Elderberry – Introduction.
Mother Nature’s very own medicine cabinet, provide us with Elderberries or Elder. The Elderberries, Sambucus nigra is a powerhouse full of “vitamin C, organic pigments, tannin, amino acids, carotenoids, flavonoids, sugar, rutin, viburnic acid, and vitamin A and B. (Herbwisdom). Elderberry is a wild edible weed that can be found growing wild in our own backyard, in the woods or on the side of the roadway. The flowers and the berries are the most used part of the elder. Elderberries are diaphoretic, diuretic and laxative and this is what gives the plant their medicinal properties. “Bioflavonoids and other proteins in the juice destroy the ability of cold and flu bug to infect a cell.” (HerbWisdom) They contain flavonoids that are powerful antioxidants and protect cells against damage.
Benefits Of Elderberry
Elderberry has a wide range of medicinal benefits. They help to boost the immune system, improve vision, help with arthritis, herpes and ear infections to name a few.
Most importantly elderberries are used today as a tea or syrup to shorten a cold or flu and for prevention of upper respiratory infection. Elderberries help prevent some strains of flu from infecting healthy cells. (Parent Guide)
Uses
Elderberry can be taken as an extract, syrup, tea, used to “make preserves and for adding flavor and/or color to wines,” pies and cookies. There are tons of recipes available to use with elderberries in that they will be both tasty and healthy.
A vy-russ is a capsule of protein that contains genetic material. A vy-russ cannot reproduce on its own and must infect a living cell to grow. Colds and influenza are both respiratory illnesses caused by different vy-russ — and it’s often hard to distinguish between the two.