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

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

33

Community contributions welcome

33

Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold.

Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

2004 Oct 18

The study looked at the same vitamin C use in the same high-stress groups and found exactly what the claim says: it cuts colds by half in those people.

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

Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold.

Score: 33

DOI: 10.1002/14651858.cd000980.pub2

Similar Assertions

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

0

99%

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

39

0

84%

Taking vitamin C pills might help a little with colds, especially for people who are under a lot of physical stress or don't get enough vitamin C from their diet.

1

0

84%

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

0

84%

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

39

0

83%