Echinacea in trouble

Nutrition Action Healthletter, March, 2003

Echinacea failed to curb cold symptoms any more than a placebo in a study of nearly 150 college students. The participants, who were all recruited within 36 hours of feeling the first symptoms, took either a placebo or three grams of echinacea pills every day for up to 10 days (after six grams the first day). (The pills were a dried mixture of Echinacea angustifolia root and Echinachea purpurea root or herb. No extracts were used.)

What to do: It's possible that this study came up empty because echinacea only helps older people who have weaker immune systems or because the pills were missing a potent ingredient that is in some other echinacea preparations. But considering all the evidence, you're better off taking zinc lozenges than echinacea the next time you feel a cold coming on.

Annals of Internal Medicine 137: 939, 2002.