There’s never a good time to catch a cold or come down with the flu, but you don’t have to take it lying down. So what should you do? Take high doses of vitamin C? Suck on some zinc lozenges? Or do you stick to Mom’s old-fashioned remedies: bowls of chicken soup, hot tea, and menthol rubs to fight off those bugs the best you can?
Some dietary supplements may help shorten the duration and/or reduce the severity of symptoms if taken at the onset of a cold or the flu. Many of these need to be taken within 24 hours of onset in order to be effective.
Zinc. Zinc has been shown to shorten the length of a cold and lessen the symptoms, as long as it’s taken within 24 hours of the cold’s onset. Too much zinc can be toxic.
Vitamin C. This popular vitamin may help to reduce the length of a cold, but not as much as you think.
Probiotics. Dietary supplements containing the beneficial bacteria lactobacilli and bifidobacteria have been shown to reduce the duration of the common cold by almost 2 days.
Finally, the Old Standby: There’s nothing wrong with going back to basics and doing what your mom probably advised when you were getting sick: Get plenty of rest and have a bowl of chicken soup.
She may have been right: According to new research, chicken soup may have some medicinal qualities after all. Some ingredients in traditional chicken soup seem to have an anti-inflammatory effect, helping to alleviate the symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections. So if you’ve come down with a cold and there’s nothing more to be done, go ahead and slurp up a bowl. And tell your mom thanks for the advice.
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