Concerned staff immediately rushed Pollinosan to the scene of the sneeze, discovering a bewildered colleague searching for hankies and blinking nervously at the first sunshine we’ve witnessed in weeks.

Experts have been busy speculating on the possible consequences of the long winter and late spring, predicting extremely high pollen levels arriving in a sudden surge that would see the atmosphere awash with a debilitating mix of tree and grass pollen.

When cold weather persists into what should be the spring, the arrival of pollen is delayed and the time of its arrival can be condensed, with various types turning up together to blight the lives of hayfever sufferers in a spectacular fashion.

Gloomy expert predictions aside, there are always miserable moments for anyone prone to hayfever during the spring or (dare we hope for it?) summer. Knowing when pollen counts are likely to be high and therefore when the most defensive practises should be employed or the outdoors avoided altogether, is one way of minimising the misery.

With this in mind, the A.Vogel Hayfever Pollen Forecast App, available FREE for iPhone & Android, which gives you the latest information about daily pollen in the air during the hayfever season. This should help the sneezers amongst us steer a relatively hanky-free path through the next few weeks.

The post Hayfever High appeared first on A.Vogel Herbal Remedies.

A shocking statistic is that 97% of our wild bee (Bumblebee) habitat has disappeared and this is exactly why A.Vogel and Bumblebee Conservation Trust have joined together to raise awareness of the plight of the UK Bumblebee. We want to encourage gardeners to garden with bees in mind and we also want to help create more bee friendly habitats.

How you can help:

• Sign up for an A.Vogel Loyalty card in your independent health food store and every time you purchase an A.Vogel product costing £7.50 or more you will receive a bumblebee sticker for the store’s bee kind chart. All the bees will be counted at the end of the promotion and 20p for each bee will be donated to the BBCT.
• Use the Bee kind tool on the BBCT website to discover how bee friendly your garden is
• Report your bee sightings to BBCT or post on our facebook page
• Find out more ways to help the Bumblebees at bumblebeeconservation.org

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This Sunday (31st March at 1am) the clocks go forward by an hour. While this may not sound like a big deal, what you may not realise is that any shift to regular sleeping patterns can take a toll on health. Getting enough good quality sleep is vital for wellbeing. For most of us this means getting an average of anything from six and half to eight hours a night.

It’s currently estimated that 1 in 5 people aren’t getting enough sleep and that a third of people in the UK are affected by insomnia at some point. Insomnia means you regularly have a problem getting to sleep. This can be triggered by stress, anxiety, depression or grief, breathing problems or pain, also eating late and drinking alcohol.

Lack of sleep, either through insomnia, or for other reasons, may cause depression and have a detrimental effect on emotional and physical health, relationships, work performance, mood and general thinking. Studies show that sleep deprivation weakens the immune system and may lead to health problems including high blood pressure, depression, low mood, poor memory, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Moving the clocks forward, even by one hour, may be enough to temporarily throw the internal body clock that governs our circadian rhythms (including the sleep wake cycle and hormone release) out of sync. It can then take a few days to re-adjust. During this time you may feel more tired and physically out of sorts. If you’re already run down or, have problems sleeping, this will only make things worse.

More seriously, a recent study (at the university of Alabama, US) has also shown that when clocks move forward by an hour, this is associated with a 10% increased risk of having a heart attack in the few days afterwards. The exact reasons for this aren’t clear. But, one theory is that sleep deprivation has a detrimental effect on the immune system and may trigger an inflammatory response that can trigger cardiovascular problems.

So, even if you consider yourself to be generally healthy, it’s a good idea to help your body re-adjust to the forthcoming time changes. By preparing yourself, this will help you to counteract the effects of losing sleep.

Tactics that will help you adjust when the clocks go forward.

• Go to bed 15 – 20 minutes earlier a few days before (or at least the night before) clocks go forward.
• To help you sleep, take a natural remedy such as A. Vogel Dormeasan. This is a natural sleeping aid that contains soothing, naturally sedative herbs, valerian and hops. Take about half an hour before bedtime for more restful sleep. The beauty of taking a natural herbal remedy is that you won’t feel groggy in the morning.
• Set your alarm 20 – 30 minutes earlier a couple of days before in preparation for the earlier start when clocks go forward.
• Make sure your bedroom is as bright as possible on the first morning when clocks change.
• Try and spend more time in sunlight. Natural light will help to resynchronise your internal body clock.
• Try to get the same amount of hours sleep each night you usually need. This can vary depending on your normal requirements.  But, basically whatever makes you feel rested and refreshed when you wake up in the morning.

