5 Echinacea's amazing health properties: uses, side effects, interactions

Extreme and erratic weather changes make the body susceptible to disease. To fix this, you can take advantage of echinacea, an herbal plant that can help strengthen your immune system.

However, before knowing further the benefits of echinacea for body health, it's a good idea to get acquainted with this one herbal plant first. Come on, see the full review below!

What is echinacea?

Echinacea is a type of flowering plant that is widely grown in Europe and North America. Echinacea itself consists of several types, but species Echinacea angustifolia tend to be more suitable for human use than other types.

Almost all parts of the echinacea plant can be used as herbal medicine, both the flowers, leaves, and roots. Generally, echinacea is used in the form of tea. However, this flower herb can also be consumed in the form of dry herbs or supplements.

Various health benefits of echinacea

1. Treating flu

When your immune system decreases, you will be more prone to catching colds. But don't worry, this one health problem can be overcome by drinking echinacea herbal concoctions.

One of the most important benefits of echinacea is that it helps ward off colds and flu. Research conducted by experts from the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy revealed that echinacea can reduce the risk of flu and colds by up to 58 percent. In fact, echinacea can also reduce the duration of healing flu by up to one and a half days faster than other medicinal plants. The combination of echinacea and vitamin C is believed to help cure colds.

2. Maintain body resistance

One of the benefits of echinacea that is no less important is to keep the body's immune system stable.

Echinacea flowers contain a mixture of active substances that can increase the CD4 white blood cell count. Having a high CD4 count will make it easier for your body to fight off germs and infections. In addition, echinacea also contains alkamide and phenol compounds which function as antioxidants to help strengthen the immune system.

3. Control blood sugar

The benefits of echinacea on this one should not be missed by those of you who have diabetes or prediabetes problems. A recent study in 2017 showed that the herb echinacea can help control blood sugar.

Both high blood sugar and low blood sugar problems can be controlled by echinacea. But remember, this certainly cannot replace insulin therapy or other diabetes treatments. Echinacea herb can only be used as a supporting herbal drink to help control blood sugar levels.

4. Anti-inflammatory drugs

Experts have proven clinically that echinacea has anti-inflammatory properties that are good for health. For this reason, echinacea can be used to treat rheumatism, ulcers, Crohn's disease, and other health problems caused by inflammation.

If you have strep throat, try to take a vitamin containing echinacea regularly while it heals. The reason is, echinacea contains biologically active compounds that can help reduce inflammation in the body due to bacteria.

This is evidenced by one study in the journal Phytomedicine in 2010 which found that echinacea can effectively inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause pneumonia and Steptococcus which causes sore throat.

5. Prevent the spread of cancer

As you know, various cancer treatments such as chemotherapy usually cause side effects that are quite disturbing to patients, such as nausea and vomiting. The good news is, the side effects of chemotherapy can be relieved by echinacea.

This is because the phytochemical content in echinacea functions to slow down the growth of bad tumor cells and block the spread of cancer in the body, as reported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Therefore, echinacea is a good supplement to consume to help boost immunity in cancer sufferers.

But again, this herbal plant can only be used as a complementary supplement and cannot replace the main treatment for cancer.

Now there are many on the market for immune supplements containing a good combination of echinacea, vitamin C, and ginseng to help maintain your immune system. To have a dual protective effect on the body, make sure that you meet your body's needs for other essential vitamins and minerals with the intake of vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin E, magnesium, manganese and zinc. Thus, you will not get sick easily.