Could This Overlooked Berry Be The Key To Weight Loss?
Could the secret to weight loss be found in a berry?
That's what a new study, which found that drinking elderberry juice daily may boost weight loss, suggests. It also reportedly helps break down sugars and even boosts gut health.
In case you’re not familiar with it, elderberry is a dark purple berry from the black elder tree. It’s been used in folk medicine for years, largely to treat colds and the flu, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
But it isn't so straightforward. Here's what a nutritionist, dietitian, and obesity medicine specialist want you to know about the new research.
Meet the experts: Mir Ali, MD, is the medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. Jessica Cording, MS, RD, is the author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety. Scott Keatley, RD, is the co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy.
What did the study find?
For the study, which was published in the journal Nutrients in October, 18 men and women who were overweight or obese were asked to have 355 grams (12.5 ounces) a day of elderberry juice or a placebo for a week. They also ate pre-packaged meals so researchers could control their diet.
After a week, the participants took three weeks off from drinking the juice, before then ingesting elderberry juice or a placebo (whichever they didn’t have the previous time around). The researchers found that people who took elderberry juice had positive changes to their gut microbiome, better glucose tolerance, and a better ability to break down fat (which is known as fat oxidation).
Participants who drank elderberry juice also experienced 24 percent lower blood glucose levels, suggesting that they were able to better process sugars.
Can drinking elderberry juice help me lose weight?
Maybe. It’s important to point out that the study didn’t actually find that people lost weight while drinking elderberry juice. Instead, they seemed to have better blood glucose management and fat oxidation which could, in theory, help with weight loss. However, there was no data to suggest that people actually lost weight.
The study was also small, making it hard to generalize.
But Mir Ali, MD, medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California, says it may be possible to lose weight while drinking elderberry juice—it’s just not likely to be very significant.
“The majority of weight loss comes from what you’re eating or not eating,” he says. “Things like elderberry juice may be helpful—maybe they suppress the appetite a little bit or make you feel full if you drink it before eating. But, if you’re still eating the wrong things, you won’t see a dramatic difference in weight loss.”
What are the other health benefits of drinking elderberry juice?
There are a lot of health claims linked to elderberry juice, but not a lot of them are scientifically proven. Some studies (which are mostly industry-funded) suggest that elderberry juice may support your immune system and even speed up a cold or the flu. But those studies are small, making it tricky to draw real conclusions from it.
Otherwise, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says there’s not enough evidence to show if elderberry is helpful.
Are there downsides of drinking elderberry juice?
Like all fruit juices, elderberry juice contains sugar. “It’s a concentrated source of carbohydrates,” points out Jessica Cording, MS, RD, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety. If you have it without food, you could run the risk of having blood sugar spikes and crashes, she says.
If you're drinking improperly prepared or unripe elderberries, you could also consume cyanogenic glycosides, says Scott Keatley, the co-owner of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy. Those can "release cyanide during digestion and lead to symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea," he says.
"Commercially prepared elderberry juices are typically safe, as they undergo proper processing to remove harmful substances, but homemade or poorly prepared elderberry products pose a greater risk," he adds.
Finally, elderberry juice contains bioactive compounds that may interact with certain medications, such as immune-suppressing drugs or diuretics, Keatley says. Those compounds could amplify or reduce the effectiveness of these medications, so stay away from elderberry juice if you have an autoimmune disorder or are managing a chronic illness.
What are the best elderberry juices to drink?
If you’re interested in drinking elderberry juice, Cording suggests paying close attention to the sugar content. “Look for a product that’s straight-up elderberry juice—no added sugars or sweeteners,” she says.
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