{"ok":true,"entry":{"slug":"echinacea","kind":"supplement","name":"echinacea","aliases":["Echinacea purpurea","coneflower"],"brands_sg":["ChildLife Essentials","NOW Foods","Nature's Answer","Nature's Way","Nature's Bounty"],"class":"botanical","tags":["immune"],"use_for":"colds — may slightly cut the odds of catching one","use_after":"daily","use_duration":"prevention trials ran 8 weeks to 4 months","take_with":null,"pros":["nccih: may slightly lower the odds of catching a cold","30 trials, 5,652 people pooled in a 2024 meta-analysis","adverse events matched control in that pooled analysis"],"cons":["unclear whether it shortens a cold once you have one","allergic reactions happen and can be severe","three of its authors took honoraria from a.vogel ag"],"dose_note":"no single studied dose exists: the trials pooled in the 2024 meta-analysis used drops, pressed juice, tablets and capsules, and the adult prevention arms listed run about 1,800 mg to 4,000 mg of echinacea a day for 8 weeks to 4 months; nccih gives no dose at all, and the preparations are not interchangeable","dosage":{"ul":null,"unit":"mg","fda_dv":null,"rda_ai":null,"ul_status":"none_established","population":"general adult","hsa_max_daily":null},"ul_status":"none_established","sg_class":null,"cautions":["allergy-prone — echinacea is related to ragweed, daisies and sunflowers, and reactions may be severe","children — rashes appeared in one trial; nccih asks for a provider conversation first","pregnancy or breastfeeding — safety data stops at 7 days in the first trimester","not listed in hsa's annex a/b — hsa says that list is not exhaustive"],"clashes":[{"src":["nccih_ech_interactions"],"note":"nccih: theoretical reasons to suspect an interaction; no trial named","with":"immunosuppressants"},{"src":["nccih_ech_interactions"],"note":"nccih: the evidence on whether echinacea interacts with them is conflicting","with":"drugs metabolised by the liver"},{"src":["nccih_ech_interactions"],"food":true,"note":"nccih: a theoretical interaction only — flagged, not demonstrated","with":"caffeine"}],"sources":[{"id":"nccih_ech_learned","url":"https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/echinacea","label":"NCCIH — Echinacea: Usefulness and Safety (last updated November 2024), What Have We Learned?","quote":"Taking echinacea may slightly reduce your chances of catching a cold. It's still unclear whether echinacea can shorten the length of a cold. More research is needed to confirm these findings.","accessed":"2026-08-27"},{"id":"nccih_ech_allergy","url":"https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/echinacea","label":"NCCIH — Echinacea, What Do We Know About Safety?","quote":"some people have allergic reactions to echinacea, which may be severe. The most common side effects of echinacea are digestive tract symptoms, such as abdominal pain, nausea, or stomach pain","accessed":"2026-08-27"},{"id":"nccih_ech_children","url":"https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/echinacea","label":"NCCIH — Echinacea, safety in children","quote":"some children participating in a clinical trial of echinacea developed rashes, which may have been caused by an allergic reaction. There is concern that allergic reactions could be severe in some children","accessed":"2026-08-27"},{"id":"nccih_ech_pregnancy","url":"https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/echinacea","label":"NCCIH — Echinacea, pregnancy and breastfeeding","quote":"possibly safe for up to 7 days during the first trimester of pregnancy … Little is known about whether it's safe to use echinacea while breastfeeding.","accessed":"2026-08-27"},{"id":"nccih_ech_interactions","url":"https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/echinacea","label":"NCCIH — Echinacea, interactions","quote":"There is conflicting evidence about whether echinacea interacts with some drugs metabolized by the liver, and there are theoretical reasons to suspect that echinacea might interact with immunosuppressants or caffeine.","accessed":"2026-08-27"},{"id":"nccih_ech_background","url":"https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/echinacea","label":"NCCIH — Echinacea, Background (plant family)","quote":"Echinacea species are perennials that are closely related to sunflowers, daisies, and ragweed.","accessed":"2026-08-27"},{"id":"era2024_prevention","url":"https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC11047471","label":"Gancitano et al., Echinacea Reduces Antibiotics by Preventing Respiratory Infections: A Meta-Analysis (ERA-PRIMA), Antibiotics 2024 — pooled result","quote":"30 clinical trials (39 comparisons) studying Echinacea for the prevention or treatment of RTIs in 5652 subjects. Echinacea significantly reduced the monthly RTI occurrence, risk ratio (RR) 0.68 (95% CI 0.61-0.77)","accessed":"2026-08-27"},{"id":"era2024_ae","url":"https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC11047471","label":"ERA-PRIMA meta-analysis, Antibiotics 2024 — adverse events","quote":"An equal number of adverse events occurred with Echinacea and control treatment … In most cases, adverse events were mild, self-limiting, gastrointestinal in nature and did not require medical intervention.","accessed":"2026-08-27"},{"id":"era2024_doses","url":"https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC11047471","label":"ERA-PRIMA meta-analysis, Antibiotics 2024 — Table A1, daily dose and duration of included adult prevention trials","quote":"Jawad et al., 2012 … 4 mts Prevention … 2400–4000 mg … Melchart (1998) … 3 mts Prevention … 1800 mg … O'Neil J et al., 2008 … 8 weeks Prevention 3 × 2 capsules/1800 mg","accessed":"2026-08-27"},{"id":"era2024_coi","url":"https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC11047471","label":"ERA-PRIMA meta-analysis, Antibiotics 2024 — Conflicts of Interest statement","quote":"R.S., W.C.A. and S.L.J. received honoraria from A.Vogel AG Switzerland for consulting work. G.H. received honoraria for statistical evaluation of this meta-analysis.","accessed":"2026-08-27"},{"id":"hsa_pr_notlisted","url":"https://file.go.gov.sg/hsa-chp-prohibited-restricted-ing-guidelines.pdf","label":"HSA — Guidelines on Prohibited and Restricted Ingredients in Health Supplements and Traditional Medicines, GL-CHPB-1-012 Rev 001 (Oct 2025), Annex A/B — searched, no row for this ingredient","quote":"The objective of this guideline is to highlight the substances of concern when used in HS and TM and is not meant to be an exhaustive list.","accessed":"2026-08-27"},{"id":"iherb_sg","url":"https://sg.iherb.com/c/echinacea","label":"iHerb Singapore — Echinacea Supplements category (default order, 1 - 48 of 78 results); first 5 distinct brands: ChildLife Essentials, NOW Foods, Nature's Answer, Nature's Way, Nature's Bounty","quote":"ChildLife Essentials, Essentials, Echinacea … NOW Foods, Echinacea, 250 Veg Capsules … Nature's Answer, Echinacea Root, Fluid Extract … Nature's Way, Echinacea Astragalus & Reishi … Nature's Bounty, Echinacea, 400 mg","accessed":"2026-08-27"}],"brand_certs":null,"updated_at":"2026-08-29T16:16:18.585742+08:00"},"disclaimer":"kozen-x is not a medical device and does not give medical advice. it lists what published sources have written down. absence of a record is not the same as safe."}