Question about elder berries/flowers
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Sarah McLaughlin
May 27, 2010, 12:14:59 PM5/27/10
to Herbs for the Respiratory System
The best way to take elder flowers seems to be in tea form. How are
the berries best ingested?
the berries best ingested?
Sarah McLaughlin
May 27, 2010, 12:15:50 PM5/27/10
to Herbs for the Respiratory System
Thank you!
Sean Donahue
May 27, 2010, 12:23:05 PM5/27/10
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I tend to use the tincture with the berries because it is easiest with the frequency of dosing -- with an acute viral infection I generally administer Elder berry hourly. This works to shorten the duration not only of colds and flus but also of HSV 1 and 2 outbreaks. In the case of a flu with an intestinal component people are better able to tolerate tinctures as well.
Jim McDonald likes mixing Elder berries into cocoa -- http://www.herbcraft.org/cocoabuzz.html
Syrups can be a decent way to give Elder berry to kids -- but make sure the syrup doesn't contain refined sugar, which suppresses immune function. Vermont Apitherapy makes a nice honey-based Elder berry syrup -- and the honey coats inflamed throat tissues nicely and also has its own antiviral and antimicrobial actions.
That said, the tea works fine. There isn't really a bad way to administer Elder berry -- unless its with refined sugar.
--
Sean Donahue, Traditional Herbalist
http://www.brighidswellherbs.com
http://greenmanramblings.blogspot.com/
"Sometimes there's nothing left to do but make love to the fear." -- Astrid Mannrique, ASFAADES (Association of the Families of the Disappeared), Popayan, Colombia
"If we eat the wild, it begins to work inside us, altering us, changing us. Soon, if we eat too much, we will no longer fit the suit that has been made for us. Our hair will begin to grow long and ragged. Our gait and how we hold our body will change. A wild light begins to gleam in our eyes. Our words start to sound strange, nonlinear, emotional. Unpractical. Poetic. Once we have tasted this wildness, we begin to hunger for a food long denied us, and the more we eat the more we will awaken." -- Stephen Harrod Buhner The Secret Teachings of Plants
Jim McDonald likes mixing Elder berries into cocoa -- http://www.herbcraft.org/cocoabuzz.html
Syrups can be a decent way to give Elder berry to kids -- but make sure the syrup doesn't contain refined sugar, which suppresses immune function. Vermont Apitherapy makes a nice honey-based Elder berry syrup -- and the honey coats inflamed throat tissues nicely and also has its own antiviral and antimicrobial actions.
That said, the tea works fine. There isn't really a bad way to administer Elder berry -- unless its with refined sugar.
On Thu, May 27, 2010 at 12:14 PM, Sarah McLaughlin <sara...@gmail.com> wrote:
The best way to take elder flowers seems to be in tea form. How are
the berries best ingested?
Sean Donahue, Traditional Herbalist
http://www.brighidswellherbs.com
http://greenmanramblings.blogspot.com/
"Sometimes there's nothing left to do but make love to the fear." -- Astrid Mannrique, ASFAADES (Association of the Families of the Disappeared), Popayan, Colombia
"If we eat the wild, it begins to work inside us, altering us, changing us. Soon, if we eat too much, we will no longer fit the suit that has been made for us. Our hair will begin to grow long and ragged. Our gait and how we hold our body will change. A wild light begins to gleam in our eyes. Our words start to sound strange, nonlinear, emotional. Unpractical. Poetic. Once we have tasted this wildness, we begin to hunger for a food long denied us, and the more we eat the more we will awaken." -- Stephen Harrod Buhner The Secret Teachings of Plants
Kym Feltovic
May 27, 2010, 3:31:02 PM5/27/10
to respirat...@googlegroups.com
I also wanted to give an appreciative nod to elderberry wine as a useful and pleasant tonic, and an effective alternative to tea or tincture. I've taken it this way for things like sore throat, anxiety, and back pain, and had very positive results.
~Kym
darcey blue
May 27, 2010, 10:21:08 PM5/27/10
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and elderberry kombucha!
darcey blue
May 27, 2010, 10:21:21 PM5/27/10
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and elderberry vinegar!
Kym Feltovic
May 27, 2010, 10:26:01 PM5/27/10
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I like the way you think!
Sarah McLaughlin
May 27, 2010, 11:27:56 PM5/27/10
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OOoOooooOOOhhhhh! I grow my own kombucha--please elaborate!
Mary Wagner
May 28, 2010, 2:02:20 PM5/28/10
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Count me as an elderberry wine fan as well. My husband has blood sugar that is fine when he goes to bed, and is elevated by morning. Except when he drinks elderberry wine the night before. We've got a new batch still fermenting from last fall. As soon as that's ready to drink, I want to do a more systematic test with him. He won't mind!
darcey blue
May 29, 2010, 10:12:36 AM5/29/10
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Oh nice to hear from another about the blood sugar modulating of elderberries!!
As far as kombucha goes...I steep elderberries in tea /sugar mix. Strain off after 8 hrs, and then add the scoby and ferment away.
:)
Darcey
As far as kombucha goes...I steep elderberries in tea /sugar mix. Strain off after 8 hrs, and then add the scoby and ferment away.
:)
Darcey
Sarah McLaughlin
May 29, 2010, 10:14:36 AM5/29/10
to respirat...@googlegroups.com
Fabulous! I will be doing that today!
Thank you,
Sarah
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