[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]In our October’s blog post we looked at suitable supplements for boosting the immune system. Now we’ll look at some supplements known to be beneficial when a cold virus hits.

Vitamin C

You would have to have been living under a stone for the past few years not to have encountered the debate about which way the loo roll should go. And whether vitamin C has a useful role in cold prevention is equally contentious. However, there’s much evidence to suggest that taking high doses of C may help shorten the time you’re sick by a day or so.

Vitamin C has an anti-imflammatory and anti-histamine effect so helps to dry up that runny nose. Additionally, although the claim that vitamin C can do something so specific as to prevent a cold is debatable, it can improve immune function.

How?

By being the power behind the immune cells ability to seek and destroy viruses. If you’re sick or under great physical stress the body’s need for vitamin C is in increased.

Zinc

In recent years Zinc has become a popular cold treatment. According to 2012 study showed that zinc supplements can help to shorten the length of a cold by a day or two. [1]

Like vitamin C, there’s no evidence to suggest that zinc can specifically prevent a cold. But also like vitamin C it has a role to play in boosting your immune system and encouraging a shortened illness. 2012 study “A combination of high-dose vitamin C plus zinc for the common cold” conducted with a combination of 1000 mg vitamin C plus 10 mg zinc in patients with the common cold shown vitamin C plus zinc was significantly more efficient than placebo at reducing rhinorrhoea over 5 days of treatment. [2]

Garlic

Along with a number of other foods, garlic appears able to stimulate the immune system and fight viruses. If you’re eating the garlic for health reasons it’s most efficient eaten raw, either minced, diced or crushed.

But there’s no need to resemble the stereotypical French onion seller and have the stuff strung round your neck because evidence suggests that supplementation works just as well.[3] A British study of 146 people found that volunteers who took a garlic supplement for 12 weeks during cold season were far less likely to get sick than those who took placebos. There were 24 colds in the garlic group compared to 65 in the placebo group. And the garlic takers who did get sick recovered about four days sooner on average than the others.

Vitamin E

This antioxidant vitamin probably won’t do much to shorten a cold’s duration. But being a good immune booster it does have a preventative role. A year-long study showed that participants taking vitamin E supplementation got ‘significantly fewer’ colds.[4]

Additionally, in a study from Tufts University ‘451 adults age 65 and older were given either 200 IU of vitamin E each day or a placebo. While 74 percent of the people in the placebo group came down with at least one upper respiratory infection during the study, only 65 percent of the volunteers in the vitamin E group experienced one or more infections. [5]

References:
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23775705
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22429343
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11697022
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15753147
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9134944

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