Echinacea: An Overview

Echinacea has become a well known herb in mainstream society today. It's used for a wide variety of things, but sometimes it is still misunderstood and or used for the wrong things too. Many people for instance, think that by taking Echinacea 

they can prevent getting sick during cold and flu season, but this is simply not the case. In reality, Echinacea can absolutely help you from getting as sick as you might otherwise normally, but it doesn't usually prevent you from getting sick completely. In other words, instead of getting a severe flu and being down for ten days because of it, you may have mild flu symtoms for three or four days instead. Each person is different of course, so how much Echinacea helps you will depend on a wide variety of things.

Echinacea is also a strong natural antibiotic and antiseptic herb too though. This means it can help fight and kill various types of infections within your body, plus it can clean the body inside and out. Antiseptics are herbs which cleanse the body of harmful germs and bacteria.

Echinacea is usually found in combination formulas with other herbs, because it is best for using against glandular related infections or problems. It's commonly used for ear aches or infections, throat, and lymph gland problems. So mixing it with Cayenne for instance, will help stimulate the healing of your body faster, and mixing it with Goldenseal will help the body fight off other bacteria or infections which aren't glandular related.

In fact, when combined with Goldenseal, Cayenne, and Yarrow, Echinacea contributes to producing an extremely powerful infection fighting herbal formula. You'll find it most often combined with Goldenseal in pre-made herbal capsule formulas though. Echinacea should be combined with Myrrh instead of Goldenseal for anyone who has hypoglycemia however, because the Goldenseal contains natural insulin that may drop the blood sugar levels too low for some people.

Echinacea is also combined with Chickweed to help with weight loss efforts effectively too. Other things Echinacea have been used for over the years include: Eczema (because Echinacea is an effective blood purifier), sore gums, fevers, insect bites and stings, mouth sores, mucus build up, tonsilitis, and strep throat.

Inside Mother

Home
Subscribe!
What's New?
Mother's Tea
Guest Article
Homebirth
Editorial
Best Articles
Breastfeeding
Dear Mother Dear
Reader Letters
Eternally Pregnant
Circumcision 

Site Features

Book Reviews
Mother Books
Cartoons!
Poems
Links
Birth Stories
Site Map
Advertising

Contact Us

Birth, Joy, & Raspberry Leaves
-a new video compiled by Catherine and Amanda Young
of The Compleat Mother

Go HERE for more information on the waterbirth video!