How to improve your regular sleeping habits
Worried that you’re not sleeping as well – or as long as you should be?  Here are some tips:

• Do some form of exercise every day. This is a good way to help you sleep better at night.
• Avoid coffee, tea and alcohol in the evening – these have a stimulating effect that can make it more difficult to get to sleep. A hot milky drink or herbal tea such as chamomile is a good alternative.
• Wind down during the course of the evening. Try not to do anything that is mentally stimulating within 90 minutes of bedtime.  Give yourself time to relax and prepare for sleep – try having a warm bath or listening to some soothing music.
• Try to get up at the same time every day, even at weekends, use an alarm clock if you need to. This helps establish your sleep pattern to follow a regular routine.
• Try not to sleep or doze off during the day as this can upset your sleeping patterns at night. Keep all your sleep for bedtime.
• Try to avoid reading or watching TV in bed as this can stimulate the brain, sometimes making it difficult to relax.
• If you are feeling worried or anxious, this can cause a sleepless night. So, try to find some form of relaxation that will help you unwind before bedtime. Or, start taking a calming herbal remedy (daily) such as Avena Sativa (oats). Make sure your room should is well ventilated, not too cold or too warm.
• Put the light out when you get into bed. Darkness helps signal to your body that it’s time for sleep.

The post How To Get A Good Night’s Sleep When The Clocks Go Forward appeared first on A.Vogel Herbal Remedies.

The areas of the body that can be affected by the sleepy gene phenomenon are wide-ranging, and none of them areas with no consequences:

• Immune function
• Stress responses
• Response to damage in the body (repair work)
• Inflammatory responses
• Making new cells to replenish body stores
• Development of degenerative disease such as Type II diabetes

The importance of allowing your body sufficient slumber time has been flagged up again and again over the past years, with research showing the role of sleep in vulnerability to colds, weight gain, pain perception, high cholesterol, diabetes, fatigue and emotional balance. Now research is pinpointing some of the mechanisms by which these adverse effects develop: knocking your genes out of synch. [1]

How much is enough?
The research looked at people who were allowed less than six hours of sleep per night for a week (these were volunteers, by the way!). Their blood was examined on a minute level, looking at its RNA content, and compared with their blood when given a week’s worth of more than 10 hours sleep.

No one is going to be surprised that their blood was perkier and generally healthier when they were getting sufficient sleep, but possibly we had not previously appreciated how deeply the adverse effects of sleep deprivation dug into our very cells – to the core!

What’s more, the genes thus affected were then more sensitive to further sleep deprivation, like a famine victim nervously eyeing up the next meal.

So, less than six hours isn’t good for your genes. And what’s not good for your genes isn’t good for you.

Related sleep articles

What is sleep?
Insomnia
Sleep problems
How to sleep better
Sleep tips
Sleeping spa
How did you sleep last night?
Why pill popping isn’t putting us to sleep
Disturbing news about sleep disturbances

The post Are you getting enough? appeared first on A.Vogel Herbal Remedies.

He recently gave a talk at the annual surgical conference of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), and didn’t pull any punches in his summary of Irish men’s health.

They are dying, he stated, because they treat their cars better than their bodies.

In a subsequent interview with the Irish Sunday Independent, he pointed out that men die, on average, five years earlier than women. In fact, men are outstripping women in several health areas, but all of them negative!

• Their cancer mortality rates are higher than women’s
• They smoke and drink for longer than women
• They are more successful at committing suicide than women

‘Being a man is a significant health risk’

Irish men are now fatter than ever before, observed Professor Kirby, with fat being carried around their middles – a predictor for diabetes. Men are rarely screened for cardiovascular health but are more susceptible to it than women. They are more affected by stress, and they get more sexually transmitted diseases than women. Why aren’t they acting to safeguard their health?

Professor Kirby gives it as his opinion that the male hormone testosterone, which is behind conditions such as an enlarged prostate, is to blame for making men afraid to show weakness, not to mention influencing them to take risks and over-indulge.

Indulging in a little forethought and preventative action is what the Professor recommends.

