With conflicting information that’s cropped up over the years, I wanted to make sure I put the unvarnished truth in front of you when it comes to vitamin C. I want you to enjoy the cooler weather without the illnesses that often come with it.
MYTH
Vitamin C doesn’t help with colds.
FACT
Whole food vitamin C is hugely beneficial when it comes to helping prevent or hasten that cold away.
People have been taking Vitamin C supplements for years. When a cold strikes, Vitamin C is usually the first form of ammunition individuals turn to, and it is truly an excellent tactic. It’s been studied for decades with dual focus on both treatment and prevention of colds. Yes, there have been conflicting results but the explanation is simple: studies that used synthetic forms of vitamin C produced negative results, and those that studied whole food forms produced overwhelmingly positive results. Want a little more proof? Oranges typically ripen just in time for cold and flu season. Nature provides the foods we should eat at different times to keep us healthy.
Research shows active people supplementing vitamin C, can expect to cut the risk of getting a cold in half. Based on the meta-analysis of studies on this subject, supplemental vitamin C is able to reduce the duration of a cold by 8-14% in any population, when it is taken as a daily preventative measure, or at the beginning of a cold.
(image from blogs.uwhealth.org)