Last year echinacea sales took a drop when a US study showed that this long-respected herb was ineffective against the common cold. Herbalists took issue with the study, but I’ve always harbored some doubts about echinacea myself.
In its place I’ve been recommending a German product, called SB-TOX in Germany and marketed in the US as Esberitox. Esberitox contains three herbs: thuja, baptisia, and two different species of echinacea.
Recently, a good clinical trial showed this combination does work. Researchers measured the duration of colds, which ran 50% shorter in the Esberitox group than in the placebo (sugar pill) group. They also counted the number of tissues used during the cold, with the Esberitox group using about half the number used by those in the placebo group.
Esberitox is available at many health food stores as well as in our own natural pharmacy here.