Report: Vitamin C Nearly Useless Vs. Colds

Senay: Review Of 30 Past Studies Finds It Has No Significant Preventive Effect For Most People

(CBS)  Does vitamin C really help keep the common cold away? Lots of people think so.

But the latest research suggests it doesn't do the job for most of us, reported The Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay Wednesday.

She explained that a review of numerous studies concluded that vitamin C isn't what it's cracked up to be, failing to help prevent the common cold in any meaningful way, except in some people exposed to extremely high stress.

For the rest of us, the chances of vitamin C warding off colds is so slight, the lead researcher concludes it "doesn't make sense to take vitamin C 365 days a year to lessen the chance of catching a cold."

Senay explained that a research team examined 30 studies conducted over several decades, involving more than 11,000 people. All compared people taking at least 200 milligrams of Vitamin C each day with people taking placebos. The researchers added up how often people in those studies got colds, and how long those colds tended to last. And the results, just published by The Cochrane Library, are likely to disappoint people who swear by vitamin C.

According to their analysis, daily vitamin C basically had no effect on the incidence of the common cold in the general population, except for very specific groups of people, all of them small groups. It did reduce the severity and duration of colds slightly, but the researchers say the difference was so slight it ended up being pretty meaningless, and not worth the effort or expense of taking all that vitamin C.

People apparently protected from colds by vitamin C, Senay said, are those who subject their immune systems to extraordinary amounts of physical stress, such as people who run marathons, or do serious trekking in the winter. The researchers found that these people were 50 percent less likely to catch cold if they took vitamin C daily. But they were the exceptions.

The message from the researchers, Senay observed, is that, if your activity profile doesn't match that of people like these, vitamin C won't keep colds away.

But, she emphasized, this doesn't mean vitamin C is useless, not by a long shot.

According to the National Institutes of Health, vitamin C has several important benefits. Preventing colds just isn't one of them. Vitamin C is an important building block for the growth and repair of tissues throughout your body, including skin, tendons, ligaments and blood vessels. If you suffer an injury, vitamin C is a vital part of the healing process. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant, which means it's believed to help prevent or minimize conditions that include cancer, heart disease, and inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. So, even if it doesn't fight colds, you do need a certain amount of it daily for other aspects of your health.

For adult males, the recommended amount is 90 milligrams per day. For women, it's 75 milligrams. Citrus fruits and juices, strawberries and broccoli are among the many foods that are rich in vitamin C.

So, where does this research leave us in the fight against the common cold?

It makes us look toward other methods, aside from vitamin C, Senay concluded. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the best bit of cold prevention involves not taking a pill, but doing simple, if boring, things such as washing your hands, thoroughly and often.

Until a magic pill is found, keeping your hands clean, and not sharing items such as drinking cups and utensils with someone who has a cold, are still considered the most practical ways to avoid getting sick.

[salty1954]

Most doctors are ignorant about the benefits of suppliments. The public has to take responsibility for our own health. The authors of this story could be on the payroll of the big drug companies - that's usually the way misinformation gets spread about.

[Syndicate]

Without Vitamin C your body will literaly fall apart. Its called scurvy.

[xavia1-2009]

Did they try whole food vitamin C so their bodies could fully utilize and absorb it? Or did they just try some crappy old absorbic acid made in a lab.

[kamwest]

If you get all the information on this study you will note they are talking about a 200mg daily dose. The average person that supplements in additional C takes 1000-2000mg per day.

I am in the natural health care industry and I always see skewed studies mostly sponsored by drug companies. I most cases the studies take place at an obscure University in a foreign country.

Ever notice that whenever we have a study talking about the benefits of vitamins someone else tries to step on it with another obscure study.

I once read a study on Vitamin E and the company that sponsored the study used their own Vitamin E which was a synthetic derivative. Common sense tells you to use a full spectrum natural source. I had to do a lot of research to find out which vitamin E was tested.

Additionally this study means nothing if they did not combine Vitamin C with bioflavanoids which a present naturally in oranges and in any good vitamin C supplement.

Folks, do not be mislead, the medical system wants to push you to a life time of drugs and anything that interferes with the profit line of these companies cannot possibly be good. Right????

[steeepe]

Vitamin C has many health benefits, and most elderly Americans do not consume even the meager RDA, according to recent epidemiological studies. Vitamin C lowers blood pressure in mildly hypertensive people, relaxes arteries (a benefit to people with atherosclerosis), lowers lead levels in blood, reduces the risk of some cancers, and lowers the risk of heart disease (Harvard meta-analysis of almost 300,000 people followed for 10 years). High-dose (2,000 mg), but not low-dose, vitamin C lowers histamine levels in blood by about 50%, which may explain why benefits in colds and allergies are usually observed with high doses. It's a risk-benefit analysis, and vitamin C is very safe for most people. If you find a personal benefit, you don't need studies to confirm that.

