Writings & Recipes

Antioxidant is a blanket name, really, for many groups of compounds in plants. Bioflavonoids, AKA antioxidants, are capable of increasing bodily health by supporting strong immune function and cell formation, destroying cancer causing free radicals in the body that corrupt cellular information, have anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties, and are antiviral and antibacterial to name just a few of their actions in the human body.

Let’s look into the antioxidants in elderberries. Elder is probably the most well-known antiviral herb on the market at present. It can assist in reducing inflammation in the sinuses to relieve congestion, eliminate metabolic waste products, stimulate sweating to remediate fevers, and reduce flu and cold symptoms. Elderberries contain shikimic acid, an intermediary in the production of Tamiflu, an anti-flu pharmaceutical. While commercial production of Tamiflu uses the shikimic acid in Star Anise, elderberries also contain this valuable substance. Cool beans, Elderberry!

Phenolic compounds in plants are secondary metabolites. While some claim they are not inherently necessary for a cell’s survival, they play key roles in the protection against pathogens, saline stress, heavy metal stress, UVA and UVB radiation. Antioxidants, terpenoids, and alkaloids/glucosinolates are 3 of the principal kinds of secondary metabolites synthesized in plants. Shikimic acid is part of the secondary metabolism in the actions of plant vitality.

Elderberries contain a variety of polyphenols. Polyphenols are a class of flavonoids, AKA antioxidants. In plants, polyphenols role is to give fruits and veggies their color, contribute to bitter taste, astringency, aroma, and the stability of the plant.  In us, polyphenols help to slow down or prevent the progression of diseases such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Additionally, they fight free radicals, reduce the appearance of aging, reduce inflammation, protect the cardiovascular system, support normal blood sugar levels and blood pressure, promote brain health, protect the skin against UV rays.

Guess what? Studies show that organically grown food contain more polyphenols than non- organic food. Wild foods are packed with polyphenols!

Polyphenols help to positively influence the health of the gut ecology. Beneficial bacteria thrive in the gut with the addition of polyphenols, while bad bacteria are negatively impacted. What we eat directly influences the health of the structure of our gut and the demographics (the population and particular bacterial groups within it) of the bacteria in our intestines.

When processing elderberries, care must be taken to ensure that the medicinal components are intact in the menstruum. While vitamin A, calcium, magnesium, potassium, niacin, iron, valerianic acid, viburnic and shikimic acids, tyrosine, and other health supporting constituents and nutrients in elderberries can withstand heating and drying, ascorbic acid, anthocyanins, and many other flavonoids (AKA antioxidants) may not. Heat and drying, whether it is stove top heat, or drying with stoves, dehydrators, microwaves, or any other heat source can degrade to a degree or destroy many the flavonoids in plants (1).

There is much controversy concerning the lectins in elderberries. Some will point to the instance back in the 80s where several people were “poisoned” by drinking a large quantity of fresh elderberry juice. The symptoms were severe gastric upset and diarrhea. It appears that lectins were the culprit. Lectins in plants resist degradation in the stomach, meaning they don’t break down in the stomach. This causes the digestive system to try and get rid of them as quickly as possible. That doesn’t mean poisoning, that means holy crap, point the way to the bathroom! Not everyone is affected by the lectins as others may be. Think about this: plants need protection from predators. They can’t run away or call the police or a doctor, so they devise ways to protect them including bitter tasting polyphenols, poisons, prickles, and the like. Genius!!!!!

There is much controversy concerning the lectins in elderberries. Some will point to the instance back in the 80s where several people were “poisoned” by drinking a large quantity of fresh elderberry juice. The symptoms were severe gastric upset and diarrhea. It appears that lectins were the culprit. Elderberry lectins resist degradation in the stomach, meaning they don’t break down in the stomach. This causes the digestive system to try and get rid of them as quickly as possible. That doesn’t mean poisoning, that means holy crap, point the way to the bathroom! Not everyone is affected by the lectins as others may be.

Additionally, the antiviral and anti-inflammatory actions of the anthocyanins in elderberries are reduced with heating. 10 minutes in a hot water bath reduces the anthocyanins by up to 10%. Most people heat their elderberries on the stove for much longer than 10 minutes at a much higher heat, which destroy a greater percentage of the healthful actions. For more information on lectins and heating elderberries, please read this study.

Personally, I use only fresh elderberries in my remedy making. Why heat the elderberries to lose even a small percentage of its medicine? To me, I honor the plant giving itself to me by utilizing as much of the medicine as possible. Additionally, I microdose, so never have to deal with the possible lectin issue. I take only a teaspoon of an elixir, tincture or oxymel per dose and space each dose out a few hours in between.

In this climate of fear around the coronavirus, I’d like to add this:

As the study above states, 10% is not a huge reduction in medicine and is not as significant as a higher percentage would be by boiling longer. My point is that people will boil the hell out of the berries for much longer than 10 minutes. I’ve crawled all over the internet looking at elderberry syrup recipes. Long boiling/simmering. Using immune depressing sugar to make the syrup instead of honey. No bueno.

However, being a wildcrafter and steward of the land on which I harvest and teach, I profess that we must utilize the most effective menstrua and processes to ensure we get the greatest amount of medicine out of the plants we harvest in respect that we took plant material from nature that those who actually live on that land – animals, other plants, etc, – also utilize for their survival.

All this to say, sure, dried elderberries cooked into syrup may still be effective against influenza viruses, however, if processed lightly, the effect would be greater. In this climate of fear about contracting the coronavirus – and the influenzas A and B that are still being passed around – people are looking for definitive answers. I would say go ahead and use the dried berries, but simmer for a short amount of time. It’s kind of a “we’ll take what we can get” scenario.

Be wary of those who will try to monetize our fears by claiming elderberry to be the be-all-end-all herb. It is not. We must not put all our eggs in one elderberry basket and think this particular herb is the only answer. We must use common sense around cleanliness, avoiding contact with those affected by viruses, and using other immune and respiratory systems supportive herbs such as yarrow, lomatium, arrowleaf balsamroot, rosemary, oregano, and elecampane to name just a few. Fire cider is helpful, as is raw garlic and onions. Try paper thin slices of raw onion and garlic on nut butter toast. 

To note: While plants do have the ability to produce constituents that kill certain viruses, fungi, and bacteria, we don’t know that those constituents will kill COVID-19 as it is a new strain. While this virus is being fully explored, yet there are still so many unknowns. Please follow CDC guidelines. 

Well , there you have it. The truth about elderberries! Keep believing in herbal medicine – because it’s awesome – and be healthy!

1. Tsao, Rong. (2010) Chemistry and Biochemistry of Dietary Polyphenols. pp 1231-1246. doi: 10.339/nu2121231 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3257627/