Elderberry: One of the Richest Anthocyanin Foods on Earth

Hey.

The weather turns, everyone around you starts coughing, and you'd like to go into the season with something in your corner rather than just hoping.

That's the moment people have reached for elderberry for as long as there are records of people reaching for anything.

How elderberry helps

It's one of the darkest fruits on earth, and the colour is the point.

That deep purple-black is anthocyanins, the same pigment family that makes blueberries and blackcurrants worth eating, except elderberry is far denser in them. It also carries quercetin, rutin and natural vitamin C.

Anthocyanins are powerful antioxidants. Your cells take damage just from being alive, and antioxidants are how your body clears it up. Elderberry is one of the better sources you can put on a spoon.

It's also a dense source of the compounds that support your immune system doing what it already does, which is why it turns up in the traditional winter cupboard in every culture that has elder trees growing nearby. Separate places, same instinct.

One thing worth knowing about how it's made. Elderberry has to be heat-treated to be safe to eat, which is why every traditional preparation is cooked or made into syrup. Ours is heat-treated. If you ever see raw elderberries going into a smoothie, that's the step being skipped.

Sea moss, elderberry, lemon, lime, spring water. Deep purple and tart, closer to blackcurrant than to anything medicinal. Made fresh to order in Atlanta.

This is the one I'd treat as seasonal rather than year round. Reach for it when the weather turns, the way people always have.

Reasons not to take it

• Autoimmune conditions such as lupus, MS, Hashimoto's or Crohn's. Elderberry stimulates immune activity, so check with your doctor.
• Immunosuppressant medication like prednisone, methotrexate, cyclosporine, Humira or Enbrel. It works against what your medication is doing.
• Prescription diuretics such as Lasix or hydrochlorothiazide. Elderberry is mildly diuretic too and the effects add up.
• Pregnancy or nursing. The safety data isn't there.

Get a jar

Sea moss gel with elderberry, made fresh after you order and shipped from Atlanta.

A spoonful when the weather turns.

If it isn't what you wanted, tell us and we'll make it right.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.