Vitamin C 'useless' against colds: here's the evidence and what's good for winter instead
It is a powerful anti-oxidant, an essential cofactor in many enzymatic reactions, protects cells from pollution, facilitates iron absorption and is even a beauty ally but does not prevent or cure seasonal ills
It is a hard blow to accept, but the stark truth is that vitamin C does not prevent colds, nor does it help you get over them. And so those hectolitres of orange juice that caring hands have been offering us all our lives ('drink up so you don't catch a cold') or those handfuls of supplements that many of us swallow at breakfast with our tea or cappuccino, alas, are of little or no use in eradicating the odious viruses.
Although this in no way detracts from the fact that vitamin C remains an essential nutrient (man is unable to synthesise it): it is a powerful anti-oxidant, an essential cofactor in many enzymatic reactions, it protects cells from the effects of toxins or pollutants, it facilitates the absorption of iron and is even an ally of beauty and healthy ageing, because it boosts the production of collagen, in the skin as well as in the joints.
A myth to dispel
But all this scientific evidence pales in comparison to the myth of the 'anti-cold sore vitamin C' that has held sway for over half a century.The fault of the man who helped build the myth, the legendary Linus Pauling, Nobel Prize winner squared (in 1954 for Chemistry and in 1962 for Peace, as an activist against nuclear testing) and author of the best and longest selling Vitamin C and the Common Cold (1970). It was he who came up with the story that taking high-dose vitamin C (even over 2 grams a day) could protect against colds, but also against tumours, HIV and cardiovascular diseases. In short, a panacea in pill form
A legacy still carried on today by the Linus Pauling Institute of the University of Oregon (USA), which, however, in the face of current scientific evidence, must admit that while vitamin C may offer some cardiovascular benefits, it is definitely not able to prevent cancers or colds. Not to mention the fact that dosages of vitamin C in excess of 1 gram per day expose susceptible individuals to the risk of calcium oxalate kidney stones.
The first creaks
The debunking of the vitamin C myth began with the publication of a 2013 Cochrane review, which put together 29 studies of more than 11,000 adults and children to answer the question of whether taking at least 200 mg of vitamin C per day could prevent colds and/or alleviate symptoms. The response left no room for doubt: it is impossible to prevent colds by taking vitamin C supplements; at most it can help shorten symptoms a little (10 to 9 days, but with many doubts) if one has been taking it for some time.
If you really want to harness the power of vitamins to protect yourself from colds and various infectious diseases, you have to move on to the next letter in the alphabet, vitamin D, which increasingly appears as a champion of a 'fit' immune system. And since from autumn to spring one cannot rely on the synthesis associated with sun exposure, having to choose a 'winter' anti-cold vitamin ally, vitamin D makes more sense than C.
