Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Elderberry Illness prevention and Recipe

     An important part of home management is working to keep germs from spreading and illnesses down to a minimum. I'm not talking about general cleanliness, but instead being very intentional about good nutrition and supplements. 

     Today I want to talk to you about elderberry. It has been used for ages to treat colds, flu and other like illnesses. It is high is vitamins A, B, and C and other immune busting goodies like antioxidants, potassium, beta carotene, calcium, and phosphorus. 

    
     Made into a syrup and blended with honey, ginger, clove, and cinnamon you have one powerful illness fighting supplement! Honey and cinnamon are known for their antibacterial properties while clove and ginger for their anti-inflammatory properties making them great partners in this syrup. This syrup taste delicious and I have had no problems getting my kids to take it. 

      It is very easy to purchase elderberries from Amazon, vitacost, and other online bulk herb stores like, Mountain Rose Herbs. It is just as easy to make elderberry syrup yourself and I am going to tell you how! 

Things you will need:
2/3 cup elderberries
3.5 cups of water
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp cloves; whole or powder
1 Tbsp ginger ( I tried 2 T with my last batch and it was too spicy for my kids); fresh or powder
1 cup raw honey

a medium sauce pan with lid
a fine strainer
a jar with lid to store syrup in

The steps:

1. Mix the berries, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and water in the pot. DO NOT ADD THE HONEY. That comes later.

2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for about 45 minutes or until the liquid have reduced by half. 

3. Strain the liquid and discard the elderberries. 

4. Allow to syrup to cool to about room temp. It cannot be hot when doing the next step.

5. Add the honey to the cooled syrup... Too hot and all the goodies in the honey will be destroyed. 

6. Put your syrup into your storage container and place in the fridge. Keeps about 2 months.

Dosing instructions:

Adults take 1 Tbsp daily
Children take 1 tsp daily
Since this syrup is made with raw honey it is NOT for infants under the age of 1. 
If cold or flu does happen take the full dose every 2-3 hours until symptoms disappear. 

After trying it out myself last year and seeing how well it worked I didn't want to hog all the wonders it has to offer. I hope you benefit from it as well. :)

Prayers of health and wellness this cold and flu season
-Tamra

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