This has been an article I have been meaning to re-write for a while, though I am going to leave up the original posting because of the timing of it, written during the height of the Rona outbreak in 2020 when I was biting my tongue a lot more, where now, I hardly hesitate to speak the full truth (you guys are awesome to be with me still, as I know I have gone through a lot of change in how I approach herbalism, health and nourishment since this time) hallelujah that change is what we are all meant to accomplish in this lifetime, and when we can think about ways we once thought were correct, when new information is offered, being able to CHANGE those old thought patterns ain’t easy my friends. And congratulations to you all, because, clearly, you are able to think through this sort of process! I applaud you!
I wrote this article originally because I had seen SO many mainstream Doctors claiming Elderberry was a toxic substance for the ‘novel virus’ that was circulating around in early 2019 and 2020. Claiming (without any real research or evidence, because the knee jerk stuff that came out in the beginning was just that, a reaction, VS truely implemented scientific research) that elderberries were causing a cytokine storm of inflammation and causing people to suffer incredibly serious effects from this supposed ‘viral outbreak’ that was killing them. To say I was upset to see Elderberry slandered in this way, was an understatement, and when I went searching on PubMed, which I am a regular at doing, and found the same information that was being circulated in the media there.
And because new version of this story requires some debunking of my own train of thought, back then, I will continue to say that though I knew there was DEEP corruption in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industries, alongside the Government and Mainstream Media, I hadn’t grasped quite yet, how many research papers, scientific journals, and testing on herbs especially, was a complete and utter joke as well. Since then, I have been taught by a couple of mentors, how to really READ these articles (because they are NOT easy to decipher for someone who didn’t go to medical school), and now my eyes are open to this deception too. I feel it is a training error, and by training I mean the indoctrination that occurs with ANY field of study (mine included), that there comes a tunnel vision in the presented process of research, but this is really what the process is, and this is to be ignored and that piece is to be pushed aside.
It happens in the Medical Industrial Complex, just as much as it happens in the Scientific Research Arm of Health and Medicine. For a slight and total picture example, when the FDA goes through the ‘process’ of approving a product for market, the team of advisors meets for 8 to 48 hours depending on the product. The company who manufactures the product, provides the studies to show the product efficacy, read that again if you need to. Because the impression that the FDA creates is that THEY are requiring 3rd party testing, (which I have to do as a Supplement Manufacturer), or that the FDA themselves is conducting the research on the products. This is unfortunately completely false.
So when I saw elderberry, one of the best herbs for immune support by the way, being completely drug through the mud, people touting on social media ALL over the place to stay away from a vital and powerful inflammatory reducing, antioxidant powerhouse of true vitamin C, I had to come to the defense, and when I read through this article, I see myself shying away from what I really wanted to say about this awesome, reliable (and mostly) completely safe medicinal herb. So, this redemption article is because I love this plant, I have 24 shrubs spread throughout the farmacy gardens, it deserves better than the article I wrote in 2020 and to have it written from the renewed, free voiced, wide awake (not woke) perspective of this shiny new herbalist of yours. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Elderberry and COVID – Materia Medica and Herbal Actions
Elderberries are widely known in the herbal and natural health realm for may reasons, you will mostly find syrups on the shelves of health food stores (which I recommend to avoid, especially when working with acute illness like the cold or flu). Elderberries are nearly black when you come across them in the wild, and close to black purple in cultivated settings, this rich color of the ripe berries indicates the medicinal components that saturate this sweet little fruit, powerful antioxidants, inflammatory modulating chemicals, quercetin, and vitamin c are jammed into these little berries, all for the benefit of your body.
The stem too, and bark to some extent, are going to be useful for any cold and flu preparation, which in my application and use over the last 4 years since the ‘novel virus’ was coined, work wonders in my home and those of my clients. Elderberry tincture is truly what is going to be most effective, and is in general what to work with when you are going to your herbal home apothecary for any issue with the body, tea is nice, syrups are yummy, but if you are after therapy, tinctures and true elderberry elixir (any elixir really) is going to be what you want to have on hand, the chemicals that the latter preparations gather are much more dense, active and offer the entire package of any medicinal herb.
When talking about elderberry and COVID though, just by recognizing the above stated chemical compounds create the perfect picture of HEALING any sort of flu or cold symptoms, nourishing the detoxification responses that these ‘sicknesses’ offer the body, and encouraging a thorough detox response within the cells of your body. How in the world, does it even make sense, that any sort of cold, flu, or supposed viral response not benefit from a plant medicine, offering this kind of support.
