Americans spent $175 million on elderberry products last year. Do they actually work?
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Experts say more research is needed before we can know for sure just how effective they are. The dark purple berry, rich in antioxidants and vitamins, is found in North America, Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia and has been used in folk medicine for centuries.
![[More research is needed on how effective elderberry supplements are]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/15/18/iStock-2156499917.jpg)
After Covid-19, elderberry products boomed into a multimillion-dollar business, but claims that the supplements support immune health have not been verified by the Food and Drug Administration. Experts say more research is needed before we can know for sure just how effective they are.
![[Industry-funded studies tend to show more positive results, experts said]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/15/18/iStock-623847564.jpg)
Dr. Matthew Badgett, an internal medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic, is optimistic about elderberry supplements in treating symptoms of colds and flu but said it is not “a game changer.”. “It might be slightly beneficial,” Badgett told The Independent, adding that there are a handful of notable trials in humans that yielded “impressive results” by reducing flu symptoms.
Badgett caveated that the findings need to be confirmed in a larger study. Another major unknown is how effective elderberry supplements are at preventing a cold or the flu as not enough research has been done. “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.
