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I had read a lot on the powers of Elderberry's so I decided to make my own syrup. I ordered the ingredient's from Amazon. It was very simple to make.There are lot's of different variations of this recipe online, but this was the recipe I decided to use.
INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup dried black Elderberries
3 1/2 cups of water
1 cup of raw honey (I used Manuka honey)
- Note; Children under 1yr old should never have honey as the can contract Botulisim.*
INSTRUCTIONS;
Pour water into saucepan and add the Elderberries and ginger (do not add honey until the mix has almost cooled )
Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for roughly 45 minutes until half the liquid reduces. Take it off the heat and let cool enough that its around room temperature.
Mash the berries carefully using a spoon or masher. Pour through a strainer into a bottle or container. If you have a cheese cloth that would comes in handy here just to make sure no lumps get in if you don't have one don't worry just use flour sieve. Once your done throw away the Elderberries and let the mixture cool to room temperature. When it is no longer hot, add 1 cup of honey and stir well.
When honey is well mixed into the Elderberry mixture, pour the syrup into a mason jar or bottle.
Keep refrigerated and take daily to help boost your immune system. You can also freeze into ice cube tray and defrost as you need them
NOTE* To make your Elderberry syrup last longer you can add a little bit of alcohol to the mix .(Literally a few drops into the mixture )this will help preserve it longer (I used Honey Jack Daniels) if you make it with alcohol it clearly cant be given to children. Be sure to mark your bottles ADULT or CHILD and its also a good idea to put the date it was made on the bottle.*
Elderberry's have been used in natural healing for many years. A research project in Norway has been investigating the powers of Elderberry juice (also know as Sambucus Nigra). They found that the enzymes in the juice not only boosts the immune system, but also helps to stop the spread of all strains of influenza. Elderberry's work by increasing the production of cytokines - unique proteins that act as messengers in the immune system to immune response time. Patients that were given Elderberry extract had a speedy recovery of just 3.1 days, compared to those given a placebo who were ill for over a week. University of Graz in Austria found that extracts help to reduce the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which is one of the major factors contributing to heart disease.
Hope you have as much fun as I did making this
Thanks for reading xx