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

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.

Zinc lozenges don't help reduce how long colds last or how bad they feel, whether you catch a cold naturally or in a study where they give you a cold virus.

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.

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.

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.