The berries and flowers of elderberry are packed with antioxidants and vitamins that may boost your immune system. They can help tame inflammation, lessen stress, and help protect your heart, too.

Some experts recommend elderberry to help prevent and ease cold and flu symptoms.

It’s also been used as a treatment for:

• Constipation
• Joint and muscle pain
• Infections that affect how you breathe
• Headaches
• Fever
• Kidney problems
• Epilepsy
• Minor skin conditions
• Stress
• HIV and AIDS

Effectiveness

Elderberry gets a lot of support as a healing agent through word of mouth and old wives’ tales, but its success in medical tests is less conclusive.