What is Echinacea?
You may have noticed that many of our immune support honey products have an added ingredient called Echinacea. You may have also wondered what exactly that is and why we add it!
The Echinacea species of wild herbs are beautiful flowering plants that are found growing naturally across the prairies of the United States and most abundantly in the grasslands of Oklahoma and Missouri, where the humid summer weather and mild winters suit the plants perfectly. The weather in Britain is unfortunately far less suitable for growing them and they are therefore quite a challenge to grow in a typical UK garden. The common name for the Echinacea is 'Coneflower', the name comes from the fact that when the flowers fade the central cone will remain and continue into winter.
Being a plant that's native to America it's use as a herbal medicine can be traced back to native American tribes who used the plants extensively for centuries to treat a whole range of illness and health issues. Echinacea is thought to be among the world’s most important medicinal plants and believed to possess antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties.
Today, echinacea is mainly used as a supplement to boost the immune system and there has been the most research in that area, showing its usefulness in helping to prevent colds, upper respiratory infections and influenza. Research has found that echinacea may also play a role in reducing inflammation by amplifying the antioxidant effects of linoleic acids. By stimulating the immune system it can also offer relief from cold and flu symptoms.
The usefulness of echinacea to treating infection is likely due to its ability to block the inflammatory response, thereby suppressing symptoms like excess mucus. It appears that the extracts of echinacea roots are most likely to exhibit anti-inflammatory activity, likely due to the presence of alkyl-amides and their anti-inflammatory nature. Echinacea also contains a variety of flavonoids, a group of plant metabolites known for their potential health benefits as well as other compounds that have been shown to support anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. We add echinacea to our daily immune support products, to work along with essential vitamins and extracts to help provide the best natural support for your immune system that we can.
Summer does sadly feel well and truly over now and as the weather turns colder and wetter it's very important to keep on top of our daily health. There's always a lot of cold and flu viruses around that we'll need to fight off over the coming months and a healthy immune system is an important part of that. Our immune support honey products with echinacea can play an important part in making the best defence against colds and flu this winter. If you are already suffering then it can help relieve those annoying symptoms too!