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Echinacea: Does it help?

Categories: Nutrition & Supplements

Whenever I show even the slightest sign of a cold, my mother starts fussing and insists I swallow about a pound of echinacea. Since I rarely ever seem to actually get full-on sick, it seems to work though I often wonder whether that's just a result of the placebo effect.

According to this article from Everyday Health, there's no actual data to prove that echinacea helps kill or prevent a cold. Moreover, it can sometimes lead to allergic reactions, which could cause rashes and gastrointestinal problems. However, I've never heard of anyone having an adverse effect to it. Have you?

Still, unless you're allergic to it, I don't think it could hurt to take echinacea when you feel the first signs of cold or flu. It's never done me wrong anyway.

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