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Echinacea and Goldenseal provide a potent combination of immune enhancing and cold fighting nutrients. Echinacea is one of the most popular herbal supplements during the cold season because it promotes the stimulation and growth of key immune system cells that help to increase the body’s defenses.
Goldenseal has been traditionally used by Native Americans to help relieve respiratory discomfort, and possesses immune stimulating activity. The active constituent of Goldenseal is called berberine, which has been shown to have immune-system stimulating properties. Together, Echinacea and Goldenseal are often recommended by herbalists in combination to help shorten the duration of colds.
Review Shows Positive Results with Echinacea
In a paper published in the Cochrane Review, German researchers examined the effectiveness of Echinacea on helping ease the common cold. They searched the Cochrane database and Complementary Medicine Field's trials registers, MEDLINE, and other reference lists of articles. They also contacted researchers and manufacturers for randomized and quasi-randomized trials comparing preparations containing an extract of Echinacea, compared with a placebo for common colds. The reviewers examined sixteen trials with a total of 3396 participants. Overall, positive results suggested that Echinacea preparations were more effective than placebo at easing the common cold.
(Source: Melchart D., Linde K., Fischer P., Kaesmayr J. "Echinacea for preventing and treating the common cold." Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000;(2))
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