By Mary Ewing

Five years ago I met my husband to be, Talmadge. Little did I know, that was the beginning of a war against sinus problems – not mine, his. Other than the occasional cold, I rarely had any problems with allergies or sinus ailments. But Tal, on the other hand, was a total different story. From early on in childhood, he struggled with food, environment and seasonal allergies, often leading to full blown sinus infections. Even after two major sinus surgeries, he still was prescription medication dependent just to be able to breath through his nose. During our first date, he spent most of the time in the passenger seat of my Jeep while I was out with our friends having fun because he had a fever and bad sinus infection. Romantic, I know. I later found out that he was on four or more medications daily just to try to maintain some normalcy, and would still contract an infection requiring antibiotics almost once a month. Being a nurse and a fix-it sort of person, I wanted to find something to help him, but if all the doctors couldn’t help him with all of their knowledge, how much could I hope to accomplish?

During the courtship and the first few years of our marriage, we worked with Tal’s diet (when we met it consisted largely of cokes, Honey Buns®, and Ramen® Noodles), broadening it to include more whole grains and vegetables and decreasing the amount of sugar, carbonation and processed foods. We also added supplements to his diet, relying primarily on phytochemicals to increase nutrients. This helped significantly by decreasing his infections to one or two a year instead of 10 to 12. He went almost an entire year without antibiotics by just doing these few things.

Despite our best efforts, Tal was still taking two antihistamines, one to two decongestants, a leukotriene blocker, a nasal spray with an expectorant and had another nasal spray handy as back-up relief. In addition to this, he would often use saline washes and topical rubs to help provide relief. Not including the amount we spent on tissue, we were spending well over $100 a month on prescription medication and doctor co-pays to keep Tal breathing and well. I began to believe that we were destined to keep the cycle going his whole life.

When our children, Emma Grace (2 ½) and Elliot (1), began to exhibit some of the same symptoms, I became desperate. I fervently wanted to spare them from the constant struggle, intermittent misery, and lifelong dependence on pharmaceuticals that seemed to be their father’s lot in life. I tried everything from natural homeopathic drops to medications to herbal infusions. Some would provide temporary relief, but nothing seemed to help long term.

Then out of the blue a dear friend asked if we had ever tried elderberry. They even gave us a bottle to try – Berry Well Elderberry Extract, from Beeyoutiful. Although we were willing to try anything, after everything else that we’d done, we were not really expecting any better results. The first night we had the bottle, Tal and I were both feeling like we were coming down with sore throats, so we gave it a try. My brother, Matthew came in from out of town with a cold, along with my mom who was tired after the long car ride.

We tried to get Matthew to take some, but he was leery, thinking it would taste bad. He wouldn’t try it until my mom did. It was AMAZING! We all were coming back for more the next day. Matthew said he was very surprised at how good it was. No bad aftertaste or medicine taste at all. He was amazed at how well he had slept despite having had a bad sore throat and congestion the entire day prior. He continued taking it and his symptoms were gone within two days. He was an absolute believer! My husband was so convinced he went “cold turkey” on all his medications, only taking Berry Well. Even Mom, who had not felt sick, was praising the remarkable results. She had more energy and the jet lag feeling had disappeared.

How Does It Work?

It took over 7 years for the staff at Honey Garden Apiaries to perfect this amazing blend of immuno-boosters. At the core is Elderberry extract. One of the most studied, tried and proven immune system aids out there, the Elderberry is the star of this synergistic blend of complete health supporting elements. Most studies have focused on documenting Elderberry’s incredible ability to support the body when dealing with viruses, specifically Influenza. Elderberry works so very efficiently in so many ways, researchers are still baffled by how this simple berry can be so powerful.

Propolis is the dark sticky substance made by bees from the resin of various trees and plants. Bees gather this sap, re-metabolize it with their own nectar secretions and then take it back to the hive. It was named ‘propolis’ by the ancient Greeks which means, “a defense”. Many scientists believe a hive to be more sterile and free from harmful bacteria than a modern hospital. The healing benefits of bee propolis have been known for hundreds of years. Hippocrates first recorded the use of propolis to treat wounds, sores and ulcers as early as the fourth century B.C. The Roman scholar Pliny praised the benefits of propolis 400 years later in his writings, explaining how it “extracted all substances embedded in the flesh, reduced swelling, softened hardened areas, soothed pain, and healed sores when it appeared hopeless for them to mend.” Today’s modern science supports what wise men of old knew to be true. With the technology available to us we are able to study the many wonderful internal benefits of propolis as well!

Raw apple cider vinegar is a cherished folk remedy it has been used historically to help in a huge array of immune system based complaints. It is a staple in the medicine cabinet of most in the natural health community.

Raw honey has been a time honored food staple through the ages as well as being treasured for its healing and soothing properties. BerryWell’s raw honey has not gone through the high heat, refining, and filtering processes that most commercially available honey has. It retains all of the amazingly beneficial enzymes and traces of beeswax, pollen and propolis that make it such a valuable part of this proprietary blend. Taken internally, especially blended with the other fantastic ingredients in BerryWell, honey supports healing on many levels from the inside out. Its unique properties combined with the marvelous elderberry are one of the primary reasons BerryWell works so effectively on such a wide array of complaints.

Similar in some ways to the Elderberry, one of the main mechanisms of action for echinacea is that it stimulates phagocytosis in the blood stream. This allows it to work in harmony with Elderberry in supporting the body’s first line of defense on a cellular level to protect against the invasion of foreign substances in the body. Rather than depending on one chemical compound or “Magic bullet” to do the job Echinacea works in several different ways to support immune system health.

All was well around here for a few days . . . until our supply of Berry Well was depleted. I was in the doghouse with everybody for “letting us run out” before ordering more. You can imagine that I anxiously anticipated the arrival of our order, but the day it came, I was experiencing a headache of monstrous proportions and was in no mood to celebrate. I’d had no relief from the pain for over 48 hours. I decided to give elderberry a try, as nothing else was working and I figured it couldn’t hurt. I quickly downed the tablespoon and went about my business. I was out for a walk with the children about thirty minutes later when my ears began popping. For the next three hours, my ears popped and drained. My headache eased up within an hour and was totally gone by the end of the day. I had been taking decongestants and pain killers for the entire forty-eight hours without any help. Seeing Berry Well help the other members of my family was one thing.

Experiencing such impressive results myself was an entirely different story. Believe me when I tell you that I have no intentions of “letting us run out” of Berry Well again.

Now, my husband has been off his regular medications for over a month. We are saving well over $1000 a year because of just that. My daughter wakes up without a stuffy nose. And I have never felt better. We buy Berry Well in quantity because we use it so much, and to have enough to pass out to others. I cannot sing its praises enough. It is hard to imagine that such a small amount of sweet berry liquid can make such a big difference.

Beeyoutiful Products Mentioned in This Article:

• Berry Well Elderberry Extract