I think I can start swearing on Echinacea now. I was rather severely ill last week, and this week I’ve had a cough that I could NOT seem to shake. Unfortunately, no matter where I looked, I couldn’t find a pure echinacea tea which I’ve always used in the past to fight respiratory and sinus infections (I have both!) and throat-related problems. Most of what I was finding was blended with at least twenty or thirty other ingredients, just about killing its potency.

Well, hurray for Russian pharmacies. I can’t read the writing, but I sure can read the pictures, and I found me some Echinacea! I’ve had one cup and already the congestion is loosening in my lungs and head, and I can breathe better. I’ll probably end up also doing a steam therapy later; it’s where you pour steaming water into a bowl, place a towel over your head, and breathe it in. If you add some dried leaves or an essential oil (in this case, echinacea), then you can get the benefits of whatever you infused in your lungs as well. Drinking it really only does half the job. You sorta gotta breathe it as well. IMHO, echinacea especially works best that way.

Now only to find some goldenseal as well.

I swear … echinacea is possibly the best thing for a respiratory cold I’ve ever used, and that includes meds. It’s one disgusting-tasting cup of liquid relief. Tastes like unwashed flower roots.