• Reduce alcohol intake
• Cut down on carbohydrates in the diet (refined sugar, white bread and pasta, cakes and biscuits – you know the drill!)
• Daily exercise

None of this takes huge amounts of effort – nothing like as much as a really good wax and polish of the car – but will pay dividends in length and quality of life.

The post Men and Cars appeared first on A.Vogel Herbal Remedies.

So why do we keep eating them as our waistlines thicken and our chins proliferate?

Nibbling News
Two University of Miami marketing experts, Juliano Laran and Anthony Salerno, pondered just that very point, and came up with a reason that they promptly put to the test. The findings are to be published in the journal Psychological Science.[1]

Their theory is that the bad news we’re exposed to every day about economic crisis, adversity, war and worry, triggers the primitive survival strategy of feeding ourselves up to face the imminent famine or other catastrophe so obviously on the near horizon.

The world we see on the news does not encourage us to plan rationally for a long and hopefully healthy life, but on the contrary to grab as large a handful of the available resources (buttered and creamed to the utmost) as we can possibly grasp. Transferring these extinction-countering goodies to our mouths as swiftly as can be before returning for more of the same makes good evolutionary sense, in a world that appears to be rapidly collapsing around our nervous heads.

Testing times
Now to test the theory. Volunteers were given a choice of 2 bowls of chocolate sweeties from which to eat as much as they liked during a waiting period. They were told that one bowl’s sweeties contained a new and high calorie chocolate. The other bowl’s contents were, they were told, low calorie (although actually the sweeties were exactly the same).

To while away the waiting time, one half of the group was shown a text that emphasized harshness and deprivation, containing worrisome words such as survival, persistence, shortfall, and adversity. The other group were given a neutral text to read.

The results bore out the theory beautifully: those under the influence of the grim news stories ate more than those not subjected to alarm and despondency, and what’s more the victims of gloom ate more of the supposedly high calorie sweeties.

Cash or cake?
A second test carried out by the same researchers showed that providing those subjected to bad news with a small amount of money reduced their need to feast on calorific treats. Money was maybe able to comfort them with the belief that they could buy their way out of the oncoming trouble, rather than having to fill their bellies as fast as they could before disaster struck.

Fascinatingly, when the researchers primed the scarcity-minded volunteers to think about the slow passage of time, their food choices became healthier, as if in recognition that the situation wasn’t as urgent as they had been made to feel.

So if you are spending your evenings in front of the television, wondering why fridge is calling to you, you have a new strategy at your disposal. Turn off the news and concentrate on something less depressing. Maybe even go for a gentle walk! Feel a virtuous glow. The world may not be as bad as you’re being programmed to think.

The post Bad News for Dieters appeared first on A.Vogel Herbal Remedies.

And now the geeks have caught on.

Nagged by his wife to stop wolfing down his meals, Jacques Lepine came up with the notion of cutlery that would do her job for her. Enter the HAPIfork, which buzzes in your hand when you eat too quickly.

As you may know, it takes about 20 minutes for the message to get through to your body that you have now filled up on food and it can stop sending hunger signals. Decreasing the amount you’ve shovelled into your mouth in that 20 minutes will have a beneficial effect upon your weight, is the theory. The smart fork allows you roughly 10-15 seconds between bites.

Displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the world’s leading gadgets exhibition, the president of HAPIlab gives the HAPIfork the thumbs up, having used it whilst trimming himself down from tubby to svelte.

When you use the fork over several meals, it is able to track your eating rate and, as you slow down, it encourages you by buzzing after longer periods of time. It also tells tales on you to your mobile phone, sending it information on the speed at which you took each meal. Gulp.

Of course, this will only work for those of us at an advanced stage of cutlery-consciousness, rather than those still favouring the greasy finger method of conveying food to mouth. Are those late night chip-guzzlers standing at bus stops likely to fish out their fork and avail themselves of its intelligent take on speed eating? Unlikely. They’ll have to fall back on intelligent thinking or take the hit on their waistbands.

[1] Ruijschop RMAJ et al. Retronasal Aroma Release and Satiation: a Review. J Agric Food Chem 2009; 57 (21): 9888-994
[2] Murayama K et al. BMJ 2008; 337: a2002

The post A Thoughtful Forkful appeared first on A.Vogel Herbal Remedies.

A study published this month followed nearly 500 smokers for 6 months as they took part in a smoking cessation programme[1]. The results? You may be surprised to see the way things went.

