Vitamin C prevents colds
| Vitamin C prevents colds | |
|---|---|
| MISLEADING | |
| "Taking large daily doses of vitamin C prevents the common cold." | |
| Domain | Food, Nutrition & Wellness |
| Tactic | Pseudoscience / Junk Science Statistical & Evidentiary Distortion |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 1970 |
| Origin | Nobel laureate Linus Pauling's 1970 book Vitamin C and the Common Cold |
| Last reviewed | 2026-10-29 |
| Further reading: books on Food, Nutrition & Wellness | |
The belief that vitamin C prevents colds was made famous by chemist Linus Pauling, winner of two Nobel Prizes, who recommended very large doses. Large reviews of controlled trials have found that regular vitamin C supplements do not reduce how often people in the general population catch colds, though they may shorten colds slightly.
The claim
Supplements and fizzy tablets are marketed for cold prevention.
What the evidence shows
- Cochrane review. A 2013 review of trials found no reduction in cold incidence in the general population.
- Slightly shorter colds. Regular supplementation was linked to colds about 8 percent shorter in adults.
- Exception. People under heavy physical stress, such as marathon runners and soldiers in extreme cold, had about half the risk.
- After symptoms start. Taking vitamin C after a cold begins showed no consistent benefit.
Sources
- Harri Hemilä and Elizabeth Chalker, "Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold," Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2013).
- Linus Pauling, Vitamin C and the Common Cold (W. H. Freeman, 1970).