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

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 people zinc lozenges exactly as described in the claim and found they didn't help cold symptoms at all, so it supports the claim that zinc doesn't work for colds.

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 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

93%

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

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

90%

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

0

49

87%

Taking zinc lozenges soon after cold symptoms start can help adults get over their colds faster, cutting down how long you feel sick by about 1 to 4 days.

1

0

85%