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bogfrog

Learn from my stupid mistake.

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I'm betting your response was from the stems Ceres.

Green parts of the elder have been used as an emetic for a looong time - very nasty.

Berries themselves should be ok in moderation; i've eaten 2-3 decent bunches per day for several days at a time as a kid with no ill effects.

Elderberry wine is the go.

The flowers (assuming you avoid any stem thicker than a matchstick are safe to consume in fritters etc. the make the BEST cordial and also a lovely 'champagne' (ginger beer like fizz)

My lesson from mother elder was loosing the tip off my thumb when i was cutting a branch with a knife - they fey folk that live beneath HATE iron and let me know in no uncertain terms!

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goddamn elders always telling me to do things

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.. there's a bio-feedback system between your liver and your taste buds and if you drink tea containing st Mary's thistle you can determine the health of your own liver by how bitter the tea tastes to you. If its undrinkable your liver is very unhealthy, bitter is not too bad but could be better, and if its not bitter your liver is doing really well. As your liver health improves, so does the taste of the tea! So I could drink a sip of this tea and know my liver isn't horribly ill. All is well!

I've never heard that one - have you got a reference for that Ceres?

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Very interesting topic, thanks for sharing your ordeal. Glad your okay and hopefully we have all learnt to do a little research before ingesting some interesting concoctions.

Cheers,

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I've never heard that one - have you got a reference for that Ceres?

Hey sorry I just saw this now, no, no reference, this was just what the lady at the pharmacy told me when I was buying some liver detox tea, and it seemed like a pre-established spiel, most likely given to them by the naturopath who made the teas...so while its not the most reliable info I doubt they would be able to make posters and encourage suppliers to tell people this as they try to sell them a product unless it had a scientific basis. (Tho as I write this I think of how many other brands do just that.. Ermm... :rolleyes:)

So yeh. It could be true, or it could be false.

What I do know though is that after drinking this detox tea over a few weeks it did become far less bitter and far more palatable.

Hey Frozenthunderbolt, yep you are right, it all was all those little green stems.. There were heaps of them in there :(

A friend told me that the spirits of great witches and wizards habitate elders and if you cut the branches without asking permission from the elder mother, the wood actually bleeds a bright red sap... :o

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Glad you're okey Ceres! wow

I know Sambuccus as its quite common where I am. I remember they use the flowers to make syrup for sweets or to aromatise some champagne or wine, and they make puddings and stuff like this with the berries. In both occasions the material is boiled first!

the green stems might have played a role, but the berries are toxic. eating one or two or 10 berries might even stimulate you , but if you eat a lot raw you will be poisoned unless you eat the berries regularly.

every book says Sambuccus is a toxic plant.

and its a pretty easy one to ID

===

a close friend of mine did something much more stupid and more dangerous than eating lots of raw sambuccus seeds, taking a toxic plant from the nose !

check Ecballium elaterium ,

its a weed here and its got a known history in some places for being used traditionally for some stuff, used nasally in very small quantities.

this fucker is pretty toxic, and I know this from a young kid. The juice is supposed to be skin irritative!! or whats what I remembered...

now my friend used the normal dose (one drop) , but it did not work, or so they thought. So he put antoher 7 or 8 drops of the juice to his nose.

long story short, he nearly died from the compications, had to be hospitalised and earned some permanent damage to the nasal cavity.

The ironic thing is that I remember we had discussed on this plant and that traditional remedy, and I remember telling him bitter cucumber or wild cucumber as we call it here, is a pretty toxic plant.

Again, glad the lesson was a pretty mild one, even though I can tell you got scared. Lesson learnt I suppose! :)

cheers!

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Im sure a lot of members here know what a mild cyanide poisoning feels like from the first time they ate Argyreia Nervosa without proper preperation haha. Horribleness...

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