This is not so much about the efficacy of elderberries as homeopathic medicine although if there happens to be any scientific data feel free to share.
I knew nothing about elderberries except as a Monty Python insult until last year. Around November both me and my daughter caught Influenza A. My ex insisted we take an elderberry product which was supposed to help in some way. That’s when I realized the shelf in Walgreens was packed with elderberries as medicine. When did this happen in the US? Did something happen to make it a popular homeopathic product? Is it just good marketing? To be clear this was months before COVID-19 was a thing.
Elderberries have definitely become more mainstream over the last few years, but currently there isn’t any solid scientific evidence that elderberries really do much of anything. There may be something there, but nothing is currently proven. For all anyone knows at this point, the whole thing might just be some sort of placebo effect.
The Food and Drug Administration has not approved elderberries for the treatment or prevention of any medical condition.
That said, there have been a couple of studies that showed some benefit to elderberries for the treatment of flu symptoms.
See here:
Note that the study’s authors state that more research is necessary to confirm the effects and to properly evaluate the actual benefits of elderberries.
I have no idea why elderberries have suddenly taken off, other than the fact that some folks will believe almost anything on social media.
The most famous reference to them before Monty Python was in Arsenic and Old Lace, where elderberry wine was used for murder, because the poisons in it were “less noticeable” than in tea.
FTR I used to harvest elderberries that grew wild in the backyard of my childhood home, and they have no smell in particular.
If it was there before it was certainly less noticeable. Now it’s taking up entire end caps. In Walgreens I see elderberry products in several locations through the store. And like I said earlier this was before the pandemic.
I bought some St. Germain elderflower liqueur and it wasn’t all that great tasting. The bottle is a work of art, though, and I am keeping it to use as a vase for a suitable art deco-ish flower.
Oooh, I beg to disagree. I have had some elderberry liquor-based drinks in the past couple of years, and they were delicious. They weren’t advertised as healthy, though, just as tasty.
I don’t mean just in Walgreens/CVS, but online too. Some pages making fun of antivax/MLM/mom group posts where the latter have been mentioning elderberry syrup.
St-Germain the liqueur is an herbal liqueur made from the flower plus a bunch of botanicals. It isn’t a sweet berry booze.