Easy Elderberry Tea Recipe (+ Health Benefits) (2024)

FAQs

Does elderberry tea have health benefits? ›

Benefits of Elderberry Tea

Packed with anti-inflammatory properties that can help to reduce swelling, joint pain, and muscle aches. Elderberry tea is also known to be effective at treating cold and flu symptoms, such as relieving congestion and reducing fever.

🍳 The Right Way to Cook Elderberries

Cooking elderberries is not just a culinary step; it's a safety measure. To neutralize toxins, specifically cyanide-inducing glycosides, heat treatment is a must. Boiling elderberries for at least 30 minutes is the go-to method. This ensures the destruction of harmful compounds.

Given its potential to strengthen your body's immune system and promote overall wellness, it should be. * Elderberry tea is a satisfyingly tart and tangy drink you can enjoy daily, hot or cold. Elderberries aren't one of the berries you'll find year-round in your grocery store. But they aren't uncommon.

Because elderberry may stimulate the immune system, it could interfere with medications taken to suppress the immune system. These medications include corticosteroids (prednisone) and medications used to treat autoimmune diseases. People with organ transplants should also avoid elderberry.

Elderberries contain vitamin C, but much of it is destroyed by heat. Adding lemon juice provides an additional vitamin C boost to the syrup.

Pick though the dried berries to remove any sticks or unripe berries before you cook them. Then follow the recipe instructions. The berries have to be cooked for at least 45 minutes (without a cover) to ensure the deactivation of the toxin that can result in adverse gastrointestinal symptoms.

"Autoimmune diseases" such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus, SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or other conditions: Elderberry might cause the immune system to become more active. This could increase the symptoms of autoimmune diseases.

The biggest concern of consuming elderberry is that there are parts of the plant that are not edible and can be toxic if ingested. The safest way to take elderberry is to make sure that you are only ingesting extracts of the cooked fruit.

How long do elderberries need to be boiled? ›

Simmer. Bring the liquid to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat slightly. Simmer the elderberries for at least 15 minutes. The water will turn dark purple, and your kitchen will start to smell like elderberry juice!

Elderberries were more prone to decrease anthocyanin content after cooking process. Nevertheless, about 70% of the anthocyanins were recovered from the fruit and the water used in the cooking process. Berry anthocyanins' content decreased the most in jam, and in recipes with baking soda.

As a result, in spite of the toxicity of raw, unripe elderberries, properly prepared elderberry tea is not thought to have any significant health risks.

Both the berries and flowers of the elderberry tree are edible, but elderberries need to be cooked before being consumed to eliminate the toxin sambunigrin.

Elderberries have shown antibacterial [14] and antiviral activities in in vitro [15]. Two clinical trials using a liquid elderberry extract (Sambucol^®, Israel) showed a reduction in symptoms and duration of influenza infection [16].