Episode 42 - Unlocking Nature's Secret Weapon: Elderberry's Mighty Defense Against Cold and Flu Season

Welcome. I'm Diane Carbo with Caregiver Relief, and I want to welcome back Jessica Lowry, the founder and owner of The Power of Elderberries. If you did not hear her first interview with us, please go back to listen to our episode number 38 in my podcast queue and I encourage you to do so because it is really informative and a fabulous podcast.

The Power of Elderberries is a premium elderberry syrup supplement company in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and is recommended by holistic practitioners for quality and efficacy for the support of a healthy immune system, a natural relief of allergies, healthy blood glucose levels and joint health. And I can tell you, I take this product every day for multiple reasons.

And I want to share a little bit about Jessica's story with you. So when she was pregnant with her second child in 2013, she was drawn to the holistic supplementation and nutrition for herself and her family. And I think many mothers go through this when after they have kids, they want really to teach their kids a natural and good healthy approach to life.

So she was motivated to provide her children with a safe, effective, and delicious supplement to support their immune systems. She was disappointed when her research for an elderberry syrup product that was free from refined and artificial sugars, harmful ingredients, and processing that compromised the efficacy and the safety of the product led to a dead end.

That is when she decided to make her own elderberry syrup to have control over ingredients, quality, safety, and taste. Since 2018, the power of elderberry has become known as the premium Elderberry syrup supplementation recommended by holistic practitioners to support healthy active lifestyles for ages one to a hundred.

And trust me, it can, you can be over a hundred and still take it and it's shipped nationwide. Jessica, I'm welcoming you today. I want my readers to know, or our listeners to know, we're going to focus on the antiviral properties of the elderberry as we move into the season when we're all looking for that additional immune support.

And my caregivers, I want you to know all my caregivers live with under a tremendous amount of stress and they already have compromised immune systems. So I'd like to ask you, could you share a little bit about how elderberries offer the natural immune support for colds and flu? Yes, absolutely. So let's talk about elderberries.

They are recognized as one of the top antiviral herbs on our entire planet. They are known as a very potent antioxidant and a powerful anti inflammatory. There are many different species of the elderberry plant, but I'd like to focus on the European black elderberry. This is the most common variety, and it's also the variety that supports the medicinal properties and therapeutic compounds that the elderberry is known for.

So it's really important to use the European. I also want to talk about elderberries being rich in what are called anthocyanins. This is a very unique property that elderberries have and it's also what contributes to a lot of people turning to elderberry for both prevention as well as a natural alternative when they're symptomatic.

So according to studies, elderberry is shown to have a potent direct antiviral effect against the cold and flu virus. Elderberry inhibits the early stages of an infection by blocking key viral proteins responsible for both the viral attachment entry into the host cells. And that's by Dr. Torbjorn. In other words, what that means is the anthocyanins prevent those key proteins from allowing a virus to penetrate our cells.

And that's how it works as a preventative if people are taking it daily, which many do during cold and flu season, particularly. And then if they're symptomatic the anthocyanins work in a way of preventing those cells that may have the virus inside of them from replicating. And that's where people see faster recovery when turning to elderberry as a natural alternative compared to your other counterparts, whether it be over the counter or other things. or placebo that they did some studies with. In addition, when symptomatic, elderberry inhibits the virus from replicating, which I had talked about, and is receiving growing recognition for its safe and effective treatment against cold and flu virus.

Some studies have shown that elderberry help with symptoms such as flu, fever, muscle aches, cough, navel congestion, mucus discharge, and headache. All those things have been found to be significantly improved with the use of Elderberry. I think that I love the natural approach. The lack of sugar is really important.

I wish you were around when my son used to, at least when he was tiny, had ear infection after ear infection. And it was, this would have been so helpful for him. Anyway, that's just my personal feelings about that, but can you tell me about your personal experience with the cold and flu season and using an elderberry supplement?

