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TruNature
Echinacea
Product Highlights
TruNature® Echinacea
is a concentrated herbal extract.
Nonclinical and laboratory
studies show that echinacea stimulates the body's own defenses. Echinacea (Echinacea
purpura) is a medicinal herb originally used by North American Plains
Indians. It is commonly known as the purple coneflower, after the
large purple blossom that crowns its three-foot stalk, and is a member of
the daisy family.
Two other varieties of echinacea are also commonly used,
Echinacea pallida (narrow-leaf purple coneflower) and Echinacea angustifolia
(pale purple coneflower).
Over the past 50 years, hundreds of studies (done
primarily in Germany) have examined the immune-boosting effects of purple
coneflower juice. In human studies, echinacea taken by mouth shortened the
time to recover from various symptoms of flu-like illness. However, it did
not prevent either colds or the flu. Some studies show that echinacea
boosted the activity of the immune system. One study found that the immune
systems of 134 healthy people became much more active when they took
echinacea for five consecutive days. In another recent trial, 90 people with
the flu who took four droppers full of the extract a day improved more
rapidly than those who took a dummy version.
Echinacea ointments have also
been used to treat superficial wounds, burns, eczema, psoriasis, and other
skin conditions. As of 2002, it is unknown how echinacea boosts the immune
system to help keep infections at bay. However, it appears to increase the
overall activity of infection-fighting cells and, in fact, may stimulate
white blood cells and lymph cells to attack viruses, bacteria, and abnormal
cells. Some studies also indicate that it allows the human body to
manufacture more proteins, alerting the immune system to defend against
bacterial infection.
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