So let’s back up a bit here, to the cytokine storm that elderberry tincture was being blamed for, the NIH definition of this condition is as follows, “A severe immune reaction in which the body releases too many cytokines into the blood too quickly. Cytokines play an important role in normal immune responses, but having a large amount of them released in the body all at once can be harmful. A cytokine storm can occur as a result of an infection, autoimmune condition, or other disease. It may also occur after treatment with some types of immunotherapy. Signs and symptoms include high fever, inflammation (redness and swelling), and severe fatigue and nausea. Sometimes, a cytokine storm may be severe or life threatening and lead to multiple organ failure. Also called hypercytokinemia.” Now, relating this back to elderberry and COVID, where in this definition would antioxidants, vitamin c and quercetin, or inflammatory MODULATING responses be a bad thing?
I ask, because if I were dealing with an immune response, which can also be known as a detoxification process, which this definition is leading me to see as what they are describing (fever melts your structured waters, so they can release any chemical, metabolic waste, or invading pathogens from them and then restructure through the remainder of the fever), this is a thorough detoxification response of the body, that when supported properly, with rest, fluid intake, healthy broths, plant medicines like elderberry tinctures and elderberry elixirs (which contain many nourishing plants), warmth and allowing a proper sweat of the body, is a good thing. Yes, fevers are a perfectly normal response, and supporting the body is also, a perfectly normal response to offer through food, and plants as medicine.
Elderberry flowers and diaphoretic herbs…
I have found that the most reliable information on Herbal Medicine comes from the OLDEST herbal books that I can find, the more modern ones have been adulterated to fit into the model of allopathic, and industrial medicine and these natural substances don’t really fit into that category at all. This is a generalization, and I DO appreciate true modern research on these plants as what they tend to find is the folk uses, the old herbal uses, names, and ways of working with the plants to be the most accurate.
Elderberry tincture and elder flowers have been used for hundreds of years (because the older books, the older ways were burned out of the Europeans so finding that deep of history is rather impossible, and it lives on in our bones). The delicate elder flowers have been used for hundreds of years as a diaphoretic.
The ‘modernized’ definition is lame to me, ‘chiefly a drug used to induce sweating’ and honestly this is what we are taught in herb school. But if the word is traced to it’s greek origins, you get a much more deliberate and powerful vision of what a diaphoretic herb does to a human body, “Diaphoretic – late Middle English: via late Latin from Greek diaphorētikos, from diaphorein ‘sweat out’.”
This shows me a picture of a human body being supported in releasing this detoxification response that a NATURAL fever is meant to induce, release from the body, the toxic load of any substance that doesn’t belong in such sacred, structured waters that the human body (and many other natural bodies of this earth), holds.
Since beginning our young family, I have implemented rules around fever in the house, from about 3-4 months of age I allow the fever to run a certain course over a certain period of time (Sawyer has never received acetaminophen or any other fever lowering drug, because of the sweating out that our bodies are meant to do, these drugs are not only harmful to the mitochondria and inflammatory responses in the body, by stopping a fever you are physically trapping inside of the body toxic waste products, either foreign or bodily created).
I decided upon this rule after I freaked out over a fever that read 103 degrees and found myself, an anxious brand new mama, with decades of experience in natural medicine, facing something SO SCARY to me. My sweet, first born boy, with a known to me, high fever. I sat in the ER parking lot for a few minutes, because I couldn’t believe I was there, it was hot outside, and felt that it was the best place to go.
And after my visit, I knew why I was meant to go into the ER that day. After seeing the ER doctor that day, who didn’t feel the need to run any tests (I wasn’t interested and neither was he on administering them), he asked me what I had been doing since the fever started, when I explained what I did for work, and how we were applying herbs, cold compresses, and had started some diaphoretic teas that day, he looked at me and said, “You are doing all the right things, have confidence in what you know how to do, and good job doing it.” I burst into tears, asked him why he wasn’t a pediatrician, and could have hugged him. He gladly laughed, and told us to have a wonderful day.