Sure. Like I shared a little bit earlier back in 2013 when I was pregnant with my son Beckham, I did get likes and dumbs. I immediately wanted something more natural to not only protect the baby, but myself and rather than turning to something over the counter. And at that moment, turning to research that I learned the elderberry and the very first time in my life, that was the first time I'd ever heard of elderberry and the effect that it had, particularly on cold and flu symptoms.

So I had turned to elderberry during that time to help recovery of my flu symptoms and had immediate relief within a couple of doses, I was walking around the house. My fever broke, my chill started going away, all the things that I was experiencing and really became a believer of, wow, this is really making me feel better.

And so when I had turned to finding an elderberry supplementation on the market, what I was discovering is that many that were available were not of quality ingredients of what I was looking for, not only myself, but also my family during that time. I was looking for something that didn't have all the sugar, that didn't have the fillers and the dyes and the preservatives and all the things.

So a couple of few years had went by at that point. And I really took it upon myself to create what I wanted for myself along with my own family. And that's when I formulated our signature elderberry syrup that were known for today and I'm sharing it with more and more people in the community and around the country.

And I didn't want to just share to. It's a family of 5. We take the product daily as a preventative. If symptoms tend to strike, we often turn to every few hours of the day and just increase our dose and that's how elderberry works. You can take it as a preventative and you can take it seasonally when symptoms are.

We have symptoms and you want to turn to something more natural. But we do recommend that daily dose just for optimal benefits because not only does elderberry keep our immune system strong, but it also supports whole body systems. And we can go into that more when we talk about our particular formulation and what else we're putting into it besides just the elderberry.

So tell us about the different forms of elderberry syrup that the power of elderberry offers. Yeah, so we have our signature elderberry syrup in a liquid form as well as what we call our bite form. Now the liquid of course is a type of our product that you drink. It's kept in the refrigerator. It's free of added preservatives.

It's got the European black elderberry local raw honey in place of sugar, french cut organic ginger root, cinnamon sticks, and whole cloves that go into the product. And it's literally just made during a bottle. So those five ingredients are what go into the product. Then what we did is we turned our liquid into these little trilling ponds, with what I like to call them, of elderberry syrup that our community Loyal Ents can take wherever they go and they can have our elderberry syrup on hand with them at all times.

And what's very unique about our elderberry syrup bites compared to your ordinary gummies on the market is that we choose not to add the sugar, just like our liquid, because they're made from our liquid. They only have that local raw honey and that no sugar and the no beef gelatin, which is oftentimes what creates that bouncing effect in your mouth with gummies.

Pitting it free of that really changes the texture of these to where they're almost like a firm jello or a firm canned cranberry sauce like texture where your teeth just slice right through them. They're not chewy, they don't get stuck in your teeth and it's simply because we're choosing not to add that additional sugar.

So those are the two different forms of the product and we just recommend one tablespoon of our liquid or a teaspoon for children. And as far as our bites to get around that same equivalent, we recommend two bites for adults and one bite for a child. So whether you're looking for a shelf stable version that you can take with you wherever you go, which would be our bite, or if you're at home, our liquid is a great option and it's kept in the refrigerator.

I have to tell you, I love the bites when I travel because I have chronic pain and I also am pre diabetic. So I use the product for this and it's really helps me and I like that when I'm traveling now because with COVID , our immune systems aren't at the top form right now.

They're just not, we have interfered with our building of our immune system because wearing the mask and all and isolating. So we're going to have a tough next few years with, especially with kids, I think coming around with a lot of. They didn't get to build up their immune system. So I think I have a lot of my clients, their grandchildren are giving it to them, the gummies as well, because it's easy to give and it's keeping up that immune system, which especially for, I think anybody that's has kids, I, they're Petri dishes.

They're just, they just are. And the elderly and my caregivers who were under terrible amount of stress, with compromised immune systems need to get their immune system at an optimum level. So that's what I love about the being able to take it on the run. If I don't, if I can't take a swing in the morning, I just pop the supplements, the bites in.

