Echinacea is well known for its ability to help fight off the common cold.  It’s become an all purpose fighter for the immune system!  In fact, for centuries, the Plains tribes used the plant to heal wounds and to counteract the toxins of snakebites.

While snakes likely are not biting you, you can benefit from the excellent immune boosting properties of echinacea.  Echinacea helps to kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other disease causing microbes.  It acts by stimulating various immune system cells that are key weapons against infection.  In addition, echinacea boosts the cells’ production of an innate virus fighting substance called interferon.  That is why you often hear people advising you to take echinacea at the very first signs of a cold.

A study conducted in 1992 examined over 100 people who were susceptible to colds.  The results showed that those who used echinacea for eight weeks were 35% less likely to come down with a cold than those given a placebo.  In addition, they caught colds less often.  Forty days elapsed between infections, versus 25 days for the placebo group.  Other studies confirm that Echinacea is also useful if you are already suffering from the aches, pains, congestion, or fever of colds or flu. 

During cold and flu season, be sure to have a bottle of echinacea on hand to help boost your immune system right at the beginning of your cold.  You will likely find that the severity and duration of your cold will be drastically reduced!  Visit your local health store for a bottle of echinacea or click here to purchase from Physician’s Preference.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007 at 9:40 am and is filed under Health & Wellness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.