Taking vitamin C every day to try to prevent colds won’t protect most people from colds. It only slightly shortens the amount of time that they’re ill. Starting to take vitamin C once you already have cold symptoms won’t have any effect on your cold.
You need a certain amount of vitamin C to stay healthy and well, and most people get enough in their daily diet. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) can be found in fruits and vegetables, and citrus fruits and berries have especially high levels of vitamin C.
Regular vitamin C supplements had several benefits, including:
- Reduced cold severity: They reduced the symptoms of a cold, making it less severe.
- Reduced cold duration: Supplements decreased recovery time by 8% in adults and 14% in children, on average.
Vitamin C doesn’t appear to prevent colds or do much when it comes to reducing cold symptoms. However, it still plays an important role in your health. It helps with cell protection, absorption of iron, immune system functioning, and producing collagen, which helps heal wounds.
Most people should get vitamin C from their diets, not over-the-counter supplements or products like Emergent-C and Airborne. But some groups may be at an increased risk of not getting enough, including smokers, people with limited food variety, and people with certain chronic diseases or absorption issues.
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