This is our true medicine my loves, emergency medicine, when it is truly needed, is an absolute blessing, surgeries, bones sticking out of your body, gun shot wounds, head traumas, all of that, YES, go to the ER, because that is truly what it is there for. Natural responses of the body, cold and flu symptoms, detoxification processes like fever, diarrhea and the like that go on for a few days too long, can all be remedied at home with some SUPER basic knowledge and guidance from your local herbalist, or other truly natural health care provider. This doctor I ran into that day, understood all of this, knows that the body is divine and is designed to heal.
Let’s Talk AVOIDING Elderberry and COVID
As I was writing this article back in 2020, I was communicating and reading ALL of the herbalist forums and resources I could, watching this discussion unfold, as yes, we didn’t know what was really going on at the beginning, did we? IT is vital to ask questions, to be of critical mind and my attempting to truly understand the rumors of certainty in avoiding Elderberry and COVID when it came to my clients and community. What I found was a lot of herbalists who had placed Elderberry and Echinacea in the same category, for certain conditions, while in my experience, I have those two herbs completely separate when it comes to working with Autoimmune Conditions.
Echinacea has a funny stimulant-like effect on the lymphatic and detox responses that are known to be the immune system working its wonders. When it comes to autoimmunity, this body type is already on hyper drive, creating vacuums of waste demolishing white blood cells throughout the body, that are in such high numbers, they begin to destroy healthy tissues in their furry. When an herb like Echinacea is administered in this situation, the fury of these clean up cells we link to the ‘immune system’ are put on that much more of a hyperdrive, leading to even more degeneration of the healthy tissues, which is not a good mix. In my general practice, the line that is Enchantment Creek Apothecary, I do not offer Echinacea, though I do grow this gorgeous plant in the farmacy gardens and offer it to small numbers of people, and that is BECAUSE of this issue.
Go to ANY health food store, and ask for the best herb for the immune system and you will be guided to Echinacea without a second thought (generally speaking, unless you are lucky enough to have a competent herbalist, naturopath, or the like working at said grocery store, rare to say the least). This can and often is a harmful practice of herbalism, blatant ignorance when it comes to administering herbs in the appropriate fashion. When it comes to elderberry, however, I have not found any resources in my massive library of books that claim these berries are acting like a stimulant to the immune system at all.
Like many research dives into the NIH and PubMed, I find studies that conclude in this fashion; “Elderberry may not reduce the risk of developing the common cold; it may reduce the duration and severity of colds, but the evidence is uncertain. Elderberry may reduce the duration of influenza but the evidence is uncertain.” The use of the word ‘MAY” in any research paper is just that, they don’t know, and this study in particular sourced from 1,187 research records, and didn’t conduct a study of their own, went on to finalize their statement that they don’t know, which is really, the best sort of answer, because we don’t know. Studies on herbs and how they work are VAST and mainly conducted out of the US, in Europe, Asia, and India where the practice and application of herbal medicine is used as it is meant to be used… as medicine.
My point here is two fold, that yes, it takes a lot of digging to find the ‘scientific’ answers, and where the REAL unfolding happens, where the discovery of truth occurs is in practice with these Creator given medicines. I have seen Echinacea cause a person who is chronically unwell with an autoimmune condition, get SEVERELY sick with a cold from taking Echinacea. I have also seen a person with autoimmunity get well from a cold and a flu when Elderberry was administered to them, different people and different times, this was well before the elderberry and COVID avoidance narrative, but completely as applicable from my experience with herbs. MOst of the articles I found (that are linked back in the original article that I have left up for you to read, and again, my writing wasn’t as eloquent back then so please pardon me!) were inconclusive, speculation, and really, probably a lot like I was responding back then, with better safe than sorry, because we didn’t know what we didn’t know yet about elderberry and COVID or the supposed “novel virus” that we were all facing.
There was indeed, hospital evidence showing that NSAIDs were completely enraging the infection that was known as COVID-19, and that was knee-jerk related to the anti-inflammatory properties of the drug being administered, but was this looked into then, not that I could find, were loads of other ‘anti inflammatory drugs’ administered in the time of the outbreak, yes, and yet, elderberries were blamed for stimulating the immune system thus leading to the cytokine storm that was inflammatory in nature. The article I had linked in the original writing from a Dr Singh, was taken off of his blog, saying that elderberries and COVID did not mix because of a certain collection of immune cells that were supposedly stimulated, so I can’t go back and see where he was relating this information to, nor can I find, any of these supposed studies from that time. If any of YOU come across them, please share as I am ALWAYS glad to shift and alter my perspective!
