Archived News of the Week

Let's Stop Bashing Echinacea!

Echinacea received a slap upside the head in December when a German study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (only too happy to find fault with natural healing substances. . . ) found that echinacea had no benefit in upper respiratory infections compared to placebo on the duration and severity of infections, plus they (children ages 2 to 11) got skin rashes! This flies in the face of everything I have known, used and found to be effective, so I want to share with you information which hopefully will dispute the study for you.

Secondly, the more powerful kinds of echinacea are alcoholic products made from either echinacea augustifolia or from echinacea purpurea roots. It is quite a distinctive sensation when you have good, powerful echinacea in your mouth; the good products will make your tongue tingle for a good minute or so.

Lastly, the trial was done on sick kids which is not the best way to utilize echinacea. Naturopaths typically suggest echinacea BEFORE infections as a preventative. This is supported by clinical trials. I would suggest that you and your children take a good echinacea all winter long.

What is a "good" echinacea? Good question. Probably NOT what you are buying at the store. A recent study in Denver revealed that what you are buying in the stores could possibly be little better for you than bad tasting alcoholic water. "Of the samples gathered, 6 (10%) of the 59 preparations contained no measurable echinaea. The assayed species content was consistent with labeled content in 31 (52%) of the samples. Of the 21 standardized preparations 9 (43%) met the quality standard described on the label. Labeled milligrams were weakly associated with measured constituent." (Arch Intern Med, 2003; 163:699-704)

If you are still reading, God bless you. But, you are probably scratching your head saying "What the heck does that gobbledegook mean?" It means that echinacea from retail stores often does not contain what the label says is does. A claim of "standardization" does not mean that the preparation is accurately labeled, nor does it indicate less variabiliy in concentrations of constituents of the echinacea used.

Right now, I can recommend two brands of echinacea: One is from Medi-herb, the Australian herb company that Standard Process is representing in the United States. Either their Echinacea Blend 2 or the Echinacea Purpurea Root in the alcohol form or, for kids, the glycetract form which is more palatable. You can get tested for these from me.

The second one I could recommend is from Dr. Schulz. You can order it yourself by calling 1-800-437-2362.

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