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More information about
Echinacea
Natures Immune Enhancer
Echinacea (or purple coneflower) is a perennial herb native to
Midwestern North America from Canada to Texas. Echinacea gets it
name from the Greek word echinos, meaning sea urchin, referring to
the prickly scales of the dried seed head.
At the turn of the century echinacea was the most sacred healing
herb of the plains Indians. The Plains Indians introduced
echinacea to the settlers and it soon became widely prescribed by
western herbal medicine doctors.
Today Echinacea is one of the most famous herbs thought to
reduce
susceptibility and the length of a common cold.
Echinacea can jump start your immune system.
Echinacea is probably the most extensively researched herbs.
According to an article in The American Journal of Natural
Medicine (1995), well over 350 scientific research studies
document the use of Echinacea for the prevention or treatment of
colds. In one study 180 patients with influenza showed significant
reduction of cold symptoms when taking echinacea. In another
study, echinacea dramatically reduced the frequency, severity and
length of colds among 108 patients.
What makes Echinacea so popular?
Echinacea is said to increase the process by which white blood
cells destroy bad microorganisms. In other words, when you get
sick echinacea jump starts your body's own natural response to
fight cold viruses.
Besides stimulating a healthy system to ward off viruses,
echinacea also helps in healing an already existing infection.
When you have a cold and your body is running low on its
resources, or when you have been exposed to a cold, echinacea has
been found to be a strong and direct activating force in fighting
infection.
*Sources:
Herbal Tonic Therapies, B. Mowrey, PHD., Keats Publishing
Inc.,1993.
The American Journal of Natural Medicine, 1995
Echinacea Purpurea, Brauig B., et al., Zeitchrift Fur
Phytotherapie, 1992
Herbal Kingdom, Rob McCaleb, Delicious Magazine, 1995
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