Inflammatory Research on Elderberry tincture…
When it comes to inflammatory responses in the body, paired with detox mechanisms that surface as Cold and Flu symptoms, amongst others, it is incredibly effective to administer truly modulating inflammatory responses within the body to support these natural detoxification processes. Elderberry is a reliable source of this kind of support, and has been shown in clinical trials (outside of the US of course) since the outbreak of the ‘novel virus’ elderberry and COVID seem to show to be the perfect pairing in nourishing a body affected by the detoxification responses that this illness offers. “The overall health benefits of elderberry are largely centered on treating, reducing the severity, or delaying the onset of oxidative stress- and inflammation-mediated chronic health disorders. This is because the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of several pharmacological effects of elderberry, other berries, and their major constituents (anthocyanins) are based on their antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties.” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10096080/) what I love about this article is that is not only links truly clinical trials but it also talks about the pairing of elderberry tincture and COVID to be a beneficial application.
There are also numbers early on in the article, that show an massive increase in purchases of elderberry tinctures and elderberry elixirs since the year 2020 because of how effective these remedies were in nourishing the body that was healing from the sickness and encouraging rapid healing. YES you can rely on elderberry to nourish your body and it’s responses to cold and flu symptoms of all varieties, yes it is effective in nourishing the body in healing an upper respiratory imbalance and YES, elderberries are perfectly safe (when prepared properly!!!!) to use in cases of inflammation.
Something that I found a LOT back in the early days of 2020 in the ‘research’ geared toward Elderberry being harmful to inflammatory substances was related to homeopathic and the ever popular (which I will NEVER understand WHY it is so popular) product Sambucol… just typing it makes me cringe… look for yourself, as I will always encourage you to do, I would never recommend any sort of product like this at all (I linked to the ingredient panel). Just for clarification… In this product, Elderberry is ONLY present in Homeopathic form, which is fine for many applications, but when it comes to acute illness that is in flare, homeopathics will help the constitution of the emotional body most. For an infection that is IN full swing, the whole body of a plant remedy is essential.
Upon further observation of the above linked ingredient panel of the product that I found in MAJORITY of the studies claiming Elderberries were CAUSING cytokine storms and were not acceptable to use during the onset of COVID-19 specifically, was Sambucol, over and over again, a diluted at best preparation of ‘elderberry’ (can it even qualify as an elderberry tincture or elderberry elixir, no, not in my opinion). This SYRUP is as far as you can get from the actual physical Elderberry, Flower, Leaf OR Stem, AND the chemicals that come along with a true elderberry tincture or elderberry elixir. This preparation, because I can feel OK about using that word for a product like this contains SO many flavorings and the base of it is glucose syrup, talk about a cytokine inflammatory storm, just in that, and yet, Elderberry was blamed.
Modulation of the Inflammatory Responses VS Inflammatory Responses as Defense
I am guessing that you have seen the correlation to elderberry tincture and elderberry elixirs having an effect upon your inflammatory responses as well as your immune and detoxification responses through this exploration. Paired with research based evidence that elderberries and their benefits vastly outweigh the dangers that could be associated with them when it comes to autoimmune dis-ease and other chronically taxed immune systems. AND that the idea to expect such inflammatory and immune or detox benefits would be null and void when working with glucose, or sugar based syrup of elderberry. ANY inflammatory substance, like sugar, is only going to add to the inflammatory load in any sort of symptom presenting body. This is where the positive effects of any plant, are displaced when the remedy administered is inflammatory in its ingredient and preparation. (another topic for another day, as this is why I do NOT recommend elderberry syrups at all). Elderberry syrups are not an tonic of any sort
I have found a few studies that have focused on RAW elderberries from different varieties in Europe, so the chemical constituents will vary slightly from what we are working with here, that being the Northern, Mountain Species of elderberry S. canadensis. AND these plants are all related, so their chemical makeup is enough the same to relate them to the studies that are being performed overseas. AND again, when it comes to clinical research, these chemicals are not being injected, or ingested in humans (which is the norm for research and does this make full sense to me, no, but it is the ‘standard procedure’). What is found when it comes to elderberries and COVID and the inflammatory modulating and response processes in these studies are that elderberries reduce the inflammatory or detoxification processes that occur in the standard petri dish experiments by 40-60%, and in some cases there was a 70% reduction in these responses. This is a massive reduction in cell death and macrophage (immune/clean up cell responses) flooding that is normally seen in these standard tests done in petri dishes.