What is the difference between the power of elderberries and other elderberry supplements on the market? Yeah. So we're talking about this. I think it's important to go and revisit our ingredients, right? So we have the European black elderberry, fresh cut, organic ginger root, organic cinnamon sticks, organic pull cloves, and local raw honey.

Okay. So what that keeps our products free from other markets often have are first and foremost refined sugar or artificial sweeteners. Sometimes you find it in forms of high fructose corn syrup, tapioca syrup, agave, though very few and far between do you ever find it with just local raw honey. Also keeping in mind that honey itself is very different than local raw honey, right?

So with that being said, our product is free of the added sugars, fillers, thickeners, dyes, added flavoring, gelatin, preservatives. We have a very long refrom list. It's also free from gluten, dairy, soy, and nuts. And our ingredients are not only used to support our immune system, which we talked about earlier with the European black elderberry.

But they're also very rich in antibacterial, anti inflammatory, anti fungal, anti microbial, a powerhouse of antioxidant, along with a host of other benefits that we're getting from all of those different herb spices and local raw honey that go into our particular supplementation that others on the market just don't have.

In addition, our products are third party lab tested, and this ensures consumer safety and quality control, it's not required that supplement companies get third party lab testing. So the fact that we're taking those extra precautions and steps and putting resources into consumer safety in that way, it's something to pay attention to.

And keeping in mind of purchasing supplements that are third party lab testing are third party lab tests, it really tells you the integrity of the company and additional steps they want to take for consumer safety. In addition, going back to the refrigeration component, a lot of elderberry syrup products or elderberry supplements on the market are refrigerate after opening or sometimes not refrigerate after all or at all.

Some you have in capsules, some you have in tinctures, right? So you're getting a lot of different benefits of all those different ingredients. So our liquids kept refrigerated and of course the bites are shelf stable like we talked about before. And that shelf stability in our bites comes from adding non GMO organic preservatives, okay.

So we've used the most gentle preservatives in organic that we can with our bites still keeping them of quality supplementation even though they are shelf stable. Another important factor to talk about is our potency level. So our elderberry syrup products are very pungent. And just to put it in a little bit of perspective here, there is the national elderberry brand on the market out there with extra strength, immune elderberry gummies.

And they encourage their particular customers to take four gummies as a suggested dose. And each of those gummies have 7. 5 milligrams of elderberry. So you're getting roughly 28 to 30 milligrams and taking four of them. You get 120. So you're getting 30 doses and our particular product, our elderberry syrup bites, let's just throw out the bites there.

Since we're talking about elderberry gummies, one bite has 238 milligrams of elderberry compared to the 7. 5. Okay. Wow. Doing the math, you'd have to purchase 43 bottles of that extra elderberry gummy at 120 count per bottle. Just to match the potency level of one bottle under three count alone. Okay. And that's not even going into the other ingredients, including all the added sugar that ours doesn't.

So the potency level of our products is huge and definitely a differentiator between others on that market. One of the things that I do for my research is I look at the different routes of administration for medication. And when you take something orally when you were saying there was only seven point something or other of elderberry in one of the products, not your products, but somebody else's products.

I think of how much of it breaks down and doesn't even get to the body because of the gastric juices and the bioavailability and stuff. So you have a better chance of, I can't believe the difference in the potency. That's a real big selling point for me. Personally, so I it's really important that our clients know that.

I'd like to ask, what has been your customer's experience with using the power of elderberries that support the use of elderberry syrup for cold and flu? So here I really wanted to pull out some customer testimonials that our customers have shared with us to really share with your community what our customers are saying about how they feel about our products.

So I just have a few here that I wanted to read it on. The first one says, Friday both my son and I started feeling bad, aches, sore throat, and headache, which is exactly how the flu starves. I started on the power of elderberries every three hours, and within six hours we were both feeling better. By Saturday we were back to normal.

And that was from one of our customers, Brooke. Within 48 hours after starting the power of Elderberry's Elderberry Syrup, my husband's cough was gone. We are now taking a daily dose. I'm a nurse and a believer in this syrup. And that is from our customer Lynn. Next, wow, six hours ago, I was curled up in bed feeling like I was dying.

