ELDER Medicine ~ DIY ideas for flowers and berries!

Elder medicine, as we affectionately call the various concoctions we make from the flowers and fruit of the Elder (Sambucus nigra/canadensis) is a wonderful herbal ally. It's more than just a 'winter medicine' but we'll start there! I use the flowers and the berries. I make herbal tinctures, syrups, liqueurs, tonics, and more with this all star. Elderberry Medicine!

Elder is a “STAR PERFORMER” in the winter medicine chest. Elder flower, in tea/infusion or tincture form is a “must have” during cough, cold and flu season. At the first sign of sore throat, body chills, flu-like aches or fever symptoms, I reach for elder medicine and encourage you to do the same.

As an expectorant, elder flower can calm and soothe a cough. As a febrifuge, it has the ability to safely bring down very high fevers. As a lymphatic and immune stimulant, elder supports the immune system and studies indicate that elder medicine does indeed shorten the length of colds and flu. As a relaxing nervine, elderflower is calming to both children and adults. It has a long history of use in cases of anxiety, “frayed nerves” and excessive stress. Click here for Glossary of 'therapeutic actions'.

Children respond well when given elderflower infusion at the first sign of a cold, flu or infection

During cold and flu season, I use dried elderflowers alone or in combination with other supportive herbs.
It’s easy to make:

5 from 13 votes

Print

Elder flower Infusion

Amazing healing infusion 'solo' or with other helpers!

Course Drinks

Cuisine Herbal

Keyword #herbalmedicine, #keto, #realfood, #whole30, Paleo, Vegan, Vegetarian

Ingredients

• Elderflowers dried (or fresh if you have!)
• Water good quality

Instructions

1. Put 2-3 teaspoons of herbs into an 8 oz cup.
2. Add hot water.
3. Let it steep for 10 minutes or so.
4. Strain. It’s ready to drink.

Another wonderful whimsical DIY project that is definitely worth learning about?
ElderFlower Champagne (aka Elderflower Fizz)
Not a true champagne, and no alcohol -- Delightful and very easy to make. Get the kids into this project!
Here's the link to my post about this Elder treat. Pin to save for 'the season'!

                    Thanks to my friend and fellow herbGal Aryn from @SweetSong Herbals for this pic!

Elder Medicine :  

Elderflower Tincture:

Elderflower tincture combines very well with echinacea (whole plant) and boneset (herb)for cold and flu challenges. In the case of fevers, it combines well with blue vervain and yarrow. As this combination is not ‘heating’, it is excellent for high fevers. There's so much more to write, as always.
Please write with any questions. I will post these other formulae eventually.

Here's my post about Elder flower and cold/flu/fevers. This is a classic combination from traditional herbalism. I learned this blend from Rosemary Gladstar on Sage Mountain in our apprentice class. I've used it 100s of times with myself, family, friends and clients. It's definitely a good one to know!

ElderBerry

Let's not forget Elder's very special fruit -- this berry has become quite famous in recent years in 'mainstream' but herbalists have made concoctions from both the berry and the flower for centuries.
Ancient medicine!

Elder Medicine ~ Berry:

• diuretic
• immune stimulant
• nutritive

Elderberry is most famous, however for cold + flu symptom treatment!
When Elder medicine is used, colds and flu seem to be able to move more quickly through the body. Elder supports the body’s natural fever responses, strengthens and tones mucous membranes and provides supportive energy ~ at the same time!

Israeli researcher and world renowned Viralogist, Madeleine Mumcuoglu, PHD of Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center found that elderberry extract disarms the enzyme which viruses use to penetrate healthy cells in the lining of the nose and the throat. She found that if taken before infection, it prevents infection. If taken after infection, it prevents the spread of the virus throughout the rest of the respiratory tract and into the rest of the body. Her clinical trials found that there was:

20% significant improvement within 24 hours
70% improvement within 48 hours
90% symptom free within 3 days

Research indicates that after a virus enters a cell in our body, it replicates quickly and within a 5 hour time period, that initial virus now numbers in the thousands. Replication takes place every 20 minutes or so. This is the reason that herbalists recommend that we take our herbal remedies every 15 minutes in the acute phase of an infection.

Acute protocol in herbalism is just that -- take enough of the best quality of the best form of the herb... and TAKE enough of it!.. In this case.. At the first symptom, take a shot of the elder syrup (for example) every 15-20 minutes! More about Elder's berry? Read these posts below:
Here's my post about Elderberry Medicine here and DIY Elderberry Syrup here

Note: The International Herb Association's HERB OF THE YEAR for 2013 is indeed a powerful medicine~! FYI:  There's LOTS of ELDER info to be found in our 2013 Herb of the year book "ELDER"
Find it here!

Don't be without this herb ~ berries + flowers this year ~ So many good reasons to include Elder!
Here's a sweet mini-herb video shared on You Tube from Wild Rose Herb School's Yarrow, their director.

Pin these recipes!

By the way, Courtney from "Butter for All" just posted a wonderful "round up" of Elderberry concoctions from around the blogosphere. You may want to check it out if you are 'mad about elderberries' here.

Here's to our health ~~ Green Blessings,    Carol  xo