When it comes to the human body, we must consider all of the variables when it comes to individuals, as we are all that, similar but not identical. Your immune and inflammatory responses will be vastly different from mine, just based on the toxic load you or I are under, the amount of daily stress, sleep, water intake, food and nourishment, etcetera. AND with results like this, from a relatively controlled study (though these standard petri dish tests aren’t truly controlled, again, another discussion for another time), we can know that when applying elderberry tincture or elderberry elixir to any sick person, I would expect to see up to a 70% similar response rate, when the same protocol is followed and, if the client allows, a similar nutritional protocol for the duration of the detoxification process, aka, sickness symptoms.
While the human body is different, each of us is designed in the same functional way, immune system responses alongside inflammatory responses are relatively trackable (with the exceptions, of course that I have outlined in this article), and how the body is made to process, clean up, detox and heal are generally the same. Thus paired with clinical knowledge, which is practical application methods, alongside these kinds of clinical studies, we can know that elderberry, when prepared properly into elderberry tinctures and elderberry elixirs are indeed reliable medicines when it comes to ANY cold and flu responses.
Elderberry tinctures and elderberry elixirs
AND not all elderberry extracts are created equal either, there is always dualistic issues to explore when it comes to health and now a supplement industry that is laident with fals marketing and lack of oversight, consumerism definitely takes its toll on beloved preparations, especially Elderberry tinctures and elixirs, because of the popularity of this herb. I hear constantly that the remedies that come from the farmacy gardens here at Enchantment Creek ‘actually work!” And it is not just me, there are loads of herbalists all over the country offering fresh plant preparations from their gardens and wild spaces. AND I am honored that those of you who are here are loyal to me, those who are elsewhere and want to support locals first, it may take some digging but I know there is an herbalist in your community working with FRESH plant materials, like I do. Small batch herbal remedies are the natural way, and they are the legit ones.
When making a small batch tincture, or true elixir, the entire plant is taken into consideration for it’s healing properties, I am these other local herbalists are working with fresh plant materials, so herbs are in the solvent within minutes of harvesting. THe berries, the root, bark, flowers, leaves, stems, buds, & roots are all worked with in true to nature herbal apothecaries and farmacy gardens across the globe. The solvent that is poured over the plant material extracts chemicals from the plants like; alkaloids, resins, essential oils, vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, carotenoids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, & terpenes to name a few, these are the active chemicals that the body takes in to encourage healing and nourishment. What small Herbal Remedy Makers end up with is a full spectrum tincture that when fresh plant materials are used, even contains the structured WATERS the herb contains.
I love our elderberry elixir because it is a true elixir, taking this tincture making process a few steps further by adding fresh pressed ginger juice, a bit of honey to sweeten the deal and I take the roots, bark, berries and stems to a simmering pot for up to a week to gather the remaining medicine that is in the plants after they have gone through the 8 weeks of tincture. So you are getting fresh plants with a double extract added into the mix, this way of making herbal remedies is absolutely beyond any widely made commercial herb, the vibration of the growing plant, the one that is put here on the planet by Creator is harnessed in remedies made with loving hands, and thriving soils.
AS WITH ALL OF LIFE – USE YOUR BEST JUDGEMENT
I have said this before. I will say it again & again. Each BODY is different & every single lifestyle creates a different reaction within that Body. I cannot say that Elderberry tinctures are GOOD for EACH person on the planet. AND Elderberry and COVID need to be understood in this way as well.
Just as all pharmaceuticals are not good for EACH individual. Nor is every threat of infection the same for each individual person. What I want is for you all to be holistically informed.
Seeing how the COMPLIMENTARY components of Western & Traditional Medicines are VERY much there. With a grounded understanding of all sides of the spectrum, I know we can ALL make nourishing, well rounded decisions when it comes to our health.
I have dedicated my LIFE to this work because I know that one day we will bridge the gap between Natural & Chemical therapies. The frauds in the natural health industry will be exposed & destructured, alongside the corruptions of the medical industry (because it is an industry at this point). We will see well rounded, educated, & intelligent Herbalists across the country & globe who will be recognized for their dedication to this movement.
REMEMBER!! We have gorgeous herbal remedies in the online FARMACY shop!