After two doses of the power of elderberries, I am able to walk around without feeling dizzy. I feel so much less symptomatic and with no IV probe and my aches and pains have dulled to almost nothing. I am for sure sold on this liquid gold. And that's from Rebecca. And lastly, wonderfully made elderberry syrup, high quality ingredients, great taste, the power of elderberries had saved my family from the flu and other ailments since we began taking it.

My kids love the taste too. And that is from Bee Huggins. Many of our customers choose to take it daily to prevent themselves from getting sick, while others maybe choose to just turn to our product if they start waking up with a scratchy throat or they want something natural or their cough, cold, flu, fever, chills, body aches, headaches, what have you.

So daily as a preventative or turning to it more aggressively and by that I mean following that additional support that you're going to find on our bottles where we encourage you to take it every three hours up to five times a day when symptomatic. So those are the two different ways you can use the product as well as how the dosing applies to your once daily dose versus not feeling well and wanting to get that recovery much faster.

Okay. I love that you have a process in place for when you do get sick that you can just take more and it's not going to have a detrimental impact on your health. In fact, it'll probably improve your health. Because we have a shortage of medications in the country right now and the Tamiflu or, and I'm just going to say antibiotics are strictly overused.

And when people get a cold, even though it's a virus, they can develop other symptoms, bacterial infections and stuff. And the first thing everybody says is, I need to go get antibiotics. And, the overuse of antibiotics has caused so many virulent changes. We have a lot of treatment resistant antibiotic or bacteria out there now, and we have to get stronger and stronger antibiotics.

I like to take, at 70 years old, I like to take the proactive approach and take a daily dose. And to keep my immune system up and I too, during allergy season in the spring and the summer I find myself taking maybe an extra one because my nose is running or whatever, or when I'm out. Running around, I may take an extra one dose just because I feel sluggish, worn out or stressed.

I'm probably, I take it sometimes twice a day, not for any reason other than that I'm super stressed. And we know that stress impacts our immune health. And a lot of our listeners are under a tremendous amount of stress from providing care for another. My caregivers, they ignore their own health while providing the best possible care for their family member.

I know the power of elderberry shares lifestyle tips to improve immune health. Can you tell us what are the things you can often share with our community that may be able to help take away and implement today, Jessica? Yes, absolutely. I'm a former lecturer at Coastal Carolina University. I worked in the public health department for years, and I love just talking about healthy lifestyle tips and sharing that same passion I had with teaching and bringing it over to the power of elderberries so that we can continue to teach our community on ways that we can continue to help with all those different dimensions of wellness, including how to handle stress, right?

So we love to educate our community on the dimensions of wellness and the level of stress levels and overall health. We know that stress can obviously wreak havoc on our whole body system and lead to increase in inflammation and compromises our immune system, which then also makes us all more susceptible to illness.

So I just wanted to share maybe three or four lifestyle tips that can hopefully help your community with their stress levels as well. The first one I think that's important to talk about is practice, eliminating, delegating, and modifying the responsibilities and list of to dos on our calendar.

And that can be very challenging to do because I know that myself as well as all of you have a lot on our to do list, right? But creating space on our calendar can also help support a strong immune system. For dense, we may, it may seem impossible, but maybe thinking about what you may be able to modify or change from the list of responsibilities that you have, that might be a great way to start to help manage your stress.

So it's just some examples I might had come up with is. Can we create a healthy boundary by putting our phone down, maybe 7, 8 o'clock, and giving our mind a complete rest for better sleep or improved clarity throughout the day or a better night's rest? Can we get help with daily chores and household responsibilities?

Maybe we could delegate and ask for help in those ways as well, rather than trying to keep up with everything. The second one is just choosing one healthy form of movement or exercise to introduce to our daily routine. I know this can be challenging, we're much more likely to stick with a habit though if it feels very simple and rewarding.