[drinuk]

I'm so pleased that the majority of the postings on this report are treating it with serious doubt, they should because it is yet more nonsense from Big Pharma. They are trying to have any natural treatment which they cannot obtain a patent on trashed. I'm getting real annoyed with these people and the media in general who fully support their bogus junk reports. The answer to their lies is to let them keep spending fortunes on the lobby then, Totally ignore both them and the media whose stocks they own and use to get this fiction publicised. A 1000mg a day of Vitamin C will in the long term hurt the cancer industry, go buy some.

[germanmom]

Maybe it depends on the person. Vitamins and especially vitamin C, have made a huge difference in my health and well-being. You really do need to take responsibility for your own health.

[erasmus6]

I am going to take this opportunity to say something about vitamins in general.

When my children were little, I found out that there were quite a few parents that allowed their children to take MORE than one vitamin pill a day. They were the kind of vitamins that were fruity flavored and I think they thought that they were harmless. They ate them like they were candy, for heavens sake.

Vitamins are NOT harmless. Vitamin C is water soluable so is not as bad, but there are other vitamins like A, D and also iron that are not water soluable and are very toxic if you go over the recommended dose. If you were to give your child 2 vitamins that would be way too much vitamin A and D.

People need to start reading the instructions on the labels, they are there for a reason.

[tucano2]

Pseudo-science again - remember they are talking about 200 milligrams of vitamin C daily..thats two HUNDRED not the two THOUSAND generally used as a benchmark!. Another phoney so-called "clinical test".

[mrhoppy-2009]

Lyme disease was first used as a biological warfare agent by Japan during WWII because it presents differently in different people. There is no cure for Lime Disease which goes by many names: Spondalitus, Reactive Arthritus, Reumitiod Arthritus, Multiple Sclrosis, Althimers Disease, etc. It seems that all of these diseases may have the same cause - a spirkeet that gets into the blood .

I was able to cure myself using a pyrental Pamote dewormer, 4 grams of vitimin C and 4 grams of salt per day.

I was blow away how blemishes in my skin that had been there for years even went away.

No wonder there is a fake attack on vitimins. Our medical system and the FDA are an organized crime syndicate. Check into the cure for ulser if you don't believe me. They proved they will kill you for money with that one.

Here is a good primer.
http://driskillfan.tripod.com/stomach-ulser/

[tbweb]

When I keep Vitamin C in my system during cold season I never get a cold and when I forget and miss a day taking Vitamin C I do get a cold that takes weeks to go away. I'm speaking on years of proof. Maybe Vitamin C does not work for most but it works for me and I will continue to keep it in my system during cold season! A lot of my friends report the same results.

[tbweb]

I would like to add that the 'trick' with Vitamin C is that it already has to be in you system for it to prevent Colds! Take 1 a day during cold season and you won't get a Cold! I will agree that trying to take Vitamin C once a Cold starts or taking it after you have Cold has little effect, that part is true!

[drinuk]

seandgreen, The very fact that you are still with us may have something to do with you taking a 1000mg a day. Check out the Study by McGill Uni in Toronto regarding the Vitamin C / Cancer study and the successful trials, albeit that they were intravenous. What don't you understand about the criminal activity of Big Pharma and their desire to totally eliminate all cheap natural preventative medicine, wholly supported by the FDA and the media whose stock Big Pharma holds in abundance. Check out their lobby of the UN regarding Codex, believe me if medicine is expensive now it will be totally beyond all but the very rich if that goes through. Wake up, open your eyes "To Thine Own Self Be True" or are you a paid infiltrator of postings like this one.

[gaye5]

The article said..the lead researcher concludes it "doesn't make sense to take vitamin C 365 days a year to lessen the chance of catching a cold." ...

Of course small amounts of vitamin C will not do a thing especially every day 200 milligrams of Vitamin C each day is a pathetic amount when you are sick, you might as well lick a peice of paper for all the good it will do you.
Two-time Nobel prize winner, Dr. Linus Pauling was the first to realize vitamin C's crucial importance in the maintenance of a healthy immune system. In 1970 he proposed that regular intake of vitamin-C in amounts far higher than the officially sanctioned RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) could help prevent and shorten the duration of the common cold.
Many experts are now realizing that the RDA of 60 mg/day is far too low to provide for optimum health and protection against disease. They found that a minimum intake of 1000 mg/day was required to completely saturate the blood plasma with vitamin C. They also found that vitamin C should be taken in divided doses throughout the day as urinary excretion increases rapidly when individual doses exceed 500 mg. While 200 mg/day of vitamin C may be sufficient to maintain a reasonable health status in healthy, young men, it is clear that such a relatively low intake is far from adequate for older and sick people.

