Vitamin C, Echinacea may not ward off the common cold: study

At the first sign of the sniffles, are you tearing open a fizzy packet of Emergen-C?  Or drinking steaming cup after cup of echinacea tea?

All that vitamin C and herbal supplementing may not be doing you any good when it comes to fighting a cold.

But it depends who you ask.Dr. Seth Feltheimer of New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Medical Center told the Daily News there have been no consistently positive studies for Vitamin C or echinacea.

"As much as I would like to say they would work, I can't."Echinacea offers cold comfort when it comes to preventing sneezes and sniffles. In fact, the herbal remedy touted as a way to prevent colds had only "minimal effects," according to a study from the American College of Physicians.

The echinacea tablets did not reduce the severity of cold symptoms and only shortened the duration of the cough by seven to 20 hours - a "statistically insignificant result," according to the researchers.

The study concluded that in most instances, popping echinacea was not "worthwhile."

But Joy Lindquist, the wellness coordinator of Long Island College Hospital’s cancer center, says vitamin C and echinacea work if taken at the very first sign of a cold.

"The reason they don’t work in some people is that they are rundown," she says. "If you have a poor diet and aren’t taking care of yourself and getting enough rest, don't expect it to work."

Lindquist recommends six to eight echinacea tablets per day, along with 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C. She does not
ecommend megadoses of C. "You can only absorb so much," Lindquist says. "And if you take too much, it gives you

the runs."

Lenox Hill Hospital ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. Jordan S. Josephson believes taking vitamins can help reduce a

cold's severity but says the jury is still out on whether they’re effective. "More in depth studies are needed," he says.

His remedy for preventing a cold is prevention: eat right, get plenty of sleep, and take a multivitamin.

"In this season especially, it is important to stay well rested," Josephson says. "It’s also important to stay well hydrated so drink a lot of water."As for the alcohol you may feel is practically a God-given right at holiday time? "Alcohol is very dehydrating," Josephson says.One other supplement to try? Zinc, advises Feltheimer.

"There may be some evidence that zinc tablets can shorten the duration of a cold," he says. "But the zinc tablets taste terrible and can cause diarrhea, nausea and flatulence."
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