• Smokers who gave up successfully had a decrease of nine points in their anxiety scores – they were quite substantially less anxious than when they were smoking
• Smokers who didn’t manage to give up had an increase of three points in their anxiety scores – the cigarettes were definitely not doing a good job in keeping them calm!
• Those whose main reason for smoking was to help cope with stress had the greatest reduction in anxiety when giving up smoking, and the greatest increase in anxiety when not managing to give up smoking. Ironic!

It seems that successfully giving up smoking is a great way of becoming less anxious, even if you thought that the cigarette habit was keeping stress at bay. It’s important to succeed in your attempt, so take advantage of your doctor’s advice, free clinics and support, and some simple lifestyle tips such as those below.

• Get plenty of fresh air and exercise to increase production of happy chemicals called endorphins, which make it easier to cope with withdrawal and mood swings
• Ensure that you eat regularly to keep your blood sugar stable. A chromium supplement might be helpful, and avoiding too much refined sugar and coffee will also help.
• Some people find that chewing sunflower seeds takes the edge off their nicotine cravings. Craving Essence is a useful additional tool for many people.
• Consider all the herbal remedies that can help with anxiety and stress reduction, as one of these may help to support your nervous system more effectively than the baccy.

[1] Mairtin S et al. The British Journal of Psychiatry 2013; 202: 62-67

The post Scared not to smoke? appeared first on A.Vogel Herbal Remedies.

Unless unfortunate enough to need glasses early on in life, we take our sight for granted for many a long year, connecting blurry vision solely with the after-effects of a fun-filled night out. Only when type becomes impossibly small do we recognise that our vision may be fading, and on the whole it was a good thing to have and we’d like it back in glorious technicoloured splendour please.

Don’t wait
Age definitely withers sight, with many eye diseases being progressive and initially symptomless. It is therefore sensible to do as much as you can for your eyes at every stage of life, rather than waiting until spurred into action by symptoms eventually showing up.

Put your eyes on a diet!
Dietary antioxidants are protective because oxidative damage is associated with most degenerative eye diseases. The retina is susceptible to oxidative damage because it consumes a lot of oxygen, contains a high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and is exposed to visible light. What the eye needs is protective pigments laid down in a nice thick layer, to absorb and filter damaging light. Luckily for us those pigments are found in dietary antioxidants – healthy food!

Lutein and zeaxanthin might sound like the names of Angelina Jolie’s latest children, but actually they are antioxidants known as carotenoids – organic pigments found in green, orange, yellow and red fruits and veg. Research has shown that intake of these antioxidants is related to a decreased risk of degenerative eye disease in women under 75. [1] Yet another reason to get yourself and your children eating those greens (and oranges, yellows and reds!) early and often.

Lutein protects the eyes against oxidative damage inflicted by light, and has been likened to internal sunglasses. How cool is that: sunglasses inside your eyes that you can create yourself just by eating naturally colourful food?

See the wider picture
Eyes need a good blood supply from the retinal blood vessels, to bring them the nutrients they need to stay healthy. They also need rest and recuperation, as the iris and pupil are held in place by muscles that have to dilate and constrict to control the amount of light that can enter the eye.
Computers, televisions, videogames, and tiny phone screens are now constant parts of many people’s lives, and staring at screens for long periods of time with great concentration and little rest contributes to tired, strained, irritated, dry eyes. We blink less when looking at screens, which means less moisture distribution and less clearing of irritant particles.

So take time out to relax – yes, you’ve heard that message before but never, I suspect, for the sake of your eyes. Cup your palms over your eyes and keep them there for a few minutes, then focus out of the window or into the middle distance to give your eye muscles the equivalent of a hamstring stretch before you take them back to the marathon computer session.

Flavonoids stabilise the blood vessels that supply nutrients to the eyes, and feed the tissue that supports the eye. They can be found in the diet, especially in dark fruits and vegetables such as blackberries, blueberries and blackcurrants. So it’s back to the kitchen for a bowl of eye protection.

• Blackcurrant
  Blackcurrant is a dark purple berry with an extremely high vitamin C content – four times higher than oranges. It contains catechins and other beneficial flavonoids, and both anthocyanins and proanthocyanins. These anthocyanosides are powerful antioxidants with anti-inflammatory properties, but are also useful for strengthening blood vessels and improving blood flow.