[drinuk]

seandgreen, Please go read Warburg who was awarded the Nobel prize for medicine in 1931. He made the mistake of stating that cancer could be cured cheaply and quite quickly, that of course is a kick in the pants of Big Pharma and their Cancer Industry who during the last 75 years since his discovery have successfully made it expensive and long term.
I fully agree with you regarding Multi Level scammers and the likes of Noni juice. I also understand that you are subject to protocol and that you are doing your best from what you understand, However I would ask that you take seriously the fact that there is a great deal of sinister activity surrounding the incestuous relationship between Big Pharma, the FDA and Congress. Please, I beg you have an open mind and take a look. There is a very good example on a 90 minute video on Google Video called "The Ugly Truth About Vaccines" On the same page you will find one from a bunch of Australian Doctors too.

I do not wish to offend or to undermine your credentials, I simply ask for a open mind.

[gaye5]

The article above says researches, where is the references to the research, how do we know that they are qualified researches... I have researched it also, so am I a researcher, of course not, I am not qualified. There are many researcher and Many studies which have shown that Vitamin C is quite effective in treating and preventing colds, however the medical profession and pharmaceutical companies are not very interested, there is not money in curing people..
But the Lancet did say..
Vitamin C is essential for the proper metabolism of cholesterol. (Lancet, Jun 17, 1972, p.1335)

[gaye5]

drinuk you are dead right. I know of people who have been given up by Dr's and are now leading a normal life. I also agree that there are many scams out there both in the medical profession and health line..
I don't know how trueful it is but look up " The pharmaceutical Racket".

Great strides have been made in medicine but like you drinuk I do not trust immunization
I cant remember so many children with cancers, and such sickness when I was nursing. In our school we only had one child with asthma, and now when my husband takes the children on camp, over half the class lines up for their tablets and asthma sprays. One in five children in the USA has a chronic illness. The figure has trebled in the last 20 years, About 300,000 U.S. children have been diagnosed with autism, this is frightening, and no one does anything about it, is it because it is tooo much money that would be lost by you know who....hmmm, and yes there are many reasons not just one...
When we get someone who is willing to stand up and be counted we might find why suddenly so many children so called ADD, Autism, etc.. You cant tell me that anti freeze, formaldehyde, mercury, Aluminum, etc, These vaccines are grown and strained through animal or human tissues like monkey kidney tissue, chicken embryo, embryonicguinea pig cells, calf serum, human diploid cells
(the dissected organs of aborted fetuses as in the case of rubella, hepatitis A, and chickenpox vaccines) etc, and they say that our children are safe.

[gaye5]

sorry, I meant type for you to look up

"The Pharmaceutical Drug racket"

Bit scary if true..
The medical profession says that if someone gets better from natural herbs etc that it is all in the mind, but couldn't it be the same with drugs..Drugs have only been around for a relatively short time but the natural has been there for ever being tested by trillions of people as to what works and what doesn't, and who cares as long as they get better. However as we were given vegetables fruit etc to eat for our health, I feel that the natural medicines are pretty spot on, and drugs are only as a last resort.
I am 62 and have just had that horrible flu, I had nursed all my grandchildren, their parents and then my husband for a few days before I eventually got it. I was over it within a couple of days and still had to continue to nurse my family who only got over it a few days after me. Couldn't be the huge doses of vitamin C that I took and a few other natural products eh.. No of course not..

However, we must keep in mind that millions of lives have also been saved because of drugs.

[erasmus6]

I live in Canada and some say that Vitamin C works for colds and some say it doesn't. It helps build up your immune system so if you are taking it everyday BEFORE you get a cold, it would probably help. But if you start taking it when you get a cold, I doubt it.

But what does apparently work is echanacea?(not sure of spelling),also zinc. These of course are things you shouldn't take everyday but maybe the first moment you suspect you are getting a cold or say maybe if you were around someone who had a cold, you could start taking it for a week to see if you could avoid it.

[gaye5]

seandgreen , exactly Sean, that is what I was getting at.. anyone can say RESEARCHERS, but what researchers.. as I said, I can come up with many researchers who say the opposite... and along the way I could make up a few as well and no one would know...

[gaye5]

seandgreen, in having said that, I use many supplements myself but at the same time I do agree with you that one has to be careful about some of the suppliers and their motives.. just as I feel that we have to be careful about drugs and drug companies.. I have a wealth of articles from the Lancet etc on failed drugs after they have killed or damaged hundreds of people..
I feel that if you can find a genuine person and are not almost dead that I would rather take the risk of natural products which have had centuries of testing.
From What I am reading it appears that most of the drug experiments are only done on unsuspecting people anyway, and it is not until many have died that they know if it is any good.

[drinuk]

Seandgreen, It would seem that the Warburg research has been opened up, according to WDDTY, and I have to disagree with regard to Big Pharma not being around in the thirties....That is the period in which the Rockefeller Institute were developing their model for today.

Change is coming and sooner than we think.