It’s cold season and there’s nothing like the common cold to make you feel awful. At this time of year taking precautionary measures to avoid getting sick is something that many of us aim to do. One common supplement people take in an effort to prevent and help treat colds is Vitamin C. I was sent some high does vitamin C from Health 2000 to review. Here’s a bit about the supplement taken from the website. I’ll then look at what the research says about Vitamin C supplements.
What it claims (taken from Health2000 website) :
What does the research say?
Vitamin C won’t prevent colds. But some studies do show that regularly taking Vitamin C before a cold hits can reduce the duration of colds. According to a Cochrane Collaboration review, the duration of colds was reduced by an average of 8% (3% to 12%) in adults and for children, 14% ( 7% to 21%). Basically, if you take vitamin C, you’ll still get colds but they could be shorter.
When looking at the body of evidence, taking Vitamin C when a cold hit didn’t make a difference. The reviewers say that it may be worth while trying Vitamin C supplementation when you get a cold to see if it helps, as it’s low cost and unlikely to be harmful. We all know how awful colds are, and some studies have shown benefit so it can’t hurt to give it a go.
Safety
For the majority of people, Vitamin C supplements are safe to take in the recommended amounts. Vitamin C is water soluble, so it’s not stored in the body and you’ll pee out what you don’t use. High dose vitamin C can give you a bit of an upset stomach though, and the instructions for the enhanced dose level on the package recommend you monitor the dosage with ‘bowel tolerance’.
According to the packaging, high dose vitamin C should be avoided if you have a gastric ulcer or ulcerative colitis. This would be due to the acidic nature of vitamin C.
Dosage of High Dose Vit C :
The recommended dose for adults in this supplement is 1 level teaspoon taken in water 1-2 times a day. 1 teaspoon of Clinicans High Dose Vit C provides 3mg of Vitamin B2, 700mg of Vitamin C from ascorbic acid, and 2850mg from sodium ascorbate.
There’s also a higher dose enhanced instructions for a 7 day period.
Taste:
Mixed in water, the taste of the Vitamin C powder was fairly pleasant. It does contain natural flavours and stevia for sweetener.
Bottom line:
According to the Cochrane review, Vitamin C supplements may help reduce the severity and duration of a cold. They won’t stop you getting them. Before you even look at supplements though, be sure to get your baseline diet full of nourishing foods to support a healthy immune system. Get your vitamin C from fruit and vegetables (which you’ll achieve by getting your 5+ a day with no problem) and if you wish top up with a supplement.
Want to give it a go? It’s available at Health 2000 stores and online for $16.90
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