Elderberry Benefits and Side Effects

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Elderberry

Elderberry is known to have a lot of benefits. If you don’t know what Elderberry is or what its benefits are then you are in the right place. We are going to discuss all the benefits that you can get from Elderberry.

There are also some side effects that Elderberry seems to have. No need to worry because we have also mentioned that in the article. So without much further delay, let’s get right to it.

What is Elderberry?

Elderberry is a commonly used medicinal plant in the world. It has been used for a number of years. Egyptians and native Americans have also used this. It can be used to treat infection and heal burns and also used for the complexion.

Nowadays it has been used to treat cold and flu symptoms. However, it can be seen that the raw berries, bark, and leaves of the plant are known to be poisonous and cause stomach problems.

Elderberry

The berries are grown in trees that are known to be native to Europe. However, you should know that they are now grown in every part of the world. The berries are found in small clusters. They are quite tart in taste and need to be cooked before eating.

The flowers are also eaten. They have been used historically for various purposes. The flowers and leaves of Elderberry can be used for pain relief, swelling, inflammation. It is also used to stimulate the production of urine and to induce sweating.

The bark of the elderberry plant has been used as a diuretic, laxative, and can even induce vomiting. In folk medicine, there has been a mention of Elderberry too. The dried berries can be used to treat influenza, heart pain, sciatica, headaches, infections, dental pain, and nerve pain.

The berries can be eaten in various ways too. The Elderberry berries can be cooked. They can be used to make juice, pies, chutneys, jams, and elderberry wine.

The flowers are also known to be a delicacy that can be boiled with sugar to make sweet syrup. They can also be infused into the tea. They can also be eaten fresh in salads if you are a fan of it.

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Elderberry Benefits

There are several benefits that you can get from Elderberry. We should try to discuss them below. Try to read through all the points that we have listed. We suggest that you need some time to read it. You should take a moment and then read it at your leisure.

The number of things that you can get out of just a little bit of Elderberry is amazing. If you did not know about it, then you have the right time to know right now.

Let’s start with the first benefit.

1. High in nutrients

There are a number of nutrients that you can get from the Elderberry. We have listed a lot of nutrients that you can get with just a handful of them. Let’s look at them –

  • Vitamin C – In 100 gm of berries, you can get 35 mg of Vitamin C.
  • Dietary Fibre – In 100 gm of fiber, there is 7 mg of dietary fiber.
  • Phenolic Acids – These antioxidants can prove to be very useful. It can reduce oxidant stress from the body.
  • Flavonols – Flavonols quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin are found in the berries. They can be found many times in the flowers than in the berries.
  • Anthocyanins – This is also an antioxidant that gives the berry its statement deep purple color. They also help in the stressful oxidant stress in your individual body.

So you can say that they have a lot if health benefits from this little cluster of berries. You can get a lot out of it. Many people do not know what or how to get it.

But once you know how to cook it or which part to keep and which part to throw away, you will find that Elderberry is a good substance.

2. May help in cold and flu symptoms

Extract from Elderberry fruits like berries and their flowers can be used to make the cold and flu symptoms go away. There are various commercial forms of this Elderberry extract that can be found in the market to treat influenza and the common cold.

They are available in the form of capsules and gummies. A study was done in a manner that 4 dosages was given to few of the participants. This has been proved useful to people whose cold symptoms can be cured within two or three days.

Another research that can be proved is that a study of 64 people taking lozenge of Elderberry has been cured of flu symptoms like fever, headache, muscle aches, and nasal congestion, after just 24 hour.

Even though there are a lot of researchers that have been working on it, there is still the need of many more research and study that need to be done.

3. High in antioxidants

Elderberry is high in antioxidants. They can help reduce the oxidant stress that can be caused in your own body. This can cause disease like cancer and type 2 diabetes. Antioxidants are very useful to our body. They are natural components in our food and are used in our body too.

There are certain research that has been done to prove that antioxidants are very much successful in reducing the amount of chronic disease that can affect you.

The flowers and berries are known to have the highest amount of antioxidants that can be found in the plant. The anthocyanins found in the body are much more than 3.5 times the antioxidants.

The study was done to see that the amount of antioxidants that can be found in the body is increased by a lot. The results are promising in the lab, but they are limited in the body of humans.

4. May be good for heart health

Elderberry is known to be good for your heart health too. The level of fat and cholesterol in the blood can be reduced by the juice of Elderberry. Elderberry juice is also known to have a high content of flavonoids like anthocyanins.

A diet rich in such stuff is known to increase your heart health. Elderberry also reduces uric acid in the blood. High content of uric acid in the blood can cause high blood pressure and other diseases too. It can also increase the blood sugar level. Enzyme α-glucosidas may help lower blood sugar levels.

5. Other health benefits

Some of the other health benefits that you should look into are –

  • Helps fight cancer – Some cancer inhibiting properties are found in the Elderberry.
  • Support the immune system – It can increase the number of White blood cells and thereby increase the immunity of the individual.
  • May increase urination – The Elderberry juice can increase the amount of urination.
  • Fights harmful bacteria – Elderberry can fight some of the harmful bacteria.
  • Protect against UV radiation – They have a sun protection factor and can be used in cosmetics.
  • Have some anti-depressant properties – The Elderberry juice can also have the property to increase your mood.

Elderberry Side Effects

The Elderberry has a lot of benefits but you should be aware of some of the side effects too. Its bark, unripe berries, and seeds contain iectins that can cause some pain in the stomach.

This has been seen in a lot of people too. This however only happens when you eat too much of it. Another substance contains in Elderberry is cyanogenic glycosides, which can release cyanide in some circumstances. The Elderberry is not good when eaten uncooked.

However in commercial use, they are not eaten raw, they are cooked properly so they do not cause many problems. The branches barks and the leaves should not be eaten. The toxic substance can be removed from cooking the berries but that does not include the other stuff.

There was an instance of people falling ill after drinking the juice of all the parts of the Elderberry.

Elderberry should not be given to women who are pregnant. They should also not be given to adolescents or children who are under the age of 18. No adverse effect can be seen in these people but it can’t be termed as safe either. So it is better to be safe than sorry.

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Conclusion

Thank you so much for giving this article a read. We hope that you will understand that Elderberry is a very good thing to include in your diet. Please do leave your comments in the comment section below.

We would be interested in knowing how you benefitted from this article. Also, do share this article with others so that this article can be useful to others too.

Thank you once again for sparing your time and giving this long article a read. Have a great day guys! And please do not forget to take care of yourself!

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