At the start of a new year just about everyone has the same two health goals: keep the immune system strong in the heart of winter and lose weight that was gained over the holidays.
As challenging as these two goals are, a new study has shown that the an innocuous little berry can provide help for both. That miracle berry is known commonly as elderberry.
Approximately thirty types of elderberry plants and trees grow around the world. The European version—Sambucus nigra—is the one most closely tied to health and herbal medicine. Its history dates back at least as far as 400 BC, when Hippocrates called the elder tree his “medicine chest.”
Yearly cold and flu symptoms are traditionally the most common uses; however, today elderberry extracts are used in a wide range of immune products, often synergistically with other immune-building nutrients.
Additionally, the antioxidant-flavonoids and vitamins that fill the berries and flowers have been shown to reduce inflammation, lessen stress, and help protect the heart.
One of the classes of flavonoids in elderberry—anthocyanins—are present in especially high amounts. This is the compound that gives elderberry, blueberries and raspberries their characteristic dark black- purple color while providing potent anti-inflammatory effects.
And it is anthocyanins that have now been shown to provide a weight loss benefit in a new study. The study, published in the journal Nutrients in October 2024, discovered that consuming elderberry juicefor just one week led to significant improvements in how the body processes sugar and burns fat.
At the same time, the elderberry supplement provided a “prebiotic” benefit and helped promote beneficial gut bacteria—one of the already-known benefits of elderberry.
Study details
The small study was conducted by researchers at the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at Washington State University.
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The research team recruited 18 overweight but otherwise healthy adults to participate. Most of the participants were women, with an average age of 40 years.
Study participants were required to have a body mass index above 25 to ensure they qualified in the overweight category.
During the week-long study period participants consumed 355 grams (12 ounces) of either elderberry juice or a placebo each day—with the dose split between a morning and evening administration.
The daily elderberry “prescription” provided approximately 720 milligrams of anthocyanins.
To ensure a controlled study environment the researchers implemented a sophisticated crossover design where participants served as their own control group.
Each person completed two one-week periods: one drinking elderberry juice and another drinking the placebo beverage that looked and tasted similar but lacked the active compounds. A three-week “washout” period separated these phases to ensure no carryover effects.
Remarkably, after just one week of elderberry consumption, the participants showed a 24% reduction in blood glucose response after being provided a high-carbohydrate meal challenge.
This result suggested the elderberry juice helped the bodies of the test subjects better regulate blood sugar levels—a crucial factor in metabolic health and weight management.
The study also revealed that participants burned more fat both while resting and during exercise when consuming elderberry juice.
By using equipment designed to measure breath gases, the researchers discovered that those drinking elderberry juice burned 27% more fat compared to when they drank the placebo. This increased fat-burning occurred not only during rest but also persisted during a 30-minute moderate-intensity walking test.
Immune benefit
The research team also examined participants’ gut bacteria through stool samples and found that elderberry juice promoted the growth of beneficial bacterial species while reducing less desirable ones.
Specifically, it increased levels of bacteria known for producing beneficial compounds called short-chain fatty acids, which play essential roles in metabolism and gut health.
“Elderberry is an underappreciated berry, commercially and nutritionally,” says Patrick Solverson, an assistant professor at Washington State University. “We’re now starting to recognize its value for human health, and the results are very exciting.”
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Elderberry can be found in the following Optimal Health Systems products:
• Optimal Fruit & Veggie Plus
• Optimal Defense
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Sources: Nutrients, JustAPedia (Sambucus niga), JustAPedia (Anthocyanin).