So it could just be going on a walk each day, that might be the best place to start. I know for myself that's something that I've started doing and it's really helped just add more energy to my day. It's a way to unwind. It's a way for me to recollect and my thoughts and just thinking throughout the day and it also just take a break from life.

So if it's just choosing one healthy form of new it. Another one maybe could be being playful in the kitchen, adding spices or foods to your diet every day to help encourage a healthy mind and body, which takes the focus off. What we can't have and onto what we can have. I think oftentimes people have these very strict rules around what they're eating and what they shouldn't be eating and oftentimes can get.

I feel like it's all been being taken away from them. So rather than focusing on what you can't have, maybe focus on what you can have and just trying to integrate more fresh fruits, greens, lean protein in our diet to help feel like we have more energy throughout the day. I know personally for myself cutting back on gluten and refined sugar has really helped bring more clarity and focus to my mind.

It also has had a positive impact on my emotions and mood, so particularly I like to focus on what I can have, even though gluten and sugar isn't a lot of things, it has helped me get more creative in the kitchen while also still enjoying the foods that I love. And then the last one, maybe just focus on one small change.

So what is one thing that can make the biggest difference in your state of stress or your health right now? Maybe thinking about the smallest actionable step that you can take to move toward one small impactful habit and then just go for it. So committing it, commit to it through the end of the year to set yourself up for momentum, maybe moving through the new year.

And I know for myself, the one small change that I have integrated into my life here recently is getting up 30 minutes earlier, and as much as I love my sleep, this has had such an impact on my health. In the fact that 30 minutes has now been dedicated to daily devotionals and reading the Bible and journaling.

So I do each of those three things every single morning. And as soon as my eyes pop open, I get excited because that's 30 minutes of me time that I get before my day starts. I've also felt that it really sets my day up for success and feeling a lot less stressed and taking some time for myself before the chaos of the kids waking up and all the things start for the day. Whatever that one small change may be for you, I think that you'll find that it can really help make a big difference in how you feel. Jessica, everything you recommended is something that I recommend with my caregivers often.

In fact, we are promoting right now a plan to change the way the family caregiver is viewed because 63% of our family caregivers become seriously ill or die before the person they're caring for. And that's very disconcerting. And one of the things I'm teaching my caregivers is ask for help, build a team of people that will support you.

We call them care team partners. I encourage the mindfulness living. I encourage meditation. And I too get up an extra half hour early to start my day and that's so hard for family caregivers to do because some of them don't get enough sleep. That's why I'm saying if you're going to have, if you're going to fight your stress, take some elderberry syrup.

The power of elderberry syrup is going to help you get lead a healthier, happier life. Now, I want to ask, are there any additional questions or share information on how our listeners can connect with our community to learn more along the way? To connect with our community to learn more along the way, I would encourage our listeners to find us on social media, if they're on social media, at The Power of Elderberries.

IES on the end, that's a great way to get more educational content along the way. Going back to here at the Power of Elderberries, we love educating our community on all the different dimensions of wellness. So I think that things that we share on top of just sharing our product and information about it can be really helpful.

In addition, they're welcome to subscribe to our email list by visiting our website. We do a weekly wellness forecast, and ongoing healthy lifestyle education. And of course, they can learn more about our products by visiting our website, thepowerofelderberries. com. And if they are interested in purchasing or trying the products, I know Diane, you'll share a lead for them to do I will. I love the product. I promote the product and I encourage my listeners to try the product. The Power of Elderberries. has helped me be healthier and I want to share that with all of my clients out there, all my listeners out there, because we need to start taking control of our health naturally as the best we can.

We can't depend on traditional medications all the time. Number one, they're not effective. They're harmful to us in many ways, and everything in your product is natural. It limits the amount of types of sugars, and a healthier, happier person is a person who can take better care of the family member that they're caring for.

Jessica, I'm so excited that you joined with me today and I hope you'll come back. We have to talk about allergies the next time in the spring. Maybe you'll come back again. Absolutely. I would love to. And I will have links on the site to The Power of Elderberry so that people can find you. Again, I appreciate your time.

Thank you, Diane. Have a great day.

​