• Blueberry
  Blueberries contain antioxidant vitamins A and C, and also flavonoid compounds known as anthocyanosides. Some of these anthocyanosides are able to bind to the portion of the retina that’s responsible for vision, increasing the rate of regeneration of the visual pigments in the retina and stabilising the tissue structures around the eye. Blueberries are also thought to increase the eyes’ speed of adaptation to darkness.

Exercise is good for you – and your eyes
When you are contemplating actually exercising for real, remember that improving your circulation will help the blood flow to the eyes as well as elsewhere in the body. If you have a stiff neck or tense, knotted shoulders, consider massage or Pilates or yoga exercises to loosen things up, improving the flow of blood to your head.

Even the minimally demanding activity of blinking helps your eyes, especially if you do a great deal of computer work. Train yourself to blink at least once every 5 seconds for a free boost to your visual health.

Cold showers??
These might not sound too enticing, but take heart – we’re just talking about splashing cold water on your closed eyes about ten or twenty times, for a bracing effect on your orbs.

What else?
Zinc is found in extremely high concentrations in the retina, so it is thought that it is probably important to eye function and health. That said, there’s hardly any part of the body that doesn’t do better with more zinc to hand, and as it’s harder to find in foods than many other nutrients (seeds are good: make like a budgie) it’s a good notion to note if and when white flecks show up on your nails and then take a zinc supplement until they disappear. 15mg daily with food is a regular adult dose.

Risk factors for poor eye health

• Poor diet
• Smoking
• High alcohol consumption
• Working with computer screens
• Doing heaps of driving
• Long hours of television viewing

The Crying Game
The tear film should lubricate the eyes. If it doesn’t eyes may feel gritty and uncomfortable, becoming red and irritated. Many people then reach for eye drops as a sensible way to lubricate the eye and prevent further discomfort or damage. It’s important that eye drops behave like normal tears as much as possible, staying on the surface of the eye and spreading out as a tear would.

Hyaluronic acid is an excellent ingredient for eye drops, mimicking the natural tear film. It offers:

• Enhanced hydration of the corneal surface
• Reduction of tear elimination
• Maintenance of sufficient tears for moistening eye

Euphrasia is another ingredient that is good to see (no pun intended) in eye drops or for internal use.

Euphrasia makes eye drops spread out over the eye like a real tear. The tannins that it contains help to reduce inflammation, and it has an antiseptic action thanks to its caffeic acid content.

So the power of nature can power your vision – seeing is believing!

[1] SanGiovanni JP et al. Arch Ophthalmol 2007; 125 (9): 1225-32

The post Eye Eye appeared first on A.Vogel Herbal Remedies.

Energise

• It may sound obvious, but don’t get overtired. Consult the information below on poor sleep and do some serious scheduling to get your sleep to the top of the priority list. We all know children are awful when they are tired, but it’s not much fun being a tired adult either.
• If you need a little extra power, take Eleutherococcus (Siberian Ginseng) – but be aware that it mixes very badly with caffeine, so take it instead of coffee, not with it!

The Perils of Poor Sleep

Not getting sufficient sleep is a torment, and has many horrible side effects, from looking worse (just in time for that big party) to feeling your brain disintegrate.

• Bag a Bedtime to Bolster your Brain
  Decide firmly that you will be in bed and preferably asleep by 11pm every night for a fortnight, and see how much better you look and feel. Your memory will improve and you’ll feel more in control and even-tempered.
• Chuck out the Caffeine
  Choose non-caffeinated drinks such as soothing lemon verbena, lemon balm, ginger and cardamom, and berry juice concentrates to have hot and comforting.
• Eat Early
  Eating a heavy meal late at night is one of the best ways to disrupt your sleep. Keep early hours and just nibble at night if you really feel the need for nourishment.
• Herbs can Help
  Try a mixture of Valerian and Hops to get you nodding peacefully at the prescribed hour. These herbs also help you sleep more soundly, passing through all the five stages of sleep to ensure you process the day’s happenings and wake feeling refreshed.

The lying-in lie

Sleeping late doesn’t make up for hitting the hay in the early hours of the morning. You’ll be dehydrated and your blood sugar will be all over the place, so you’ll get up eventually with lower backache (miserable kidneys) and strange cravings (blood sugar playing catch-up). If you’re sleeping in, get up and have some warm water at your usual wake-up time, before heading back for a snooze. Then get a fruit smoothie into yourself the minute you get up again, to power up your digestive system without too much effort.

