Taking high-dose zinc lozenges when you have a cold can cut down how long your muscle aches last by more than half, which is the biggest improvement for cold symptoms like this.

33

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

33

Community contributions welcome

33

The effectiveness of high dose zinc acetate lozenges on various common cold symptoms: a meta-analysis

Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

Human

2015 Feb 25

The study used the same zinc lozenges as the claim and found exactly what was stated: a 54% reduction in muscle ache duration 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

The effectiveness of high dose zinc acetate lozenges on various common cold symptoms: a meta-analysis

Score: 33

DOI: 10.1186/s12875-015-0237-6

Similar Assertions

Taking high-dose zinc lozenges every day might help adults get over colds faster—cutting how long you're sick by more than a third compared to not taking them.

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86%

Taking high-dose zinc lozenges right when you start feeling a cold can shorten how long you're sick by almost half, according to studies in adults.

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86%

Taking high-dose zinc lozenges can shorten how long you have a cold by about 3 days, especially for adults between 20 and 50 years old.

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85%

Taking certain zinc lozenges (not the acetate kind) in high daily doses might shorten how long you have a cold by about one-fifth, but different brands or types seem to work differently based on studies.

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84%

Taking zinc lozenges with less than 75 mg per day doesn't seem to shorten how long a cold lasts, based on studies comparing them to fake pills. It might only work if you take enough.

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84%