Echinacea: One of the best supplements for overly stressed people

The pressed juice of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) can help relieve the effects of restraint stress, according to the authors of a study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food. The study reveals that this effect also reverses the negative impacts of restraint stress on the immune response.

• The researchers put mice through restraint stress.
• The animals were fed pressed purple coneflower juice.
• The researchers noted that the treatment normalized the decreases in splenocyte proliferation and the cell activity of natural killer (NK). These reductions were caused by restraint stress.
• The treatment also caused an increase in the percentages of CD⁴⁺ and CD⁸⁺ T lymphocytes in the blood.
• Lastly, the purple coneflower juice restored serum cytokine levels, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and interleukin-17 (IL-17), as well as the mRNA expressions of these cytokines in the spleen.

The researchers concluded that purple coneflower has a beneficial effect against the suppression of the immune response by restraint stress.

Find the best herbs for boosting your immune system and relieving stress at Herbs.news.

Journal Reference:

Park S, Lee M-S, Jung S, Lee S, Kwon O, Kreuter MH, Perrinjaquet-Moccetti T, Min B, Yun SH, Kim Y. ECHINACEA PURPUREA PROTECTS AGAINST RESTRAINT STRESS-INDUCED IMMUNOSUPPRESSION IN BALB/C MICE. Journal of Medicinal Food. 1 March 2018; 21(3):261–268. DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2017.4073