Jump about!

• Yes, your eyelids are permanently drooping, but even a 10-minute walk or 5 minutes of skipping or 2 minutes of stomach crunches will make you feel better. The endorphin kick is great, and for free. It’s best if you get outside for that precious 10 minutes, as daylight keeps winter sadness at bay and stimulates your endocrine system.
• If your circulatory system is sluggish and you feel the cold easily, keep up the vitamin C intake and try Ginkgo biloba to stimulate the blood flow. Ginkgo is also good for brain function, which never comes amiss when you’re in organisational overdrive.

Just Say No

Here’s a concept, especially for busy women. Decline to take on any more projects – the school play will have to run without you. Turn down unwanted invitations boldly: that’s valuable sleeping time you would be wasting. Refuse extra responsibility: now is not the time to take on running the allotment group, however much a secretary is needed. Each thing may seem small on its own, but you’ll have heard of the straw that broke the camel’s back? Offload as many straws as you can and see how much better you feel. Take Confidence Essence to help you say no if it’s not a word currently in your vocabulary.

Sometimes Say Yes

Sorry to seem confusing, but there is one thing you should certainly say yes to: help! Yes, let the children hang up cards even if they won’t do them neatly. Yes, let partners take on chores if they should offer, even if they won’t be done perfectly. It’s all giving you smidgeons of time to breathe in and out.

Extra Assistance

• Water. You’ll have heard this before, but people tend to forget it during the colder months and especially when there are bucket loads of alcoholic beverages around. Get your 1.5 litres of still, plain water into you to help keep your energy levels up and your kidneys happy. It’s good for your skin too, so literally suck it up! Have it warm if you prefer it that way. Drink it through a straw if you really don’t like it – for some reason this makes it easier.
• Flower Essences. If you haven’t tried them before, now is a good time to experiment. Vitality Essence is a great place to start, either before or after a big night out, or both!

Slaughter Stress

If you’re not dog-tired then it will hugely help to keep your stress levels down. There’s nothing like fatigue to make your nervous system more easily frazzled.

Get Gutsy

Stress also impedes your digestive process, so counter the mayhem by remembering to chew your food well. This may sound simplistic but it works wonders and costs you nothing except a little mental effort and jaw action.

Don’t droop over your buffets but sit up and let your stomach do its stuff. Try not to have too much wheat if you bloat easily, and don’t drink pints of anything, even water, with your meals, because that contributes to indigestion.

Add slices of lemon to your hot water when you do drink it (away from meals), to support your liver as it fights its way through the aftermath of feasts of fatty foods. Other remedies to stimulate good digestion and improved fat metabolism are artichoke and dandelion. Take them as tinctures before meals to get additional power to your innards, or take them afterwards if you feel the oncoming twinges of indigestion.

You can use herbs for reducing stress too. Start with Avena sativa for gentle support – great for giving to the children if they are getting over excited or can’t sleep. Passiflora is slightly stronger but still gentle enough to take without getting sleepy or having to worry about contraindications with medication. Valerian is faster acting and can be taken in small doses for relaxation and larger doses for sleep. Take it in juice rather than water, as it has a singular taste that not everyone appreciates! Hypericum (St John’s Wort) is a useful prop if you aren’t looking forward to family get-togethers. It takes a week or two to get going, so plan ahead if you want to benefit from it. It is contraindicated with many medications, so always check.

Nutrients for Nerves

Magnesium is found in alfalfa, almonds, apples, avocados, bananas, buckwheat, brazils, brown rice, cashews, celery, dates, figs, fish, dried apricots, chickpeas, millet, oats, brown rice, spinach, dark green vegetables, parsley, sesame seeds, soya, haricot and kidney beans
B vitamins are plentiful in oatmeal, salmon, mackerel, walnuts, soya beans, lentils, butter beans, haricot beans, bananas, avocados, buckwheat, raisins, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, and pecan nuts

Stay Strong

When you’re stressed, your immune function is lowered, and if you get ill then it’s just another source of trauma and fatigue. Avoid the danger by dosing up on Echinacea on a daily basis if you know you’re going to be under pressure.

If you’re travelling during the holidays, take extra doses whilst exposed to large crowds or in close proximity to strangers with coughs and colds – Echinacea has been shown to reduce the risk of infection on planes, for example, so it’s worth having to hand.

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