Vitamin C Helps Bad Colds
Vitamin C reduces the severity of common colds: a meta-analysis
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Vitamin C has no effect on mild cold symptoms but significantly reduces severe ones.
Contradicts the common belief that vitamin C helps all cold symptoms equally.
Practical Takeaways
Take ≥1 g of vitamin C daily during cold season to reduce severe symptoms and sick days.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Vitamin C has no effect on mild cold symptoms but significantly reduces severe ones.
Contradicts the common belief that vitamin C helps all cold symptoms equally.
Practical Takeaways
Take ≥1 g of vitamin C daily during cold season to reduce severe symptoms and sick days.
Publication
Journal
BMC Public Health
Year
2023
Authors
H. Hemilä, E. Chalker
Related Content
Claims (8)
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 C might help people who are stressed and in cold weather get over bad colds faster, cutting the time sick by about half, but we're not totally sure because only a few studies have looked at this.
Taking vitamin C pills might make your cold symptoms less severe if you're a healthy person.
Vitamin C helps reduce bad cold symptoms a lot (by about a quarter), but doesn't really help with mild cold symptoms. This is based on studies of over 2700 colds.
Taking vitamin C pills can help healthy people get over colds faster, meaning they spend less time stuck at home or missing school—about 15% less time, according to some studies.