mmmmmm…….ELDERBERRY SYRUP

So there it is Mamas, the easiest thing you’ll do all week.

PLEASE let me know how it goes.

Leave me a comment on this post telling me how your elderberry syrup turned out, what tweaks you made to the recipe, how you use it, etc.

Also, use the comments area to ask any questions you might have about making elderberry syrup. I will reply as quickly as I can

If you enjoyed this video tutorial please check out my other tutorials like this one:

Print Recipe

Elderberry Syrup

This easy and delicious elderberry syrup will help keep you healthy all winter long.

Course

Herbal Remedy

Cuisine

Herbal

Prep Time

5 minutes

Cook Time

2 hours

Servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried elderberries
• 2 whole cinnamon sticks
• 4 cups water
• 1 Tbs whole cloves
• 1.5 cups pure raw honey
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Course Herbal Remedy Cuisine Herbal Prep Time 5 minutes Cook Time 2 hours Servings Ingredients 2 cups dried elderberries 2 whole cinnamon sticks 4 cups water 1 Tbs whole cloves 1.5 cups pure raw honey 1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

1. Place dried elderberries, cinnamon sticks and cloves in cold water
2. Slowly bring elderberries to a low boil
3. Reduce heat and keep mixture just below a simmer, uncovered, for 2 to 3 hours. (just steaming no bubbling)
4. After 2 hours, remove from heat, smash berries with potato masher or similar smasher
5. Strain berry mixture through cheese cloth into another pan
6. Allow mixture to cool until just barely warm and then add honey
7. Add 1 teaspoon of real lemon juice
8. Stir lemon juice, honey an elderberry juice together well
9. Bottle and refrigerate

Recipe Notes

Get your elderberries HERE:
BULK HERB STORE

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Elderberry Syrup & the Flu – A success story

*** NOTE**** I am not a doctor, nurse or any other licensed healthcare provider. If you will notice we ALWAYS see our doctor first for diagnoses and then for follow up. ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN before taking any herbs or supplements. Yes I realize elderberry is a fruit, however in concentrated form it is still a strong and powerful infection fighter. TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR!!

June 2014: My husband becomes ill during the week, the weekend before he had used a pressure washer with no mask to clean the hog lot. We assumed he had some type of bronchitis or pneumonia from that.

My 5th child was 4 weeks old at that time and still sleeping in a co-sleeper between us.

As the week progressed my husband became increasingly worse. By Sunday afternoon he was so sick and unable to breathe that he agreed to go to the ER. His first ER visit in his 43 years of life.

At the ER they were certain by his symptoms, recent activities and 104.7F temperature that he had pneumonia. A chest x-ray showed slight infiltration of the lungs but no pneumonia. The doctor decided to do a flu test, even though it was June, because he was out of other ideas and it came back positive for Flu A & B.

My husband was given a breathing treatment, some IV acetaminophen and sent home to rest.

Elderberry Treatment:

When we got home I immediately started everyone in the house, including the husband, the four older children, myself, and my elderly in-loves on elderberry, vitamin D3, and a whole food vitamin C.

The baby gets sick:

On Monday morning, in the wee hours, our just turning 5 week old baby woke with a 103 temp. We went to the pediatrician’s office where he too tested positive for both strains of flu.

**Talk about a scary mommy moment. I was instructed to watch him closely, nurse a ton, and bring him back in two days if we didn’t end up back before. They fully expected we would be in the hospital in 24 to 48 hours.

I came straight home and upped my dosage of elderberry since I was nursing the baby and wanted to make sure he got the benefits.

**insert a LOT of praying here**

Within 24 hours the baby was better, he never had any other symptoms besides the fever.

I did not give him elderberry, but took it myself while nursing him.

No one else gets sick:

Not one single person, out of 7 others, in our very small 3 bedroom house, caught the flu. (see the links above about how elderberry can help prevent the flu). Everyone had been around my husband, even sharing drinks before we knew he was contagious. Everyone had held the baby of course, even after he was diagnosed they were still loving all over him. NO ONE ELSE GOT SICK!!

We did no preventative pharmaceuticals or prescription anti-virals.

Our treatment for everyone was elderberry and vitamins, along with whole foods like bone broth soups and fresh fruits. 

The baby was completely better in just 24 hours and the only symptom he ever had was the fever. Had it not been for the test at the Ped’s office I would never have known or believed he had the flu.

When he was taken back to the pediatrician for a follow up they were amazed at how quickly his flu had come and gone since he was so young.

****NOTE****  I did NOT give elderberry or any vitamins (except D3 drops prescribed by the pediatrician) to the 5 week old. Do NOT give elderberry syrup to ANY child under 6 months old. Infants between 6 months and 1 year should only be given elderberry syrup  if it is made WITHOUT honey and approved by their pediatrician.