- What do Echinacea supplements do? Echinacea supplements may modestly help prevent colds when taken during cold season and/or reduce the severity of a cold if taken at the first onset of symptoms (See What It Does).
- What is Echinacea? Phenolic compounds in Echinacea may be responsible for some of the herb's effects (See What It Is).
- What did CL's tests of Echinacea find? ConsumerLab.com found that two products did not contain the expected minimum amounts of total phenolic compounds (TPCs), one product exceeded a limit for lead contamination, and another product failed to properly label its Echinacea. (See What CL Found).
- Best Echinacea supplements? Among 10 products Approved for Quality by ConsumerLab.com, three were chosen as Top Picks.
- Which form of Echinacea is best? Echinacea comes in various forms and concentrations, but most positive clinical studies used products extracted from aerial parts (leaves, flowers, stems) of E. purpurea, often dried into extract powders (900 mg per day taken in 3 divided doses). (See ConsumerTips™).
- Echinacea safety and side effects: Echinacea appears to be relatively safe for short-term use (up to 12 weeks) and side-effects tend to be mild (GI symptoms, increases urination). However, be aware that some people may be allergic, and rarely, liver damage has been reported (See Concerns and Cautions).
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Echinacea Supplements Review
Choose the Best Echinacea Supplement. Make Sure Your Echinacea Supplement Contains What You Expect -- and Nothing You Don't
Reviewed and edited by Tod Cooperman, M.D.
Alphabetical list of echinacea supplement brands compared in this review
A. Vogel Echinaforce
ChildLife Echinacea
Gaia Herbs Echinacea Supreme
GNC Herbal Plus Echinacea
LifeExtension Echinacea Extract
L'il Critters Immune C Plus Zinc and Echinacea
Nature's Bounty Echinacea
Nature's Sunshine Echinacea
Nature's Way Echinacea Purpurea Herb
Planetary Herbals Echinacea Glycerite
Puritan's Pride Echinacea 400 mg
Rexall Echinacea
Rite Aid Echinacea
Spring Valley [Walmart] Echinacea
Swanson Superior Herbs Echinacea
Vitamin World Echinacea
Make sure the echinacea supplement you take passed our tests and is right for you!
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Summary
You must be a member to get the full test results for echinacea supplements along with ConsumerLab.com recommendations and quality ratings. In this comprehensive review of Echinacea supplements, you'll get test results and quality ratings for 14 Echinacea supplements (including four that passed testing in our voluntary Quality Certification Program) and information about two additional Echinacea supplements similar to another which passed testing. You'll learn:
- Which Echinacea supplements passed or failed testing
- What to look for on labels: Echinacea species (such as E. purpurea and E. angustifolia), plant parts (such as aerial and root), forms (extracts and herb powders) and dosage
- Cost comparisons and which products offer the best value
- The evidence for other ingredients, like goldenseal, elderberry and zinc, which are often combined with Echinacea
- Concerns, cautions and side effects with echinacea
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Related CL Answers (9)
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