How To Prevent The Flu Naturally

If I had to choose one go to remedy for cold and flu season it would have to be elderberry syrup! This time of year can be especially challenging for parents and kids alike, the cold and flu seem to be everywhere and they can be almost impossible to avoid.

There are many things however you can do to prevent the cold and flu like wash your hands, eat healthy, get plenty of sleep, and one of my favorites…. take elderberry syrup!

The benefits that come packed in these tiny little berries are numerous. In fact, most historians typically trace its healing abilities back to Hippocrates, the ancient Greek known as the “father of medicine,” who described the plant as his “medicine chest” because of the wide array of health concerns it seemed to cure. Whether we’re talking cavemen, ancient Egyptians or ancient Greeks, this natural remedy definitely goes way back, so it’s no wonder it’s known as one of the top antiviral herbs on the planet!

Here’s the kicker though, buying this stuff in the store can get expensive real fast. Several natural elderberry syrups are available at health stores or online, but usually for around $15 or more for 4-8 ounces.  That does not last you long when you are taking it multiple times per day and there are multiple people in your family. Yikes!

I typically give it to my kids at least once per day during cold and flu season and I double up on the dose at the sight of any illness. I definitely notice a difference in the rate at which my kids recover and the severity of the illness when we do not take it. However,  I soon realized we could not afford to buy this from the store without spending a fortune and that is when I decided to look into making my own. I have not looked back since!

The batch of elderberry syrup I make costs about $25 and yields just about 8 cups of finished product. If you bought 8 bottles averaging $15 / piece, that would be $120. That is a savings of about $100!

If saving money and preventing the flu seem like your jam, here is what you need to do….

First you need to gather all your ingredients and tools…..

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb of dried organic elderberries (they are sold in bulk on amazon here)
• 20 cups of filtered water
• 1 Tsp cinnamon
• 1 Tsp fresh or powdered ginger
• 1 Tsp cloves
• 2 cups (16 oz) raw honey (or more to taste)

Note: The great thing about all of these ingredients is more or less can be added according to your taste, so if you don’t like cloves but really like cinnamon you can adjust these amounts according to your preference. The same goes for the honey, if you want your syrup to be more on the sweet side just add more honey, and vise versa.

Next you need to gather your tools…

TOOLS:

• 1 Big bowl
• 2 or more Mason jars
• 1 strainer
• 1 Masher or flat spoon or fork
• 1 funnel

Now that you have all of your ingredients and all of the tools gathered, you can now begin the cooking process….

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Pour water into medium saucepan and add elderberries, ginger, cinnamon,and cloves.
2. Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour until the liquid has reduced by almost half.
3. Remove from heat and let cool until it is cool enough to be handled.
4. Mash the berries carefully using a spoon or other flat utensil.
5. Pour through a strainer into a glass jar or bowl.
6. Discard the elderberries and let the liquid cool to lukewarm.
7. When it is no longer hot, add the honey and stir well.
8. When the honey is well mixed into the elderberry mixture, pour the syrup into a quart sized mason jar or 16 ounce glass bottle of some kind.
9. That’s it! You just made homemade elderberry syrup! Store in the fridge and take daily for its immune boosting properties!

Note: Another fun little piece of advice I got from a friend was to store my elderberries in an olive oil container like this…

This makes it SUPER easy to dispense to my kids everyday and saves the headache of potentially spilling it while trying to fill their medicine cups with juice.

After you are finished you should end up with about 2 big mason jars and 1 olive oil container full of elderberry syrup, all for about $25.00! That is a heck of a deal, and depending on your use it should last you most, if not the entire cold and flu season.

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Thanks so much for stopping by!