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Suffering from common cold? Take larger doses of Vitamin C, which may significantly help in reducing the duration of the viral infection, a study shows.
The findings showed that people who consumed six-eight grams of Vitamin C per day during their cold helped them reduce its duration.
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Vitamin C administration does not decrease the average incidence of colds in the general population, yet it halved the number of colds in physically active people, the researchers said.
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"Given the consistent effect of Vitamin C on the duration of colds, and its safety and low cost, it would be worthwhile for individual common cold patients to test whether therapeutic eight gram per day Vitamin C is beneficial for them," said Harri Hemila from the University of Helsinki, Finland.
"Self-dosing of Vitamin C must be started as soon as possible after the onset of common cold symptoms to be most effective." Hemila added, in the paper published in the journal Nutrients.
Vitamin C is also rich in food such as bell peppers, dark leafy greens, kiwi fruit, broccoli, berries, citrus fruits, tomatoes, peas, and papayas.
Various animal studies have found that Vitamin C significantly prevents and alleviates infections caused by diverse bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.
However, the practical importance of Vitamin C in human infections was not yet known.
For the study, the team analysed two randomised trials which investigated the effects of two Vitamin C doses on the duration of the common cold.
The results showed that people who had six gram per day dose of Vitamin C shortened the duration of cold by 17 per cent, while the eight gram per day dose shortened the duration of cold by 19 per cent.
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