Elderberry supplements — marketed for boosting the immune system — have recently become one of the most popular herbal supplements in the country. According to the Nutrition Business Journal, consumers spent an estimated $175 million on elderberry pills, syrups and powders last year.
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Two small studies, one of which had industry funding, found elderberry supplements may shorten flu symptoms by four days compared with a placebo. Another industry-funded study found international travelers who caught a cold recuperated faster and had fewer symptoms if they took elderberry supplements before, during and after their flights.
Michael Macknin, a professor emeritus of pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine […] conducted his own study, which published in 2020.
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He found no evidence that elderberry supplements helped adults and children in the emergency room with the flu.
“I was shocked,” Macknin said of the results, adding that he thought his study would be a “slam dunk.”
Macknin now tells patients “not to waste their money” on elderberry supplements “until there’s more information,” he said.
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