Vitamin C and The Common Cold

A Cochrane review of the efficacy of vitamin C in the prevention and treatment of the common cold concluded that vitamin C has not been shown to reduce the incidence of the disease. Vitamin C does appear to be protective against the common cold for a sub-set of the population – those who participate in severe physical exercise. Consistent supplementation has been shown to reduce the duration of colds, but not all studies agree. The author concludes that vitamin C supplementation is a low-cost, low-risk strategy for potential avoidance of the common cold that is worth suggesting until more future studies can clarify its role.[i]

References

[i] Hemilä H, Chalker E. Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013 Jan 31;1:CD000980. PMID: 23440782.