My patients frequently ask me about the finest herbal medicines to utilize throughout the winter months as it gets closer to winter each year. What nutritional measures can I take to help my family stay healthy and fit throughout the cold and flu season? is one of the most frequent queries I get. There are many herbs that can help with both specialized and general winter wellness goals, but elderberry is one of my all-time favorite, tried-and-true options for immune support.
Although there are many methods to enjoy elderberries’ health advantages, elderberry syrup has long been a mainstay of herbal alchemists.
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What are the Benefits of Elderberry Syrup?
The elder (Sambucus) plant’s berries, blossoms, and bark have long been appreciated by herbalists all over the world, and contemporary research has shown the berries’ capacity to support the normal, functional capacity of our immune system*. The winter holidays spring to mind as a period when our bodies’ systems are particularly taxed, making elderberries a perfect plant ally to foster resilience.
Why syrup then? These fruits, which can be served in a variety of ways, are frequently consumed in syrup form for a few different reasons. Convenience is one factor. The majority of conventional elderberry syrups contain a sizable volume of basic honey, and the sugar content, together with honey’s storied shelf life, serves as a food preservative for the healthy berries.
The other factor that makes elderberry syrup popular? The flavor! Variety of elderberry syrup serve as a coating for pancakes, oatmeal, or pastries because they enhance the flavor of elderberries, which always pops with a little sweetening.
In order to further increase the shelf life of their syrups, many traditional wellness-focused syrup recipes also contain some high-proof alcohol. Although the additional preservative may enable you to consume your syrup throughout the entire season, many people also value how well the honey or even other sweetener helps to cover up the flavor of the alcoholic drink.
Tips for Preparing Elderberry Syrup
Which elderberries should you use: fresh or dried?
Elderberries can be used either fresh or dried to make syrup. Since dried foods are typically simpler to find and preserve all year long, I frequently utilize them. Use twice as many dried berries as the recipe calls for if you’re using fresh berries.
Is baby-safe elderberry syrup available?
Honey is my preferred ingredient for my herbal syrups because it serves as a natural preservative and sweetener (as well as having other beneficial properties), but it should not be given to infants younger than one year old. This is a result of infantile botulism, a rare and dangerous condition that you don’t want to have! Therefore, you would need to replace the honey in your syrup with either sucrose or maple syrup and, as always, store it in the freezer if you intend to share it with a very young child.
How may elderberry syrup be made to last on the shelf?
As we discussed above, extra sweetness, alcohol, or a mixture of the two are needed to make syrups shelf stable, which means they may be left out at room temperature for a considerable time without going bad. You’ll need to add something else to prevent the bacterial growth and mold. My syrup recipe is designed to be more family-friendly by employing fewer sugar and no alcohol.
