Page 41 - 2018 SP Product Guide

A New Understanding

The most well-known herbal support for the immune system for thousands of patients – it is his number one favorite herb. His
is Echinacea, yet it is both misunderstood and underestimated. clinical applications are much broader than just winter seasonal
There are many Echinacea products available which differ stresses and you may wonder why this is.
according to plant species (E. angustifolia, E. purpurea or Kerry’s clinical success with Echinacea and particularly Echinacea
E. pallida or combinations of these), plant part (root, leaves or Premium, led to the MediHerb Echinacea Research project.
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seeds or combination of these), quality markers (alkylamides, MediHerb research results validate the traditional wisdom of
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polysaccharides or caffeic acid conjugates such as cichoric acid) Echinacea, ie to achieve good clinical results you must use
and dosage. The typical clinical application for Echinacea is only a root preparation of Echinacea with high levels of
short-term only for winter seasonal stresses. Kerry Bone has alkylamides. To fully appreciate the implications of this research
spent many years both researching and prescribing Echinacea we must first look at the history of Echinacea.*

The History of Echinacea – Traditional vs 20th Century

Information about the health promoting value of Echinacea first came from Native American tribes. Their use of Echinacea was then
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adopted by the Eclectics, a group of doctors who were prominent around the late 19 and early 20 centuries in the United States. By
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1921 Echinacea (specifically the root of Echinacea angustifolia) was by far the most popular treatment prescribed by Eclectic physicians. 1
From this traditional use we know:
The Native Americans preferred Echinacea angustifolia and ONLY used the root
The Eclectics only used a fluid extract of the dried root of Echinacea angustifolia extracted in a high
percentage of alcohol Traditional:
This extract is lipophilic (fat loving) and can be called a “traditional Echinacea extract”
Ethanol extract
The Eclectics defined good quality Echinacea root “as imparting a persistent tingling sensation” which is a Root
clear reference to alkylamide levels as a quality indicator. 2
High alkylamides
In Europe during the 1930s, the German herbalist Madaus used E. purpurea as he was more successful at
growing this species. His interest in homeopathy led him to use the stabilized juice of fresh E. purpurea tops
(aerial parts).

From the 20 Century German use of Echinacea we know:
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European:
This style of product is a “hydrophilic” (water loving) extract of Echinacea
These tinctures contain very low levels of alkylamides Juice
German scientists researched these new extracts for an active component and identified the Aerial parts
polysaccharides 3 Low alkylamides
In contrast, traditional Echinacea extracts contain few polysaccharides because the root has low starting
levels and the high percentage of alcohol used does not effectively extract these water-loving molecules
Importantly, polysaccharides are large polar compounds that have low oral bioavailability 4