When you feel a cold coming on, you can reach for a packet of vitamin C in the hope of saving yourself from colds.
But experts say there is little to no evidence that this nutrient protects against disease or reduces the duration of illness.
While a packet of Emergen-C or a tablet of Airborne won’t hurt you, doctors say you’ll probably urinate more of the vitamin than you can use and your money would be better spent on something else.
Emergen-C and similar brands like Airborne do not directly claim to fight colds and other viruses. Instead, they say they support the immune system.
According to the USDA, one orange contains about 51 mg of vitamin C, almost all the FDA recommends per day. Other sources of this nutrient include kiwi, pineapple, broccoli, chili peppers, and winter squash.
Heather Mangieri, Pennsylvania-based nutritionist, he told Vox: “There is a lot of misinformation about vitamin C because it is safe.”
It is a crucial nutrient for cell growth, tissue repair, and maintaining healthy skin, tendons, and blood vessels, according to Mount Sinai. Its deficiency can cause nosebleeds, skin problems and easy bruising.
But although it is an important part of a balanced diet, it is not a panacea for everyone.
TikTok Health Expert, Microbiologist Wes said: “With cold and flu season approaching, I feel it is my civic responsibility as a microbiologist to make sure everyone knows that supplements like Emergen-C and Airborne are not effective at preventing or treating colds at all.”
The “myth” that vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, can reduce the duration of a cold comes from Linus Pauling, a scientist born in 1901, Wes said.
Dr. Pauling was an influential biochemist and two-time Nobel Prize winner.
In 1960, Dr. Pauling received a letter recommending that he take a vitamin C supplement to prolong his life – and he did, reportedly taking up to 18,000 mg per day – exponentially more than the FDA’s recommended daily allowance of 75 to 90. mg.
He then published a book encouraging others to consume at least 3,000 mg of vitamin C daily, claiming it could prolong life, cure the common cold, and even cure snake bites.
But leading scientists now disagree.
For example, the FDA recommends that women consume 75 mg of vitamin C per day and men consume 90 mg of vitamin C per day, about the amount contained in one orange. according to the mayo clinic.
Both Airborne and Emergen-C say their packages contain 1,000 mg of vitamin C, 11 to 13 times more than the amount you need daily in a healthy diet.
A review from 2013 of the Cochrane Library said the use of ascorbic acid for the common cold has been a “topic of controversy” for 70 years.
Reviewing 29 studies that included more than 11,000 people, researchers concluded that taking supplements did nothing to reduce the chance of getting a cold or the length of time someone was sick with it.
Dr. Pauling won two different Nobel Prizes: one for chemistry and one for peace. He remained a staunch advocate of the benefits of vitamin C until his death in 1994, aged 93.
Dr. Stuart Fischer, an internal medicine doctor in New York City, told DailyMail.com that there are several over-the-counter alternatives (and natural remedies) that can help fight the cold.
A review from 2016 at Creighton University found that when someone was seriously ill, taking vitamin C could slightly relieve symptoms, but it was not consistent.
Additionally, Creighton doctors wrote that the needed amount would best be obtained from food, not supplements.
It’s not dangerous to take more than the recommended dose of vitamin C, but it’s also not necessary to stay healthy, said Dr. Richard Lockey, a Florida immunologist. he told Forbes.
When you take more vitamin than you need, your body processes it like other liquid waste and it ends up in the toilet.
Dr Lockey said: ‘Could vitamin C be harmful if taken? No. It is a water-soluble vitamin, and water-soluble vitamins are not stored in the body like fat-soluble vitamins are.’
Then you could be losing money, said Kirstin Vollrath, a dietician and professor at the University of Houston. Professor Vollrath he told Business Insider These products just happen to be “very expensive pee.”
A 60-pack of Emergen-C sells for $22 online and a 30-pack of Airborne tablets sells for $17 online.
Dr. Stuart Fischer, an internal medicine doctor in New York City, previously told DailyMail.com that there were several natural and over-the-counter remedies that can help fight a cold, including the old recommendation of chicken soup.
When it comes to preventing disease, one of the best things to take, according to Dr. Fischer, is probiotics.
He said: ‘My particular way of preventing colds is probiotics. I don’t think anyone can consume too many probiotics. I take 25 billion units of probiotics every morning.
‘And this to me is what people mean when they say they have a good immune system. It’s not something inherent to their chemistry, but rather they are living good bacteria that outcompete the bad negative bacteria.’
In the end, Dr. Fischer emphasized that people who have a cold should rest and drink fluids with electrolytes to replace the fluid they lose through sweat, which can occur when someone has a fever.