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Vitamin C does not combat colds

The long-held belief that vitamin C can help you avoid the common cold is nothing more than a myth, scientists have revealed.

They found that the supplements have little preventative effect and are no use at all when dealing with symptoms.
But there’s good news for distance runners who take vitamin C, because the scientists say that only marathon runners, skiers and others exposed to extreme cold or stress for short periods should bother taking the pills.

The news, which has been published widely in recent days, saw researchers analyse 30 studies carried out over six decades and involving more than 11,000 patients.

And although the results were based on supplement use, the researchers said drinking orange juice, or eating other good sources of vitamin C, were equally useless.

Their review, published in the Cochrane Library, a respected medical journal, looked at whether those who regularly took vitamin C tablets were less likely to catch colds than others.
It also assessed the extent and duration of the symptoms when daily takers did catch a cold.

All those studied took at least two grams of the vitamin a day – around four times the dose normally found in supplements in shops.

But analysis of the figures, drawn from studies conducted around the world, revealed the pills had little benefit.

It found that those taking a daily dose of vitamin C were just two per cent less likely to catch a cold. Their symptoms would clear up only marginally more quickly.

The researchers, from the University of Helsinki in Finland and the Australian National University in Canberra, said this would equate to the average person suffering a cold for 11 days a year instead of 12.

Most people are in agreement of one thing however – that taking vitamin C supplements definitely help people who are lacking in it in the first place.

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