Health Claims

This says that a substance called NONS can quickly kill certain viruses that cause respiratory infections, making them almost completely harmless in lab tests.

A substance called NONS quickly kills flu viruses in a lab setting, making them almost completely gone in just a few seconds.

A nose spray with nitric oxide quickly kills over 99.9% of the COVID-19 virus and its variants in lab tests, working in as little as 30 seconds.

Taking 1000 mg of vitamin C plus 10 mg of zinc together is safe and doesn't cause bad side effects when used to treat colds, according to two medical studies.

Taking vitamin C and zinc together might help you feel better faster when you have a cold compared to taking a fake pill.

Taking vitamin C and zinc together works better than a fake pill at reducing runny nose symptoms when you have a cold, based on a review of 94 people across two studies.

Taking vitamin C and zinc together might help shorten how long your nose runs when you have a cold, but studies haven't proven it definitely works.

This claim says that zinc lozenges might help shorten colds, and the more zinc your body can use from them, the faster your cold might go away.

Zinc lozenges with a certain chemical property might make your cold last longer—specifically, about 4 extra days—instead of helping you get better faster.

Zinc lozenges that dissolve properly in your mouth can help you get over a cold faster, cutting down how long you're sick by up to a week.

Pelargonium sidoides, a plant-based supplement, might help make cold symptoms less severe and help you get better faster, according to some medical studies.

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.

Black elderberry might help you feel better faster when you have a cold by reducing how bad your symptoms feel and how long you're sick.

Taking echinacea supplements might help you avoid catching a cold, according to scientific studies.

Taking zinc lozenges when you first start feeling sick with a cold might help you get better faster and feel less miserable.

Scientists say there's a special protein called VPO1 that, like another protein MPO, can make a powerful cleaning chemical called hypochlorous acid inside our bodies.

Certain proteins in blood called VPO1 can kill bacteria using chemicals like chloride and hydrogen peroxide, but this process gets blocked by other substances that stop these proteins from working.

There's a special protein in our blood vessels that can make a chemical called hypochlorous acid when it mixes with hydrogen peroxide and salt, and scientists showed this by testing it on other...

Taking vitamin C after you already have cold symptoms doesn't make your cold shorter or less severe compared to taking a fake pill.

Taking vitamin C regularly might help you get over a cold faster—about 8% quicker for adults and 14% for kids, according to a big study.

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.

Taking vitamin C pills every day doesn't really help prevent colds for most people, according to research.

Taking vitamin C after you already have a cold doesn't really help you get better faster or feel less sick, according to several big studies.

Taking vitamin C regularly might help you get over a cold a little faster—about 8% quicker for adults and 13% for kids, according to a big study.