The elderberry syrup is one of my favorites ways to support the immune system because it’s effective and tastes great!
There are many natural ways to support your body through the winter season. It’s important to boost your immune system to prevent getting sick. It becomes even more important in case when you do catch a cold or a flu. The elderberry syrup is one of my favorites ways because it’s supper effective and it tastes great! Elderberry syrup is one of the best examples of how food can be medicine. It’s also kid-friendly due to its sweetness and has no side effects. Enjoy it with your banana pancakes or take a teaspoon every day as a preventative measure through the cold season. If you catch a cold or a flu, start taking a tablespoon every two hours to zap the cold before it has a chance to fully establish itself in your body.
Homemade Elderberry Syrup vs Store Bought
It’s true, you can just buy similar elderberry syrups. The homemade is better for because:
- But it becomes very pricy when you need to take a tablespoon every two hours. By comparison, my homemade syrup is about a quarter of the price of over-the-counter options.
- The other draw back of over-the-counter versions is the sweetener, usually it’s glucose. My recipe uses raw honey as a sweetener, which has so many healing properties. Raw honey is antimicrobial and is soothing to inflamed tissue (eg. sore throat) and can be used for cough relief.
Health Benefits Of Elderberry
The key ingredient, elderberry, is very high in flavonoids – powerful antioxidants and can disrupt a virus’ ability to replicate. In a recent placebo-controlled, double-blinded randomized study elderberry extract reduced flu symptoms down to 3-4 days. Elderberries are high in vitamin C and A, iron, potassium, and beta-carotenes. From personal experience in my own family, I can say it works pretty well and it tastes great!
Elderberry Syrup for Colds and Flu season
Ingredients:
1 cup dried elderberries
2 cups water
1 cup unsweetened cranberry juice (for taste)
1/2 cup crushed dried rosehips berries (optional)
1/2-1 Tbsp of dried rosemary
1 Tbsp of dried thyme
1 Tbsp of dried sage
Raw honey
Directions:
- Place the berries and herbs into a pot and add water and juice, bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. If you don’t have cranberry juice you can add 1 cup of water instead. The cranberry juice is really mostly for taste and without it the syrup becomes too sweet – at least for my taste. If you don’t have cranberry juice, add some lemon juice.
- Using a fork mince the berries to let as much juice out as possible. Turn the heat off and let cool to room temperature, strain the liquid through a nut bag or cheese cloth folded many times. Wring all the juice out of the berries.
- Measure the liquid and add the same volume of honey or at least one pound. Mix well until the honey is dissolved completely. Pour into glass containers, label and store in the fridge for up to 6 months.
- If you are making this syrup for adults only you can reduce the honey amount and add brandy or vodka as a preservative. This will make the syrup less sweet.