Elderberry tincture and swine flu info

[Joe]

...Concerning the vodka, I understand the berry absorbs it, but to what extent?
...
Proper dosage level for a little angel under 5?

About a berry's worth... lol
The berries will plump up but there will still be mostly liquid in there.
I did not squeeze my berries as AK47 recommended last time (because I didn't think of it) but I will this time.

I wouldn't be able to give any advice on a child (or really, on medication at all - I'm not a medical professional) but If I had a 5 year old I'd halve her dosage. Pretty much like with regular medicine.

[BEOWULF]

Jeeezes this stuff TASTEs GREAT. lol. Anyone here doing the daily Preventive yet ?

[bbkaren]

How you take that, straight up or on the rocks?

I was actually thinking of mixing it half-and-half with Sambucol to make it somewhat more palatable. Sort of like a shot of liqueur. Sort of.

My older kids always complain that the syrup is too sweet so maybe this'd be a compromise.

We take 2 tsp of Sambucol each day (maintenance) so I guess half-and-half would be a good strength.

I know it shouldn't be mixed with anything for the long term but if it tastes okay, I thought maybe we could make up a week's worth of tincture/syrup mixture at a time. Any thoughts?

I also thought that if that doesn't work taste-wise, we could add it to a half a glass of OJ or something. A teaspoonful shouldn't taste that strong if it's diluted like that...

Incidentally, luckyvitamin.com has sambucol brand 7.8 oz bottles for around $14 which is actually cheaper than the Nature's Way brand. And over $100 is free shipping. http://www.luckyvitamin.com/searchResul ... /offset/14

[BEOWULF]

Do you need this too ? luckyvitamin.com has sambucol brand 7.8 oz bottles _ Or is the home made stuff Good Enough ? Memphis is starting to get some cases. University of Ala just was hit hard in last 2 weeks. Let me know.

[bbkaren]

Sambucol is an elderberry syrup--just another way to get elderberry into your system and much tastier (raspberry flavored) and much more expensive.

Our three year old ain't gonna enjoy the tincture so we keep the syrup on hand for him. As mentioned, the rest of us find the syrup to be overly sweet...

Sambucol brand is the "name brand" of elderberry syrup. Specifically, it's the only one clinically tested (in Israel I think) and found to be as effective (or in some cases, more effective if I recall correctly) as Tamiflu. I don't recall the details on the testing but you could probably google it if interested. Is there anything special in Sambucol vs. other syrups? I doubt it...but allegedly there's a "special" formulation of some sort in Sambucol.

I bought it because in this instance it was cheaper than the Nature's way version which is the one I normally buy.

eta: I actually think that tincture is supposed to be more effective than syrup b/c the alcohol brings out the medicinals in the berry. I think...

[AK47]

People have for a long time used sugar or honey to make taking medicine less offending for children.

♫♫♫ A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. ♫♫♫

History of the song

Julie Andrews had not yet committed to do the part of Mary Poppins. She didn't like the song that was written for her, believing it didn't have enough snap to it. The original song was called "The Eyes of Love". Walt Disney instructed the Sherman Brothers to come up with something more catchy. Robert Sherman, who is the primary lyricist of the duo arrived home from work one evening, having worked all day trying to come up with a song idea. As he walked in the door, his wife, Joyce informed him that the children had gotten their polio vaccine that day. Bob asked one of his children if it hurt (thinking the child had received a shot). The child responded that it (the medicine) was put on a cube of sugar and that he swallowed it. Realizing what he had, Robert Sherman arrived at work early the next morning with the title of the song "A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down". Sherman suggested the lyric to his brother, Richard, who was at first dismissive but slowly came around. At his brother's behest, Richard put melody to the lyric and with that, the song was born.

[bbkaren]

Filtered our tincture today and tried it in a glass of orange juice. Could barely taste that there was even anything in there, so it's great!

Also made elderberry jelly which turned out great in spite of my doubts...I took some photos so I'll post them and the step-by-steps on the elderberry jam thread (I made jelly and used a slightly different method from Morrigan's).

[Copperhead]

Dude, it scares me that you know this ...

People have for a long time used sugar or honey to make taking medicine less offending for children.

♫♫♫ A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. ♫♫♫

History of the song

Julie Andrews had not yet committed to do the part of Mary Poppins. She didn't like the song that was written for her, believing it didn't have enough snap to it. The original song was called "The Eyes of Love". Walt Disney instructed the Sherman Brothers to come up with something more catchy. Robert Sherman, who is the primary lyricist of the duo arrived home from work one evening, having worked all day trying to come up with a song idea. As he walked in the door, his wife, Joyce informed him that the children had gotten their polio vaccine that day. Bob asked one of his children if it hurt (thinking the child had received a shot). The child responded that it (the medicine) was put on a cube of sugar and that he swallowed it. Realizing what he had, Robert Sherman arrived at work early the next morning with the title of the song "A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down". Sherman suggested the lyric to his brother, Richard, who was at first dismissive but slowly came around. At his brother's behest, Richard put melody to the lyric and with that, the song was born.

[AK47]

Filtered our tincture today and tried it in a glass of orange juice. Could barely taste that there was even anything in there, so it's great!

That's called a screwdriver.

[Joe]

That's called a screwdriver.

Well said!