When you are super pregnant and everyone you see seems to have colds and flu you bring out the big guns! Last batch of elderberries in the freezer made into more syrup and some immune boosting smoothies (cooked not raw berries) with added strawberries, spinach and blood oranges 😍.
I spent ages last night reading about the benefits of elderberries, as well as being free and so readily available to forage here, they have significant provem benefits against cold and influenza symptoms. “In one placebo-controlled, double-blind study conducted by Israeli virologist Dr. Madeleine Mumcuoglu, 93.3% of the people taking an elderberry preparation reported significant improvement in influenza symptoms within 2 days of starting it, compared with the 6 days it took for the placebo group to see improvement.” Other studies have also shown they have a preventative effect. Interesting hey?
I used the recipe on the Woodland Trust website which is basically boiling down the berries with a bit of ginger, straining them and measuring the liquid extracted, then adding equal weight sugar and cooking for another 5 minute to make the syrup. Have you made elderberry syrup before? Are you going to have a go this year? L x
