Quickly get rid of your colds with Echinacea

Saturday, November 23, 2013 by: P. Simard
Tags: Echinacea, cold treatment, herbal medicine

(NaturalNews) For those of you that don't have the chance to live under palm trees, blessed by the constant warmth of the sun in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the time of the year when days get shorter and the weather gets cooler. As this happens and leads us towards the winter months, many people unfortunately wake up some day with a new cold. The primary goal for anyone is to constantly keep their immune system strong in order to stay away from colds, but if that's not enough, then the next best thing is to at least get rid of it as soon as possible. This is where Echinacea comes in, as this herb has long been known to quickly and effectively stop a cold right in its tracks.

Echinacea is a perennial that's been used for hundreds of years by Native Americans. Once Europeans settled in North America, they quickly adopted it as a medicinal herb, recognizing its ability to strengthen the immune system. It contains active substances that can not only boost the immune system but also relieve pain, reduce inflammation and provide somewhat of an antiviral and antioxidant effect in the body.

Before the rise of pharmaceutical medicine and antibiotics, health practitioners would regularly use Echinacea to treat colds, flu symptoms and bronchitis as well as various types of infectious diseases. Over the last few decades, it has consistently regained popularity, as more and more people are keen on staying away from toxic substances in order to treat their illnesses. Germany alone is now marketing and selling close to 40 different products based on Echinacea.

You won't catch a cold thanks to Echinacea, but if you do, research shows it will not last as long

Various studies have proven that Echinacea can reduce the severity and length of a cold. One of these studies included 95 people with early cold symptoms such as a runny nose and a scratchy throat. Some of these individuals were given several cups of Echinacea tea on a daily basis for a period of five days. At the end of this short trial, the individuals who had consumed the tea reported feeling much better than the ones who didn't, as their symptoms had consistently faded away. Reviewing several other trials showed that Echinacea had the potential to diminish catching a cold by up to 58% while assisting the body to get rid of it, anywhere from one to four days quicker than usual.

Germany's Department of Virology published interesting results in regards to Echinacea pallida's capacity to also treat herpetic infections. The herpes simplex plaque formation was reduced by more than 99% with the use of Echinacea extracts. Echinacea pressed juice demonstrated tremendous antiviral properties, as it was able to interfere with the herpes virus inside the cells just as much as outside.

Sources for this article include:

http://umm.edu

http://science.naturalnews.com

http://health.howstuffworks.com

About the author:
After spending several years working in property management, P. Simard is now focusing on being a naturopath in Quebec.