Taking vitamin C and zinc together might help shorten how long your nose runs when you have a cold, but studies haven't proven it definitely works.

50

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

50

Community contributions welcome

50

A Combination of High-Dose Vitamin C plus Zinc for the Common Cold

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2012

The study looked at the same vitamin and zinc mix and found it shortened runny noses by 9–27%, just like the claim says, but it wasn't a sure thing in each separate test.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

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

A Combination of High-Dose Vitamin C plus Zinc for the Common Cold

Score: 50

DOI: 10.1177/147323001204000104

Similar Assertions

Taking vitamin C and zinc together works better than a fake pill at reducing runny nose symptoms when you have a cold, based on a review of 94 people across two studies.

50

0

94%

Taking 1000 mg of vitamin C plus 10 mg of zinc together is safe and doesn't cause bad side effects when used to treat colds, according to two medical studies.

50

0

79%

Taking vitamin C and zinc together might help you feel better faster when you have a cold compared to taking a fake pill.

50

0

79%

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

39

0

75%

Taking vitamin C pills every day doesn't really help prevent colds for most people, according to studies with thousands of participants.

33

0

73%