In 2005, it seemed that another herbal remedy bit the dust, as media blared that a New England Journal of Medicine Study showed immunity effects of Echinacea to be clinically insignificant.  Now another meta-analysis of 14 studies shows that Echinacea shortens the duration of a cold and reduces  the chance of catching a cold by 58% when taken prior to or at the first hint of a cold.  The source of the confusion?  The first (NEJM) study compared apples to oranges, using only one part of the Echinacea plant in a very low dose.  High quality supplements like Nutrilite and Herb Pharm that use a blend of leaf, stem, and root at higher doses do work, according to the latest analysis.  In addition, the NEJM study tested only one of the more than 200 viruses that can cause a cold.

What’s with this MRSA superbug?!  It starts out as a sore red pimple and gets bigger, hotter, harder, and redder.  After being treated with Bactrim or Augmentin, this staph infection can pop up all over your body, but especially where you sweat.  Have you noticed that it often starts in hospitals or in the locker room at the high schools that were shut down?  What these locations have in common is body fluid like sweat, and the place where YOU run into that is your gym.  Wash your hands a lot, bring your own yoga mat, wear weight-lifting gloves and cover the parts of your bod that touch things.  Wash your exercise clothes every time and take a shower after your workout instead of running twelve errands and ending up cooking dinner in the same outfit.