ECHINACEA HEALTH BENEFITS

Feb 2, 2017
2 min read

OVERVIEW

One way to reap the many benefits of echinacea is to enjoy a cup of warm tea. Echinacea tea (which may contain one or more varieties of the herb) contains many vitamins and minerals including vitamins A, B-complex and E along with magnesium, calcium, iron, potassium and sodium. In addition, the tea contains polysaccharides – located in the above-ground parts of the plant that are responsible for triggering the immune system and glycoproteins, alkamides, volatile oils and flavonoids that are helpful therapeutic compounds found in the roots.

The health benefits of echinacea include its ability to boost the immune system, prevent cancer, eliminate bacterial and viral infections, reduce inflammation, improve skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis, protect respiratory health, speed healing and recovery times, manages allergies, boost oral health, and prevent recurrent infections like ear infections.

BOOST IMMUNE SYSTEM

Echinacea tea activates T-cell renewal and helps with the production of antibodies and interferon, known for blocking viral infections. Drinking echinacea tea on a daily basis allows you to strengthen your immune system and fight bacteria, fungus or viruses more easily, especially during times of stress or harsher seasons. This nutritious tea increases the migration of leukocytes to areas of acute infection, thus accelerating the healing process.

Studies have shown that regular intake of echinacea can reduce your chances of catching a cold by 50% and if you are already ill, taking echinacea can help reduce the duration of your cold by 1.4 days.

CANCER PREVENTION

Echinacea’s ability to affect the immune system specifically relates to how it handles foreign substances within the body. Echinacea has been connected to preventing cancer because it stimulates the body’s immune system to eliminate cancerous cells. Although echinacea is not necessarily considered an antioxidant, it can certainly help eliminate free radicals by stimulating the proper immune system cells, like T cells, thereby helping to prevent the development of cancer.

BACTERIA AND VIRUSES

Echinacea does more than stimulate T-cells, it also increases the production of white blood cells in the body, which are the main soldiers in the battle against illness going on in our bodies every day. Furthermore, echinacea contains a compound called echinacein, which actually inhibits bacteria and viruses from penetrating healthy cells, thereby greatly reducing the chances of contracting any type of infection while consuming echinacea in either supplemental or natural form.

INFLAMMATION

The active chemical components in echinacea have been proven to reduce inflammation and the associate pain of that irritation. For this reason, echinacea is often recommended as a “cure-all” for aches and pains in the joints. For this same reason, echinacea oil is often spread on the skin to reduce the inflammation people suffer from being in the sun for too long.

SKIN CONDITION

For the same reason as it can be helpful for sunburn, it can also help heal other skin conditions. Echinacea has been recommended to patients for many years as a way to help heal psoriasis and eczema. If spread on the affected area, improvement can be seen quite rapidly, and besides healing the irritation and inflammation, it also prevents any open sores from becoming infected, due to its powerful antibacterial and antiviral powers.