Have a Cold? Try Echinacea: Natural Immune Enhancer

This study opposes findings last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, which discounted Echinacea's cold fighting ability. Assistant Professor Craig Coleman, the head researcher of the positive U Conn study claimed that the results differed because the New England Journal of Medicine study, in addition to being smaller in size than the U Conn meta-analysis, used the least common of the three species of Echinacea and administered it at a dose more than three times lower than recommended.

"The take home message from our study is that Echinacea does indeed have powerful cold prevention and cold treatment benefits," said Coleman. "The significance of that finding becomes clear when you consider Americans suffer from one billion colds annually and spend about $1.5 billion annually for doctor's visits and another $2 billion annually on non-prescription cough and cold treatments."