Do Vitamin Supplements Really Work For Colds?

The Question: Will supplements really prevent a cold or shorten one from lingering?  The Answer: Dietary supplements aimed at cold prevention, like Zicam or Emergen-C, sound miraculous in theory. But do they actually help to eliminate that nasty bug? The answer from experts is a resounding “no.”  Zicam promises to be a “cold shortening” homeopathic remedy. It is available in a variety of forms, all of which use zinc at the major active ingredient. Emergen-C is a popular dietary supplement made from vitamin C which claims to provide extra support to the immune system. Another variation of the dissolvable powder includes melatonin for sleep and relaxation.   “Nothing cures the cold,” Kathleen Duggan, an adjunct professor at the School of Nursing at the University of San Francisco, told HuffPost. “They’re trying to promote the antioxidant capacity of vitamin C...and there is not much in the literature that supports vitamin C preventing a cold.”  Research suggests that a vitamin overload will do very little to prevent a cold or help you out once you’re in the throes of one. But not only that, taking too much can have consequential health effects. How natural supplements could backfire Just one serving of Emergen-C provides 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C, which is well above the recommended daily dose. Adult men should get 90 milligrams a day, and adult women should ge...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news