Benefits of elderberries ~ Elderberries are a tasty way to stay healthy this season! Support your immune system with these cost-effective immune boosting elderberry recipes.
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This cold season has been a doozy for our family. Our eldest entered the public school system in September, and that onslaught of new germs has meant a constant battle to fight off colds. Mostly I’ve managed to keep them at bay, but there’s only so much you can do when a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old are sneezing in your face and using your sweater as a tissue. (We’re working on it.)
Related: Try these immune-boosting foods to help ward off that next cold.
Scores of people swear by the benefits of elderberries to help them stay healthy, and some studies have backed up their claims. Will elderberry concoctions keep you from ever getting sick? Probably not, but they may help you fight some off or shorten the duration and severity of those you do come down with. You don’t have much to lose with elderberry tea — this is a tasty, inexpensive, low-waste way to enjoy the benefits of elderberries, especially if you already enjoy fruity tea.
Though the price per pound looks daunting, the jar I filled cost only $2.08 and should make up to 40 mugs of tea.
You can buy elderberries in the bulk section of many natural foods stores, and when you bring your own container, you eliminate virtually all the waste from your tea habit. (You can also buy elderberries by the pound online, which will last your family a very long time.) Either way, you get to skip all the bags, and cup for cup this is a lot cheaper than most herbal teas.
Making the tea is simple: just add a teaspoon of berries to one cup of hot water and steep. I like mine plain, but my kids prefer it sweet, so we add honey to theirs when they have the sniffles.
I keep a tea mug with a built-infuser handy for brewing multiple cups of elderberry tea from a couple teaspoons of berries (you can rebrew till it’s too weak to bother with). I try to sip some whenever I feel like my body’s trying to fight something off. Christina at The Hippy Homemaker ups the immune-boosting ante of her tea with a bunch more herbs thought to help immunity; try her recipe here.
Other ways to get the benefits of elderberries into your cold-fighting routine:
Elderberry syrup. You can buy pre-made syrup or make your own from the bulk elderberries mentioned above. This will save you quite a bit of money, especially if you take it often. Here’s a recipe from Chrystal from Happy Mothering and another from Brittany at The Pistachio Project (brilliant resource-saving idea: she also reuses elderberries from her syrup to make tea). Jess at Simply Healthy Home adds apple-cider vinegar to hers, and Christina The Hippy Homemaker adds some other goodies to her syrup for extra punch. TJ at Measuring Flower has a slightly spicy version if you’re after something a little different.
Chrystal has also developed an elderberry gummy for her kids. Jess at Simply Healthy Home has a recipe that includes some other immune boosters as well. We’ve made them a bunch, and kids and grown-ups alike think they’re a really way tasty way to stay healthy!
Elderberry-zinc tablets. Here’s the most cost-effective option if you choose this route. But there are many others (and it may very well be the zinc in these tablets helping your immune system; research thus far is inconclusive.) Here are some options without zinc.
Elderberry is also sold in capsule form. I prefer to go the food route, but everyone’s different. Get the benefits of elderberries however works best for you!
Enjoy the Benefits of Elderberries by Growing Your Own
If you have some space in your yard, you could even grow your own elderberrries. They’re beautiful and cold-hardy and will add edibles to your landscape, always a plus if you’re on a mission to live greener. And of course growing your own will save you money and connect you to your food. (Just be sure to follow guidelines about safe handling of elderberries, which need to be cooked prior to consumption.)
Want to know more about sneaking elderberries and other delicious edibles into your landscape? Angela England has great ideas for you in her new book, Gardening Like A Ninja.
Pin to save these benefits of elderberries for later!
Photo credits: Bless Pictures (via Flickr), HealthyGreenSavvy, Simply Healthy Home, Happy Mothering, John McLinden (via Flickr)
Another great immune system booster is Astralagus root. It can be added to your winter soups or broken up into a tea blend. Although not really local*** it can be easily purchased from Mountain Rose Herbs or Present Moment in the Twin Cities. Looks like a dried and then sliced tree branch.
***A few herbal growers in town are starting to incorporate this into herb gardens.
Great suggestion, Angel — thanks! I might look into adding some to my garden as well. Jess puts astralagus in her gummy recipe, here: http://simplyhealthyhome.com/how-to-make-elderberry-syrup-gummies/
Hi Susannah,
I have heard so much about the many health benefits of elderberries. I love your recipes for the tea and the elderberry gummy sounds like a wonderful healthy treat for kids & adults. Thanks for sharing how to grow them and all your valuable information. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays blog hop. Pinned & tweeted!
Hi Susannah,
Just a note to let you know that I have chosen your article as one of my features for this weeks Real Food Fridays blog hop that goes live every Thursday @ 7pm EST. Thank you for being part of Real Food Fridays mission to help make this world a little bit healthier every week. Happy Spring!
Thanks so much for featuring my post, Marla! Love your hop!
I love these ideas! I have heard about the benefits of elderberries before but never knew how to effectively use them. Thanks for sharing with us at Simply Natural Saturdays!
Hope they help you stay healthy! Thanks for stopping by!
Elderberries are so great for supporting the immune system! Thanks for sharing on Let’s Get Real!
My elderberry bushes are about to flower. The flowers can be used in tea or pancakes. But I generally just wait for the berries. I make an elderberry syrup and preserve by canning. It is only lightly sweetened. When I open the jar I add raw honey to increase the immune boost. I make it for the grand kids.
Lucky grand kids! That sounds lovely. Thanks for commenting!
I had bought a bag of elderberries to make some syrup and then was overwhelmed by all the recipe options. I’ll choose one from here and go from there. 🙂
Just start with simple — elderberries, water, and honey! It’s pretty straightforward and simple. Then check out some of the more complicated options. (I tried the gummies after writing this post, and they are terrific!)
Great idea! I haven’t tried that before, but have a number of other herbal remedies. I’ll need to add that to my medicine cabinet. Thanks for linking up to #SustainableSundays!
Ironically I just bought elderberries & had no clue what to do with them lol- loved this post! Happy to have found it on Do-It-Yourself Danielle’s DIY link-up 🙂
Excellent! The gummies are really worth trying, but tea is the simplest way to get your elderberries. Let me know if you think they help keep you healthy. Enjoy! Thanks for stopping by!