Every year, I catch at least one cold. Usually it's not serious – but it can deprive me of a day or two of activity and leave me feeling weak and vulnerable. I prefer to feel strong and capable so when a study comes out that shows me how I can increase my chances of staying healthy through cold season, I'm all over it. Here's what they're saying:

"Taking the herbal product echinacea could reduce the chances of catching a cold by 58%, conclude authors of a Review published Online and in the July edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The Review also states echinacea could reduce the duration of colds by an average of 1·4 days. It was authored by Dr Craig Coleman, University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, Hartford Hospital, Connecticut, USA, and colleagues. They conducted a meta-analysis (a study which combines the results of previous trials) of 14 studies into the use of echinacea to relieve/protect against catching a cold.

Only one of the 14 studies reviewed combined echinacea with vitamin C, which showed the two together reduced cold incidence by 86%. As a result the authors could not definitely conclude whether the two supplements combined are more effective than echinacea alone.

And the authors found that if echinacea was used in attempt to prevent "natural" catching of a cold, it reduced cold incidence by 65%; but if patients were directly inoculated with the cold-causing rhinovirus, echinacea use only reduced cold incidence by 35%. The authors say: 'With over 200 viruses capable of causing the common cold, echinacea could have modest effect against rhinovirus but marked effects against other viruses.'"

Now THAT'S useful information! Echinacea is available EVERYWHERE – even in my local grocery store. And it's convenient to take as a daily supplement – along with my daily multivitamin. Cool!

The study authors conclude: "An analysis of the current evidence in the literature suggests that echinacea has a benefit in decreasing the incidence and duration of the common cold; however, large-scale randomized prospective studies controlling for variables such as species, quality of preparation and dose of echinacea, method of cold induction, and objectivity of end points evaluated are needed before echinacea for the prevention or treatment of the common cold can become standard practice."

I'm ready to accept it as "standard practice" now. If I go through the next cold season without a sniffle, I'll be all aglow about it. And I'll be letting you know, too.