With echinacea, a North American plant native to prairies and the eastern part of the United States, we have at our fingertips , one of the most important herbs in the medicinal world. Belonging to the Aster family, it’s not hard to pinpoint the plant that produces pink or purple daisy-like flowers with orange/brown centers. For the most part, research shows that echinacea possesses the power to increase the body’s resistance to bacterial and viral infections.
In the past, echinacea served as an antidote for snakebites and other bites and stings that produced venom or poison. Ancient doctors turned towards echinacea, as a way to treat sores, wounds, and gangrene. It also made a pretty decent antiseptic. On an internal basis, echinecea also provided relief for those suffering typhoid conditions, cholera, syphilis, blood poisoning, and diphtheria, which is a disease of the upper respiratory disease.
The Native Americans also found a lot of use in the plant, including treatments for the common cold, toothache, sore throat, gastrointestinal issues, coughing, and sexually transmitted diseases. For instance, the Sioux treated septic problems, snakebites, and rabies with echinacea.
10 Uses for Echinacea
Today, you can use echinacea to:
1) Treat the annoyance of the common cold.
2) and 3) Tend to chronic infections of the respiratory tract, as well as pesky, lower urinary tract infections.
4) Some patients have used the plant during session of therapy for chronic candidiasis (the kind of infections that attack the mucous membranes of the vagina).
5) On an external basis, echinacea has shown promise in treating wounds that seem difficult during their healing process.
6) Some have used echinacea to help treat a chronic issue with ulcers.
7) The herb has been helping in easing the symptoms of allergies, including asthma.
8) When suffering a throat infection, use the plant to create a soothing gargle.
9) Boost your immune system with Echinacea by taking the plant in its tablet form.
10) Treat sores with echinacea, including ulcers that form in the throat and mouth.
How to Prepare Echinacea
Three popular methods of including echinacea in your life are through tinctures, decoctions, and capsules. Use the root to create a tincture to treat chronic infections. Take ½ teaspoon of the herb in water, three times per day. The root also makes a decent decoction that eases the discomfort of throat infections. Gargle with 50 milliliters of an herbal mixture, three times per day. The powdered form of the root is also used to make capsules. Take a 500-milligram capsule when the common cold strikes , for three times per day.
Since echinacea ranks high amongst the herbal supplements on the market today, it is not uncommon to find the herb serve as an important ingredient in a variety of items at health food stores and other shops, including shampoos, toothpastes, and lip balm.