Taking zinc lozenges for 5 days raises zinc levels in your blood, showing your body absorbs it, but it doesn't help with cold symptoms.

35

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

35

Community contributions welcome

35

Two randomized controlled trials of zinc gluconate lozenge therapy of experimentally induced rhinovirus colds

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

1987 Aug

The study gave adults zinc lozenges for colds and found zinc levels in their blood went up after 5 days, but it didn't help their cold symptoms, just like the claim says.

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

Two randomized controlled trials of zinc gluconate lozenge therapy of experimentally induced rhinovirus colds

Score: 35

DOI: 10.1128/AAC.31.8.1183

Similar Assertions

Taking zinc lozenges many times a day for about a week doesn't help adults feel better faster or less sick when they have a cold caused by a specific virus.

35

0

92%

When adults with cold symptoms take zinc gluconate lozenges, their colds might get better faster, but this only worked in a special test setting and not with real-world colds or different zinc types.

49

0

89%

Taking zinc lozenges doesn't make cold symptoms less severe, according to a study with 273 people who were given cold viruses.

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49

88%

Taking zinc lozenges several times a day for about a week doesn't help reduce how often or how long people with colds shed the virus, meaning it doesn't stop the virus from copying itself or spreading to others.

35

0

86%

Zinc lozenges might help with cold symptoms, but lab tests show zinc doesn't really fight cold viruses directly, so there's probably another reason they work.

0

83%