< previous page page_39 next page >

Page 39
cases, this tea will work very well alone, so that echinacea can be reserved for more serious infections. However, it is good to always have a bottle of echinacea tincture on hand so that at the first sign of a cold or flu you can just squirt a few droppersful in your mouth. The dosage is important. In a double-blind study of 180 volunteers, it was found that two droppersful (approximately 1/2 teaspoonequivalent to 900 mg per day) of a liquid extract of E. purpurea root elicited no improvement in either the time or severity of the flu symptoms, whereas four droppersful (1 teaspoon) exhibited statistically significant improvements over administration of the placebo.32
Unfortunately, echinacea has also become somewhat of a marketing phenomenon in that it is an ingredient in a large number of multiple vitamin preparations whose manufacturers have found it fashionable to include the herb. Such indiscriminate use can have far-reaching consequences, not the least of which is the decimation of naturally occurring plant populations, and perhaps the body becoming so used to, echinacea that it may not work when really needed.

 
< previous page page_39 next page >

If you like this book, buy it!