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From: Sheila Graham <sheila@s...>
Sheila Graham <sheila@s...>
Date: Fri Dec 8, 2000 1:44 am
Subject: [vocalist-temporary] Echinacea - was throatache

Dear List, In message <Pine.SV4.3.96.1001207135342.14642F- 100000@s...>, Karen Mercedes <100000@s...>, Karen Mercedes <100000@s...>, Karen Mercedes < >an infection - this means you have to start taking the echinacea BEFORE >you get ill. It doesn't do much good once you're infected. That's interesting - I personally find it often works if I take it as soon as I feel ill. This has happened with a few of my students as well. I've also read, in an article in a health magazine, that it should not be taken regularly for more than a fortnight, as the immune system gradually gets used to it and gets lazy. No idea if this is true, I'm just sharing what I've read. > >I've found that the combination of echinacea and astragalus (another >immune-system stimulating herb) works even better than echinacea alone. >When I'm in "prevention" mode, I take 2 echinacea caplets and 1 astragalus >capsule with every meal. While everyone I know seems to have come down >with the "crud", I've remained blithely healthy. I use it in liquid form - I don't know if that would make a difference to its effectiveness. (Sorry, but what's a caplet - presumably not the same as a capsule!) I buy it in a bottle with a dropper, and the instructions are to take some drops in a little water. Different brands suggest different quantities, but the one thing they have in common is that they all taste uniformly vile, even diluted - at least the Scottish varieties of echinacea do. But this summer I was in northern Italy, without my echinacea, and feeling fragile. I went into a farmacia and bought a bottle of Italian echinacea, and - guess what? - it tastes wonderful! Presumably because Italians use better quality alcohol as a base. I haven't come across astragalus; I must check it out. > >Another thing that I started doing when I last had a nasty upper >respiratory infection (pre-echinacea/astragalus) that I've continued, is >to sleep with my head markedly elevated above my chest. I also find this way of sleeping useful for hiatus hernia. Regards to all, Sheila Sheila Graham Mezzo-soprano, Edinburgh, Scotland www.sheilagraham.demon.co.uk 'She is a singer, and therefore capable of anything' (Bellini)