Taking vitamin C might help people who are stressed and in cold weather get over bad colds faster, cutting the time sick by about half, but we're not totally sure because only a few studies have looked at this.

39

Pro

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Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

39

Community contributions welcome

39

Vitamin C reduces the severity of common colds: a meta-analysis

Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

Human

2023 Dec 11

The study shows vitamin C helps reduce severe cold symptoms more than mild ones, which matches the claim, but it doesn't prove the exact 60% reduction or focus on stressed people in cold places.

Contradicting (0)

0

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No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Vitamin C reduces the severity of common colds: a meta-analysis

Score: 39

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-17229-8

Similar Assertions

Taking vitamin C pills might make your cold symptoms less severe if you're a healthy person.

39

0

85%

Vitamin C helps reduce bad cold symptoms a lot (by about a quarter), but doesn't really help with mild cold symptoms. This is based on studies of over 2700 colds.

39

0

85%

Taking vitamin C supplements might cut your chances of getting a cold in half if you're under a lot of physical stress, like running marathons, skiing, or doing tough military training in cold weather.

33

0

84%

Taking vitamin C pills cuts your chances of catching a cold in half if you're doing really tough activities like running marathons, skiing, or military training in freezing cold places.

33

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83%

Taking vitamin C pills every day might make your colds less severe, according to some studies that looked at healthy people.

39

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82%