University of Kentucky

How Well Are We Educating Children and Young Adults of Kentucky the Importance of Healthy Eating for a Healthy Body?:Vitamin C, Zinc Supplementation, and the Common Cold – Does It Really Help?

Presenter Information

Diana Severn, University of Kentucky

Institution

University of Kentucky

Abstract

The common cold afflicts Kentuckians of all ages and results in frequent absences from school and work. It is now known that diet may play a role in the prevention and/or treatment of the cold. The purpose of this study was to examine whether intake of vitamin C and zinc is associated with a reduction in length and severity of cold symptoms while consumed during a cold episode. A survey was administered to 270 undergraduate students from a Human Nutrition and Wellness class at the University of Kentucky. The average number of colds reported per year was 2.7 and the average length of a cold episode was 5.8 days. A total of 127 subjects consumed a vitamin C supplement and 9 subjects consumed a zinc supplement when they felt the oncoming of a cold. Of the total, 42% noticed a decrease in the duration of their cold episode and 41% reported a reduction in symptom severity when taking a vitamin C supplement. With additional zinc, 44% detected a reduction in the duration of their episode, though 44% detected only a slight reduction in symptom severity. Subjects who consumed a regular diet rich in zinc experienced the least amount of annual cold episodes with an average of 2.4 episodes compared with subjects who consume a diet rich in neither vitamin C nor zinc whom experienced an average of 3.2 episodes. Subjects who consumed a daily multivitamin experienced less colds (2.4 episodes) than subjects who do not consume any multivitamin (2.9 episodes). These results provide further evidence that diet is important in the prevention and treatment of the common cold.

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How Well Are We Educating Children and Young Adults of Kentucky the Importance of Healthy Eating for a Healthy Body?:Vitamin C, Zinc Supplementation, and the Common Cold – Does It Really Help?

The common cold afflicts Kentuckians of all ages and results in frequent absences from school and work. It is now known that diet may play a role in the prevention and/or treatment of the cold. The purpose of this study was to examine whether intake of vitamin C and zinc is associated with a reduction in length and severity of cold symptoms while consumed during a cold episode. A survey was administered to 270 undergraduate students from a Human Nutrition and Wellness class at the University of Kentucky. The average number of colds reported per year was 2.7 and the average length of a cold episode was 5.8 days. A total of 127 subjects consumed a vitamin C supplement and 9 subjects consumed a zinc supplement when they felt the oncoming of a cold. Of the total, 42% noticed a decrease in the duration of their cold episode and 41% reported a reduction in symptom severity when taking a vitamin C supplement. With additional zinc, 44% detected a reduction in the duration of their episode, though 44% detected only a slight reduction in symptom severity. Subjects who consumed a regular diet rich in zinc experienced the least amount of annual cold episodes with an average of 2.4 episodes compared with subjects who consume a diet rich in neither vitamin C nor zinc whom experienced an average of 3.2 episodes. Subjects who consumed a daily multivitamin experienced less colds (2.4 episodes) than subjects who do not consume any multivitamin (2.9 episodes). These results provide further evidence that diet is important in the prevention and treatment of the common cold.