Yes, that season of colds and flus is here. We all woke up a bit stuffy today, so I decided it was high time to mix up some homemade elderberry syrup. There are lots of variations of recipes out there, but this is the syrup that I made today:
*1 cup dried elderberries (You can get these from Mountain Rose Herbs.)
*4 cups of filtered water
*10 whole cloves
*2 cinnamon sticks
*1 tbsp of fresh grated ginger
*2 cups of raw honey
Combine the first five ingredients in a stove top pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and allow to simmer for 30-40 minutes until the liquid reduces to about half. Once the simmering is completed, strain into a jar and allow to cool to about 90 degrees. Next add the raw honey (you want to be sure that the liquid has cooled to 90 degrees so that when the raw honey is added, you retain the healthy benefits of the honey.) Store in the refrigerator. Discard after a month.
Adults can take 1 Tbsp daily. Child's dose will need to be decided by weight. There are many ways to determine a child's dose and parents should use whatever formula they feel most comfortable using. These can easily be found on the internet. Clark's Rule and Young's Rule are just two examples of methods that can be used to determine your child's dose. This syrup should not be given to children under the age of two. Pregnant and lactation women should consult their practitioners.
This is a great immune syrup to take during cold and flu season. It's delicious and your dose can be taken alone or used to top ice cream, strudels, crisps, pancakes...well, you get the idea!
In our home, we tend to rotate through our supplements and do not take most things on a daily basis. If you chose to do this with the elderberry syrup, this is a great supplement to take when you know that you will be around a lot of people. If we are going to an event, I will usually have us take it the day before, day of, and day after to help keep our immune systems boosted while being exposed to germs.
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