Your Nutritional and Vitamin Supplement Information Resource

posted by Ronald on Mar 23

This seems like one of the toughest cold and flu seasons yet.  Many of the people I know (including myself) got some type of bug this season and it seemed that whatever was going around lasted longer and had more severe effects on our bodies.  I’m careful to try and separate observation from scientific study because when we generalize for the few people we know and extrapolate that to the general population we may get a false impression of what is really happening. 

That’s not to say when many of the people you personally know are getting laid off, or are cutting back on going to restaurants, or are having trouble paying the mortgage that it is not a wide-spread problem.  Since the numbers on this year’s cold and flu season will not be published for awhile, I wanted to go back and take a look at a bit of the science that is out there on colds and flu.  Here’s a bit of research from the 1990’s that appears still valid on preventing or treating a cold or the flu.

Vitamin C for Colds & Flu

This study indicates that mega dose vitamin C therapy can help prevent as well as therapeutically treat the symptoms of cold and flu.

Doctors Gorton and Jarvis of Utah, USA, conducted a controlled study to investigate the effect of mega dose vitamin C in preventing and relieving cold and flu symptoms.

The investigators tracked the number of reports of cold and flu symptoms for 1991 and compared the results with reports of like symptoms for 1990.

A total of 715 students ages 18 to 32 years were divided into 2 groups.

The test group involved 252 students. When the test group presented with symptoms, they were treated with hourly doses of 1000mg of vitamin C for the first 6 hours and then 3 times daily thereafter. Those not presenting with any symptoms were given 1000mg dose of vitamin C 3 times a day.

The control group included 463 students. When they presented with symptoms, they were treated with pain relievers and decongestants.

HERE’s the IMPORTANT PART:  The results of this study found that of the flu and cold symptoms in the test group decreased by 85% compared to the control group.

Vitamin C in mega doses administered before or after the appearance of cold and flu symptoms relieved and prevented the symptoms in the test group.

The authors also mention that, “for more than 30 years vitamin C in mega-dose quantities has been recognized as an effective agent against colds and flu. Nobel laureate Linus Pauling was an early advocate of the treatment of colds and flu with vitamin C”.

References
Gorton,HC and Jarvis,K. The effectiveness of vitamin C in preventing and relieving the symptoms of virus-induced respiratory infections. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. 1999;22(8):530-3

For more information on how nutrition can play a role in fighting and preventing disease, including helping you fight a cold or the flu, visit the Health and Wellness Articles library.  The library contains a number of health, wellness and nutrition articles in easy-to-read formats.