Americans spend millions on elderberry products Are They Worth It?

In its article, The Independent unveils that Dr. Matthew Badgett, an internal medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic, discussed the growing popularity of elderberry supplements, particularly for boosting immune health. 

Americans are investing millions in elderberry supplements annually in an effort to prevent colds and the flu, though the evidence on their actual effectiveness remains uncertain.

According to the Nutrition Business Journal, US consumers spent $175 million last year on elderberry pills, syrups, and powders, as initially reported by The Washington Post.

The dark purple berry, known for its high antioxidant and vitamin content, is native to North America, Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia and has been used in traditional medicine for centuries.

Following Covid-19, elderberry products surged into a multimillion-dollar industry, but the claims that these supplements boost immune health have not been verified by the Food and Drug Administration.

Experts argue that additional research is necessary before we can definitively determine their effectiveness.

Dr. Matthew Badgett, an internal medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic, is hopeful about the potential of elderberry supplements in treating cold and flu symptoms but cautioned that it is not “a game changer.”

“It might be slightly beneficial,” Badgett told The Independent, noting a few significant human trials that produced “impressive results” by reducing flu symptoms.

“Some of these results were really just miraculous,” he said, referring to one study that reduced flu-like symptoms by an average of four days. “When you think that the average symptom duration is seven days, and patients start taking [elderberry supplements] on day two. That basically meant all the flu symptoms were gone the next day.”

However, Badgett emphasized that these findings need to be validated in larger studies.

A key uncertainty remains how effective elderberry supplements are in preventing colds or flu, as insufficient research has been conducted. “Once we already have symptoms of the virus, the viral load is already really, really high. So it might be you might have to start treatment before you’re sick, and then that’s functionally not possible to do,” Badgett explained.

“That’s where the question of prevention comes. If you take this all the time, and whatever active chemical of the elderberry is in your bloodstream, is that going to stop the viruses from taking off? That is an unanswered question.”

Badgett advises that consumers should be mindful of the fact that the supplement industry has funded studies that have shown more favorable results.

"The reality is that a lot of our studies are always going to be industry-funded because they have reason to publish data," he said. "They’re the ones who are funding it. But we also know that studies published by the industry are more likely to show positive results than those that are non-industry funded."

Elderberry supplements are generally safe, but raw or unripe elderberries can be poisonous. “These parts contain cyanide-producing substances, which can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea,” Dr. Kirstyn Hill, a clinical pediatric and women’s health pharmacist, cautioned in an article for Health.com.

By Naila Huseynova