bendigo the echinacea trials that you are refering to... about being scientifically PROVEN to have NO beneficial effect whatsoever on infection... it not true at all...
First, the extracts used were made in a university laboratory and do not correlate with commercial echinacea products currently available to consumers. Second, the dosages used in this trial were probably too low. The echinacea preparations used in the study might have shown activity at more frequent dosing intervals and/or higher dosage levels - as is often the case with contemporary echinacea use.
The trial equivalent to about 300 milligrams of the dried powdered root in each dose ( equivalent to 900 mg per day of the dried root ). This level was chosen for the trial because it is the dose recommended by the German government's expert herb panel called the Commission E.
The World Health Organization has a dosage for Echinacea angustifolia root at the equivalence of 3 gm per day of the dried root (3000 mg). This dosage level is about 330% higher than the dosage of the echinacea preparations given in the NEJM trial. This supports that the preparations may have been under-dosed and that the trial might have shown a potentially positive trend if a higher dosage and/or increased frequency of administration had been followed.
So it is has not been scientifically PROVEN to not work at all... in fact I am not sure now something from nature is less effective than something created in a lab...
I have always said on this forum natural is better, High does of Vitamin C, antioxidants, alga, herbs, roots, berries you name it... all do a better job at bolstering the immune system and fight bird flue or any flue... plus they are natural and not synthetic... synthetic vaccines actually cause more harm than good.
