I’ve heard natural remedies, such as zinc, Echinacea and vitamin C are very effective for treatment of colds. Do they really help?
According to some studies, nasal sprays with zinc do help reduce the duration and severity of the disease, but they are not cures for colds. It’s explainable, as zinc may coat the particles with virus, preventing them from attacking the cells and reducing the symptoms. On the other hand, zinc sprays are considered to be a mere placebo. Echinacea didn’t prove to be efficient either. However, there was an experiment that involved 120 people suffering from cold-like symptoms; some of them took several drops of Echinacea regularly (every two hours) during 10 days and their colds didn’t last as long. Research determined to find out whether vitamin C and colds are connected hasn’t produced any stable results, and as far as we know, vitamin C cannot prevent a cold. However, vitamin C can considerably shorten the period of the illness: this was demonstrated in an experiment where people took eight grams of this vitamin a day, which resulted in their sooner recovery. There are certain things yo
