Hello and welcome to the Nutrition Devo Podcast. I'm your host Monica Reinagle.

Janelle writes, lately I've been seeing a lot of news about the immunological benefits of

elderberry syrup or extract. Is there any scientific validity to this at all?

You know as we head into another cold and flu season, still in the middle of a global

pandemic of another highly contagious and deadly respiratory virus, there's a lot of interest

in immune boosting foods and supplements. Now,

Elderberry is not a new discovery. It's been used in folk medicine for centuries,

and Elderberry-based supplements have been on the market for decades, but for some reason

I've gotten a lot more questions about them recently.

Just because there's a lot of talk about elderberry these days doesn't mean there's a lot to say about it.

In fact, despite its long history as both a medicinal food and supplement,

there's been pretty limited research on it.

Perhaps the most verifiable claim is that elderberries, like most berries, are a good

source of antioxidants. But it's not clear that increasing our intake of

antioxidants beyond what you just get from a generally healthy diet has any

positive effect on our health.

Ant antioxidants, as the name implies, prevent oxidation.

And oxidation is the chemical process that causes iron to rust,

cut apples to turn brown, and oils to become rancid. In the body, unchecked oxidation can damage cells, membranes, even cause DNA damage.

Fortunately, the antioxidants in foods,

as well as some that are manufactured by our own cells,

help to prevent oxidative damage.

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