What is echinacea and is it safe

Echinacea is probably the most commonly used herb in the West. When U.S. herbalists are interviewed to gather "entries" for the "Top 25 Herbs", echinacea is close to the top of every list.

Unlike many of the popular herbs in use today, which are Chinese or Ayurvedic in origin, echinacea is homegrown. The plant is the purple coneflower, a popular garden flower that鈥檚 especially common in gardens in the Northwest and Midwest. Three species are commonly used- Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea angustifolia and Echinacea pallida. It was used by Native American Indians to treat a wide assortment of infections and inflammations. And it enjoyed extraordinary popularity in North America in the early 1900s, dispensed by pharmacies as a tincture, but by the 1930s echinacea had fallen from favor. Meanwhile, echinacea use continued to thrive in Europe, particularly in Germany, where medical doctors frequently prescribe echinacea.

Echinacea is known as a potent immune enhancing herb. The healing part of echinacea is the root. It can be used for acute illness, chronic infection and inflammation and wound healing. It is an excellent general enhancer of healing. It is extremely popular for staving off colds and flu.

Studies of echinacea have revealed a battery of different immune payoffs. Echinacea is definitely shown to significantly increase phagocytosis, the process by which phagocytes are created. Echinacea also increases white blood cell count - the total number of cells as well as the vigorousness of their activity - and production of interferon and tumor necrosis factor. It also acts directly against bacteria by inhibiting the enzyme that helps them get into our healthy cells, and slows bacterial growth. Echinacea root stimulates macrophages, and can work well in the first stages of treatment to kill yeast.