Vitamin C does not help from getting a cold

simone · Gold Member Joined: 23 Jul 2005 Posts: 478

According to the researchers from two Universities, Australian National University and the University of Helsinki, taking large doses of vitamin C will not prevent us from catching a cold but what we may end up with are the sniffles.

The researchers reviewed over 30 studies conducted in the last several decades that included over 11,000 people who took at least 200 milligrams of Vitamin C daily.
Not only did the reviews show that vitamin C doesn’t prevent catching a cold but it doesn’t either reduce the length or severity of a cold.

Although discovered in the 30’s of the last century, vitamin C was not made popular until the seventies when the Nobel Prize-winning chemist Linus Pauling published his book “Vitamin C and the Common Cold” that lead to people taking 1,000 milligrams of the vitamin daily. Current recommended daily dose of vitamin C is 60 mg. An glass of orange juice has about 97 mg of the vitamin.

One of the reasons why vitamin C is still popular despite the opposite findings is the fact that people want to believe that the vitamin works.

Harri Hemila, a professor in the Department of Public Health at University of Helsinki in Finland says that vitamin C may not be panacea but that it is not useless either.

bates525 · Newbie Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 9

That's very interesting. However, I've my own experience to rely on. I've taken 2000mg of vitamin C for the past 18mths and during that time, I've not had any colds to speak of . I wonder if vitamin C affects individuals differently based on his/her immunity?

Vitamin C does not help from getting a cold

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