Free to read · nothing for sale · no ads, no sponsors · funded by donation
Open Source Apothecary At Home / The herbs
Two to three years to grow, and a real but modest effect on the common cold. — Echinacea purpurea, E. angustifolia
remedyEchinacea is grown for its root and aerial parts and is the herb most associated with "immune support" — a phrase worth distrusting, but not one that makes echinacea worthless.
What the trials show. Systematic reviews of echinacea for the common cold show a modest reduction in duration and severity, with inconsistent results across trials and differences between preparations. The effect, where present, is small enough that it is not worth a two-year wait for most people. It is best characterised as possibly helpful, taken at the first sign of a cold.
The honest caveat about "immune support." There is no evidence that echinacea reduces the number of infections you get over a season in any meaningful way, and the framing of boosting immunity has no defined biological meaning. It may shorten a cold slightly.
Where growing it is worth it. Echinacea is a beautiful, tough, drought-tolerant prairie perennial that feeds pollinators and lives for years. Growing it for the garden is a good decision; growing it specifically for cold treatment is a two-to-three-year commitment for a small effect.
Its alkamide content varies with cultivation, which is the quality marker and the reason the cultivation literature exists.
Echinacea products have not here been shown to provide benefits for treating colds, although, it is possible there is a weak benefit from some Echinacea products: the results of individual prophylaxis trials consistently show positive (if non-significant) trends, although potential effects are of questionable clinical relevance.PubMed 24554461 ↗
There is some evidence that preparations based on the aerial parts of Echinacea purpurea might be effective for the early treatment of colds in adults but results are not fully consistent.PubMed 16437427 ↗
More studies should be conducted to investigate the clinical effects of Echinacea extract in the treatment of patients with pulmonary complications.PubMed 39702335 ↗
Background and Objectives: Echinacea angustifolia and purpurea have known immunomodulatory effects which boost viral clearance, including HPV infection.PubMed 35630063 ↗
The echinacea angustifolia extract (EP107TM) administered for 6 weeks at a dose of 40 and 80 mg daily was not associated with greater improvements in anxiety in adults with mild-to-moderately severe anxiety compared to the placebo.PubMed 34217960 ↗
| | | |---|---| | Life | Perennial; 2-3 seasons to a harvestable root | | Propagation | Seed needs cold-moist stratification — 4-8 weeks, or autumn-sow | | Light | Full sun to part shade | | Soil | Tolerates poor, dry soil; drainage essential | | Spacing | 45 cm | | Harvest root | Second or third autumn, after top growth dies back | | Harvest tops | Full flower of a second-year plant | | Dry | Roots 45-55 C, sliced; tops shade/ambient |
Seed germination is slow and uneven; stratify or autumn-sow and be patient. Divide every few years.
Root — dig after dieback, wash, slice, dry at 45-55 C until snapping. Store in dark glass; keeps 2-3 years.
Tincture — the conventional form; root in 1:5 alcohol at 60-70%.
Tea — aerial parts, 1-2 teaspoons per cup.
At the first sign of a cold — the trials that showed benefit usually started early and used a standardised preparation.
Fresh root — can be chewed or chopped; it produces a tingling numbness on the tongue, which is the alkamide effect.