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# Vitamin C plus zinc supplements fight common cold
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/vitamin_c_zinc_common_cold_1018121028/
- Published: 2012-10-18T23:27:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T15:46:39.000Z
- Description: Two small double-blind trials by Bayer researchers gave cold sufferers 1,000 mg of vitamin C plus 10 mg of zinc for five days. Each trial found a nonsignificant 9 to 27 percent shortening of runny nose; pooling the 94 subjects, the combination beat placebo and was well tolerated.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Vitamins, Nutrition, #vivvo-import

By David Liu, PHD

Thursday Oct 18, 2012 ([foodconsumer.org](http://www.foodconsumer.org/)) -- It is amazing that researchers from a major drug company reported two trials in The Journal of International Medical Research that demonstrated that taking vitamin C plus zinc supplements helps relieve the common cold symptoms and reduce the illness duration.

Silvia Maggini at Bayer Consumer Care Ltd in Basel, Switzerland and colleagues presented data from two preliminary, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials in which patients with the common cold were given a combination of 1000 mg vitamin C and 10 mg zinc for five days.

In both trials, the vitamin C plus zinc supplement nonsignificantly reduced rhinorrhoea duration by 9 to 27 percent. In an analysis of combined data from the two trials of 94 subjects, the vitamin C plus zinc supplement reduced rhinorrhoea over a 5-day treatment more effectively than placebo. 

Also, the combined vitamin c and zinc supplement resulted in quicker symptom relief and the product was well tolerated. 

The researchers concluded "In view of the burden associated with the common cold, supplementation with vitamin C plus zinc may represent an efficacious measure, with a good safety profile, against this infectious viral disease."

The common cold, also known as nasopharyngitis, rhinopharyngitis, acute coryza, or a cold is a viral infection that affects the upper respiratory tract, primarily the nose. 

Common cold symptoms include coughing, sore throat, runny nose, and fever which usually resolve without any treatment in seven to ten days, although some symptoms may last up to three weeks.