If you reach for the Airborne every time you feel a sore throat coming on, don’t expect to feel better the next day. Recent studies show vitamin C may not be the cure-all people think it is.
The Cochrane Collaboration, a health research organization, reported in May that adults who took at least 2 grams of vitamin C supplements every day only reduced the duration of the common cold by 8 percent and the supplements improved the symptoms of just 5 percent of the study’s subjects.
Caroline Wolfram, a pharmacist at the University Health Center, said she doesn’t give students vitamin C specifically to prevent colds because “it hasn’t been shown to be effective.”
Wolfram said that although she boosts her own vitamin C intake when she has a cold, she doesn’t regularly take large doses. Too much can acidify the urine and can even result in kidney problems, “but you have to take a huge amount for that to happen,” she said.
The use of vitamin C as an immunization supplement became popular after 1970, when a study by Pulitzer Prize-winner Linus Pauling concluded that large doses of vitamin C could ward off colds. Since then, multiple health organizations have conducted their own surveys, with results that contradict Pauling’s findings.
“The research has gone back and forth about vitamin C,” said Jayne Carey, a nurse at the health center’s Nurse Specialty Clinic. “It’s not going to kill a cold, and I don’t know that there’s hard and fast scientific data that proves it will prevent one either.”
Some students, Carey said, regularly come into the health center with colds they weren’t able to relieve with any manner of supplement, including vitamin C, zinc and echinacea.
Still, said Wolfram, it can’t hurt to regularly take a modest amount of vitamin C, especially if you’re deficient.
“You need a basic amount of vitamin C to survive,” said Wolfram. “It boosts your absorption of iron, which keeps you healthy. If you were low on it, you could get sick.”
Vitamin C also promotes the synthesis of collagen, an essential protein that prevents scurvy and mouth diseases.
Wolfram recommended that those who do decide to regularly take supplements not ingest more than 500 milligrams at a time: any more than that, and the body will not absorb it.
If students could do only one thing to stay healthy, though, taking vitamin C would not be it.
“The main thing for any kind of illness prevention is washing your hands,” said Carey.
And don’t cut corners. Spend at least 15 seconds at the sink, use warm water, and always scrub both hands with soap. When you’re done, open the bathroom door with a paper towel, said Carey.
She also emphasized the importance of rest in preventing colds, which is especially crucial for traditionally sleep-deprived college students.
Required amounts of sleep vary from person to person, said Carey, but most know how much they need. “Some find they get by with six, some need nine or 10,” she said.
A healthy, balanced diet is also crucial in maintaining health. Students can’t expect to stay healthy when they eat ramen noodles for dinner every night. Carey recommended “a variety of fruits and vegetables.”
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