Why might vitamin C supplements be beneficial in treating the common cold?
1 Answer
Vitamin C supplements might reduce the severity and duration of colds, but controlled studies show the effect is small.
Yet, there is an effect.
The severity of colds is reduced somewhat by regular vitamin C supplementation.
In adults, the regular use of Vitamin C reduces the duration of colds by 8% for adults and 18% for children.
Thus, the average adult who has a cold for 12 days a year and takes a high daily dose of Vitamin C supplements will still suffer for about 11 days.
The average child who has a cold for 28 days a year and takes daily high-dose vitamin C will still have a cold for about 23 days.
Nevertheless, Vitamin C is cheap and individual responses vary widely, so it might be worthwhile to try Vitamin C supplements to see if there is any effect.
