Information And Benefits Of Echinacea (Echinacea Angustifolia, Purpurea, Pallida):
Purple coneflower, so named because of it’s distinct and handsome flower, is one of the great American herbal medicines. Before the era of antibiotics, echinacea was a great gift because of it’s immune system enhancing, antibiotic, and antiviral properties. Ironically, this most American of medicines is hardly known about by conventional medicine in the United States but is enthusiastically used in Europe, where it is one of the best-selling natural remedies. Echinacea is a major healer, primarily to the immune system, it’s value supported by hundreds of scientific papers. The German Commission E approves echinacea “as a supportive therapy for colds, flu, and chronic infections of the respiratory tract and lower urinary tract”. Echinacea is used as a first aid remedy for cuts, abrasions, and boils, it restrains infections, clears toxins, and herbalists use it for inflammations, fevers, and inflamed prostrate gland. The Sioux Indians swore by it for snake bites and gun shot wounds and the early settlers adopted it whole heartedly also when they saw how effective it was for these things also. The dried flower, with it’s symmetrical spikes, was also used as a comb by the Plains Indians!
Echinacea is one of the most popular herbs in North America and Europe, known mostly for it’s very potent immune system enhancing effects. People mainly use Echinacea to treat colds and the flu. The popular name for Echinacea is the purple cone flower, and there are three main varieties that people use, Echinacea Angustifolia, Echinacea Purpurea, and Echinacea Pallida. Echinacea Angustifolia is the most highly regarded and potent of them, and the hardest of them to grow. Echinacea was a traditional remedy of North American Indians. They used it for all sorts of things, including sore throats, coughs, tonsillitis, toothaches, and blood and lymphatic diseases. It became much wider known when Hollywood celebrities started swearing by it and recommending it for colds and flu. Jody Foster, Cher, and members of Star Trek cast, among others have used it and recommended it.
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It is unclear for some people as to when is the best time to use Echinacea. Echinacea is used both for the prevention of, and for the treatment of colds. It is suggested to use it preventatively during the winter months to support and boost the immune system, but also it is known to shorten the duration of and the severity of coughs, headaches, and nasal congestion if taken when you already have a cold. People whose immune systems are not up to peak functioning levels can use Echinacea anytime to stimulate and boost the efficiency and strength of their immune systems, however if your immune system is healthy you do not require long term usage of it for prevention, rather it would be more effective as a treatment only.

If you feel run down, weak, and not very strong and super healthy, Echinacea is a great herb to take periodically for getting you back up to a normal and healthy immune system functioning, but it should not be used for too prolonged a period at a time, because if used too long at a time, it may lose it’s ability to stimulate the immune system. The German Commission E Monograph advises use for no longer than 8 weeks followed by a 1 week rest period. Others suggest to use it for two weeks and follow that by a three day rest. Your body is very often the best guide to as to when you should use any herb, as your body is the most closely connected to the subtler energies, and the cycles of nature.
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Echinacea root is the part of the plant that has been historically and traditionally used in North America and Europe. Nowadays, however almost all of the plant is used including the leaves, flowers, and the seeds. When looking for a good quality Echinacea root, you can find out how potent and how active the ingredients are in the Echinacea root by chewing on the root for a few minutes. A strong fresh Echinacea root will make your tongue feel “buzzy” and tingly, and make you salivate, these are signs that the echinacea is doing what it is meant to be doing. Golden seal root and Echinacea root are often used together when fighting colds and the flu, or boosting immune system function, because they make the other one work better, and support each other very well, each of them working at strengthening and potentially attacking anything which may cause problems. The double whammy of Goldenseal root and Echinacea root is legendary for being used used together to fight colds and run down systems.
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These are the primary uses for Echinacea: Colds, coughs, flu, and other respiratory conditions; enlarged lymph glands and sore throat; urinary tract infections and other minor infections; herpes and candida; wounds, skin infections, and skin regenerating;psoriasis, eczema, and skin inflammations. There have been hundreds of scientific studies also done on the effectiveness of Echinacea to encourage white blood cells and lymphocytes to attack invading organisms. Unlike antibiotics which are directly lethal to bacteria, Echinacea makes our own immune cells more efficient in attacking these abnormal cells, even including cancer cells.
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Dr. Meyer in the 1870’s was so confident of Echinacea’s ability to kill poisonous snake bite venom that he offered to “allow himself to be bitten by several rattlesnakes to prove the truth of his claims”. He claimed to know of over 600 cases in which Echinacea had cured rattlesnake bites. It is also good for insect bites, diphtheria, blood poisoning, and diseases such as tuberculosis. Echinacea is safe to use for most people, and is very well tolerated, but it is not recommended for hiv or aids, auto immune disease such as lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis, and progressive systemic disease such as leukosis, multiple sclerosis, or diabetes mellitus. Also if you are allergic to plants in the daisy family, you may develop allergic symptoms to Echinacea also.
The Root Of The Matter! Organic Echinacea Angustifolia Root:
Our organic Echinacea Angustifolia root is very high quality. It is grown in the far north of British Columbia, Canada, it is a very clean and reliable Angustifolia. It is grown by one of the first established growers of quality Echinacea in Canada. They have an in house QC/QA laboratory that tests their Echinacea for health, overall potency, and the varieties of active ingredients. The following are present in the group of phenolic compounds: Echinacosides, Cynarine, Cichoric Acid, Chlorogenic Acid, and the array of flavanoids. Polysaccharides (fructans) and Inulin between them dominate the saccharides group. The strength, health, and potency of our Echinacea is exceptional.
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When you chew on this root, it makes your tongue get very “buzzy” and tingly, and if you chew on it long enough it can make your tongue go numb. That is a good sign of the strength and freshness of a root. It has a deep aromatic scent to it, somewhat musky but pungent, it tastes excellent, and you just know that it works great when you chew it in your mouth, making you feel good very quickly. It is 100% pure root with no leaves or herb with it, and it is cut and sifted to a medium size. It is an incredible Echinacea, works great, and the people who try it love it.