The Study
Vitamin D supplementation to prevent acute respiratory infections: systematic review and meta-analysis of stratified aggregate data
This study combines results from many smaller experiments where vitamin D was tested against fake pills. It shows that overall, vitamin D doesn't clearly prevent colds and flu, but it might help some people like kids or those taking daily small doses.
Analysis score
Maximum 100 for a systematic review with meta-analysis.
Where the score came from
Scientists looked at many studies to see if taking vitamin D stops people from getting colds.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 545 / 100
Quality score
The highest quality evidence. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses that pool randomized controlled trials, giving the most reliable summary of experimental evidence.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1For most people, vitamin D doesn't prevent colds, but it's safe to take.
- 2Taking vitamin D did not stop colds overall.
- 3In some groups like kids, it might help a little, but it's not certain.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
The lancet. Diabetes & endocrinology
Year
2024
Authors
David A. Jolliffe, C. Camargo, J. Sluyter, M. Aglipay, J. Aloia, P. Bergman, Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, Arturo Borzutzky, V. Bubes, C. T. Damsgaard, Francine M. Ducharme, G. Dubnov-Raz, S. Esposito, D. Ganmaa, C. Gilham, A. Ginde, Inbal Golan-Tripto, E. Goodall, C. Grant, C. Griffiths, A. Hibbs, W. Janssens, A. V. Khadilkar, I. Laaksi, Margaret T. Lee, Mark Loeb, Jonathon L. Maguire, Paweł Majak, S. Manaseki-Holland, J. Manson, David T. Mauger, David Murdoch, Akio Nakashima, Rachel E Neale, H. Pham, Christine Rake, Judy R Rees, Jenni Rosendahl, Robert Scragg, Dheeraj Shah, Yoshiki Shimizu, S. Simpson-Yap, G Trilok Kumar, M. Urashima, A. Martineau
Related Content
Claims (7)
This claim says that taking lots of vitamin C, echinacea, garlic, or vitamin D doesn't actually help you get better from a cold, according to real studies done on people.
Taking vitamin D supplements doesn't really change your chance of having serious side effects, and it's considered safe for helping prevent colds and other breathing infections.
When scientists look at studies about vitamin D preventing colds and flu, it seems like some smaller studies showing vitamin D doesn't work might be missing. This could make vitamin D look more helpful than it really is.
Taking vitamin D supplements doesn't really help prevent common colds or similar infections for most people, based on a big review of studies.
Taking a small daily dose of vitamin D might help lower your chances of getting colds or other breathing infections, but taking more doesn't seem to help extra, and scientists aren't totally sure about this yet.
Taking vitamin D might help kids between 1 and 15 years old get fewer colds and lung infections, but scientists aren't totally sure yet.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.