Is it a myth?
Scientists wanted to discover more about the link between the vitamin and the virus, as there are few studies looking into this. They recorded the amount of the supplement taken by 11,306 people to see if Vitamin C had an impact on their colds. In order to see how our lifestyle could hold the answers to how well the vitamin worked, they also compared activity levels of the various groups. The figures showed that the nutrient had no effect on the rates at which the general public group picked up common colds, showing that the protective effects of Vitamin C could be a myth.
But, a second group of people were helped by the vitamin in that their chances of getting a cold were cut by 50 per cent. In this group, all the participants underwent some form of high intensity physical stress, such as running or skiing regularly. This indicates that Vitamin C could help us avoid colds if we are active in this way.
Should we take it?
Although those in the general public group didn’t see a reduction in their rates of getting common colds, the vitamin did help in another way. The researchers found that taking Vitamin C supplements daily could reduce the length of time colds lasted for, meaning we could recover quicker by taking the supplement, showing that the myth is only a partial one. Just one gram daily doses of the vitamin cut the incidences of colds by eight per cent in adults and 18 per cent in children, so maybe we should still reserve a space for the supplement in our medicine cabinets.