Echinacea Side Effects

As a country that has been extracting the medicinal benefits of plants for centuries, we tend to think that since medicinal plants are natural substances, they have no side effects. Also, with increased knowledge of the various holistic healing therapies, many of them claiming to have no side effects, people stretch this claim to others as well. Never did any proponent of ayurveda or any other science that involves use of medicinal plant, be it Patanjali or Charaka, ever say that the plants used as medicine are free of side effects. One such plant is Echinacea (also known as coneflower), a plant commonly used to reduce a spell of flu or common cold, or as an immune booster. According to archaeological studies, it has been used for its medicinal properties by Native Americans, as early as four hundred years ago. In fact, they used it as a “cure-all”. It has both anti-viral as well as antioxidant properties. Professionals recommend its use in treating infections of the urinary tract, vaginal yeast infections, sinusitis, hay fever, athlete’s foot and may others. The flower part of it, the part that is used most commonly, is high in polysaccharides, a class of substance that is known to trigger the immune system. Nevertheless, this plant also comes with warning signs that need to be kept in mind. Read on to know the side effects of the wonder herb, Echinacea.