Allopaths are trained in their field of medicine.

Herbal medicines are basically considered nothing more than superstitious BS by many of them, as well the taking of vitamin supplements; until it comes down to one of them recommending something like folic acid, then it’s supposedly okay.

When asking a medical doctor about nutritional supplements, keep in mind that they are not trained that way. They have as little knowledge and experience in that area as anyone who has simply read about it.

A medical doctor is a business person, and they, like anybody else, are there to succeed in their business. Success in their business does not include healthy patients who do not come to see them. If you ask someone like that their opinion on supplements for your health maintenance, their response is likely to be along the lines of ‘all you need is to eat healthy, exercise, and see me’.

Echinacea is very effective when combined with Golden Seal Root. You can find this combination readily available in drug stores, groceries, and discount stores (rather than having to go to an herbalist), and at very economical prices.

Echinacea is a common wildflower that most of us have seen. It resembles a daisy with longer, droopy petals, and is called Purple Coneflower. Handy that it is so common, as that makes the price pretty low for one of the most valuable herbal supplements.

The idea behind the cyclic taking of the herb is to prevent the body from building up a resistance to its effects. Any drug or herb we take, if taken regularly enough, will be less effective as time goes by just due to the body building up resistance. Someone who takes acetaminophen, for example, to deal with regular aches and pains will find it less effective when they need to take it for a headache and will have to increase the dosage. That does not mean that it does not work, it just requires a little more to work as effectively.

You will notice, however, that there is a caveat to that. Echinacea helps as a preventative to colds and illness. Taking it regularly can help to avoid illness (no guarantees), but the cyclic crowd seems to suggest taking it just before the cold season rather than regularly. Considering that colds can happen any time of the year, that does not help during the ‘non-cold season’.

The cyclic crowd also seems to suggest that Echinacea is only effective if taken before a cold and not during. I strongly disagree with that.

I do not take Echinacea regularly, but I have used it recently, and to a very effective conclusion.

This past winter, I had to have a tooth extracted. Unforunately, the pain did not stop there. I was using toothache gel to the point where it was dangerous and was even burning my gums (up to three tubes a day).

I had not thought that Echinacea/Golden Seal would be that effective as it is often most effective over a period of time, as are all herbs.

I started taking a fairly large dose of Echinacea/Golden Seal on a daily basis. Over the course of two weeks, the pain subsided and eventually required no use of toothache gel. Apparently the pain was being caused by an infection and not another tooth as had been suspected.

If I had asked a doctor, they would have scoffed at the idea, recommended more teeth be removed, and ended up puting me on dangerous antibiotics when that didn’t work. Of course, they would have happily handed me the bill whether it worked or not.

I recommended this same treatment for a friend who had a botched tooth extraction (tooth extractions can get infected easily), and it had the effect for them.

Herbal treatments such as Echinacea are, for the most part*, safe, effective when used properly or in the right doses, low cost, and are definitely not doctor recommended which puts them high up in my book.

*Keep in mind that, like anything, some plants can have potentially harmful side effects. Golden Seal, in high enough doses can cause liver damage; of course, antibotics in high enough doses can cause tissue damage, cellular damage, organ damage, and even death. A recommended dose should be followed and if it becomes necessary for a higher dosage, that should only be maintained for a certain period of time until returning to normal use.

[i]This herb is sometimes used as a natural antibiotic and immune system stimulator.[/i]

You made a good point about encountering misinformation on the web. People love to answer questions even when they know nothing about the subject. Hopefully people on this site will post about their actual experience such as their results from using products and following weight loss programs.