Three Benefits of Elderberries

It seems that everyone we know has had the flu recently. In fact,data from Walgreens shows that Texas is first in the nation for flu activity and east Texas actually propelled the state to the top of the flu activities rankings. My family was not untouched by this epidemic but we sure came out relatively unscathed thanks to the benefits of elderberries.

My two daughters are in daycare throughout the week and came home with it first. They were down for about 2 days but ready to go back pretty quickly. My husband got it next and was completely down for 1 day but bounced back nicely after a day of rest. I was taking doses of my syrup like my life depended on it and was only affected for less than half a day. This stuff really does help with symptoms!

Here are some surprising benefits of elderberries you can take advantage of when you first come down with cold or flu symptoms:

• Elderberries have been shown to have antiviral properties, especially against different strains of of influenza virus. This study showed a higher antibody level to influenza virus in the group taking elderberry extract.
• Elderberries activate the healthy immune system by increasing inflammatory cytokines production. This is beneficial to the immune system activation and in the inflammatory process in healthy individuals or patients with various diseases.
• Elderberry extract possesses antimicrobial activity against human pathogenic bacteria based on this study.  The extract also shows an inhibitory effect on the propagation of human pathogenic influenza viruses.