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Are You Sick Or Feel One Coming On, Use Echinacea!
By Joe Fier | January 10, 2008
Two weeks ago I had a couple of great appointments with the chiropractor and acupuncturist to help straighten my body out. I’ve written some previous posts about the reasons why I visit these experts and how they could benefit many of you. Check out the links a couple of sentences back. Luckily, during these visits was also the time that I began to come down with a rather annoying throat and lung cold. I know it sounds weird that I said luckily, but the acupuncturist actually was able to perform treatments and offer great recommendations to herbs during this time I was getting sick. As I was there, she focused much of the treatment towards my sickness rather than my previous neck problem, which has gotten much better than it was before. The greatest recommendation that the acupuncturist gave me, though, was to purchase and use anechinacea throat spray to help quicken my recovery time. I have heard the echinacea name thrown around by people before but have never actually tried it. When I began using it and realizing that it made me feel almost completely healthy when I sprayed my throat, I became very interested to learn more. Here’s what I found out…
The problems that echinacea could help
- Sore throats
- Coughs and other types of flu’s
- Congestion
- Many minor infections
- Even various skin infections (external, of course)
- Preventative measures during flu season
What echinacea actually does
The echinacea flower has long been used (since early Native American times) for both flu preventions and remedies. As a prevention, echinacea can be taken in one of its many forms during flu season or any other time you think a flu feels like it’s coming your way. During this time, echinacea fights off possible influenza infections and other colds by increasing the body’s natural production of interferon. When a flu does fully hit you and you’re trying to fight it off, echinacea works with a slightly different purpose. When used, it helps to increase the immune system’s ability to stimulate white blood cells, which fight off germs and other diseases. Using this type of method will definitely lengthen the time between flu’s throughout the year and also speed the process of recovery when a cold or flu is in full force.
The various forms of echinacea
- Echinacea/Goldenseal throat spray. This was my personal favorite during my last cold. It offered a direct contact to the sore area and instantly felt much healthier. The largest advantage to using an echinacea spray was that it didn’t leave a numbed feeling like chloraseptic sprays do. Highly recommended for sore throats.
- Echinacea teas. There are various types out there, so check out the labels next time you head to the grocery store. Matt, from our brother-blog, used this form when he was last sick, around the same time. This offers another direct method to feel better, much quicker. I would say this method would be better for colds that are more head and stomach-based.
- Liquid extracts. This is a method that my girlfriend originally tried, and then since moved over to my favorite, the throat spray.
This is a very good form as well because it could be dropped and mixed into water or any other types of drinks. This liquid form, along with the others are great ways to help alleviate pains when you have already become sick. It seems that the liquid-based forms are normally quicker absorbed into the system for quicker relief. - Capsule form. This offers the same benefits as the previous forms. It might not be as quickly absorbed in the system, but it is still a great method to use when you feel a sickness feeling coming or have any other type of infection. Another great advantage is if you cannot handle echinacea’s taste, this capsule form will take that problem away.
Photo credit: zanastardust
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