Most people have tried everything from vitamin D to Zinc to Vitamin C to ward off the common cold. However, scientists say that you can now take at least one of the items of the list.
In a study that was the most rigorous to date, researchers investigated whether vitamin D protects against the common cold. The study found out that healthy adults taking large doses of the vitamin were no less apt to come down with colds, flu or sinus infections, than those who had taken a placebo.
Dr. David Murdoch led the study along with colleagues from New Zealand’s University of Otago. He and fellow researchers had 322 healthy people who participated in the study. Each was randomly assigned to ingest vitamin D or just a placebo each month for a year and a half.
At the end of the period for the study, those in the group who had taken vitamin D had developed a flu or cold on average about 3.7 times, while those in the group that took placebos had developed on average 3.8. Taking the vitamin also did not impact on the duration or severity of a person’s symptoms nor did it lower the total work days missed due to becoming ill.
The results showed that even eating chicken soup might help as much or more than vitamin D in preventing the common fold or the flu.
