Do zinc lozenges help with colds?
Effect of treatment with zinc gluconate or zinc acetate on experimental and natural colds.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 549 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 549 / 90
Evidence Score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Publication
Journal
Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America
Year
2000
Authors
R. Turner, W. Cetnarowski
Related Content
Claims (7)
Taking zinc acetate lozenges when you have a cold can help you get better faster, cutting down how long you're sick by about 2 to 3 days.
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.
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.
Taking zinc supplements like gluconate or acetate doesn't help reduce how long a cold lasts or how bad the symptoms are, based on a study with 281 adults who had colds.
Taking special high-strength zinc lozenges when you have a cold can help you get better about three days faster.