1. Zinc. The mineral zinc, available in lozenges, nasal sprays, and gels, may work by blocking the formation of proteins used an everyday cold virus to reproduce.

Although all the hoopla about zinc for treatment of an everyday cold, scientific studies are scarce. It’s said that only 14 published studies that looked at zinc the scientific way, with both placebo and treatment groups. They say zinc lozenges, don’t work. One well-designed study said there was a positive effect on treating an everyday cold with zinc nasal gel. But the study results have not yet been replicated.

2. Vitamin C. For lots of years, supporters of vitamin C have said using this vitamin supplement can end a cold. The belief is partially triggered by scientific studies that find vitamin C affects resistance to virus in animal research.

But in people? Experts disagree on this slightly but lean toward the negative. Some say vitamin C has not been proven to lessen the length of an everyday cold. One 2007 scientific study showed that if vitamin C is taken after a cold starts, it doesn’t lessen the cold or make it less severe. But when it is taken daily as a preventive treatment, not just after that first cough, it can very slightly lessen cold duration, by about 8% in adults and by about 14% in children.

Very athletic people, marathon runners, for instance, might cut their risk of an everyday cold in half by taking the vitamin, the study also showed.

But Dr. Gwaltney doesn’t see it that way. The weight of scientific evidence and the well-done research indicate vitamin C does not prevent colds, says Gwaltney. It may have some mild effect on treating colds.

3. Echinacea. The herbal supplement echinacea, similar Vitamin C, spikes controversy among cold experts. Advocates say it’s an immune builder with antiviral characteristics and other benefits, so it’s good at preventing colds. However, two recent studies on the natural remedy have yielded conflicting conclusions. In one 2007 scientific study, University of Connecticut scientists came to the conclusion that echinacea reduces the odds of developing an everyday cold by 58% and reduces its duration by 1.4 days. But a previous study, conducted by Gwaltney’s colleagues at the University of Virginia and published in 2005 in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed no benefit from the herb in either reducing the severity of a cold infection or preventing an everyday cold.

Echinacea drew a “no” vote from our three experts — Gwaltney, Blandino, and Owen Hendley, MD, professor of pediatrics in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Virginia, Charlottesvile.

4. Chicken Soup. Advocates of hot chicken soup, long offered as a cold treatment, say it might help soothe inflammation that can make the symptoms worse.

The issue with proving scientifically that chicken soup is effective, says Gwaltney, is finding a legitimate placebo food to study against it in a scientific manner. We were contacted by a soup corporation to do a study on chicken soup, he explains. We thought we could use another hot fluid for placebo, he says. But it’s got to look, smell, and taste [like chicken soup]. They didn’t find anything that did the job. Gwaltney calls chicken soup “a waste of time.”

That’s despite the well-publicized report published in 2000 in which researchers reported that chicken soup, which they studied in the laboratory, may have an anti-inflammatory effect on easing symptoms of upper respiratory infections. But the report doesn’t prove chicken soup does anything for cold symptoms, Gwaltney says, because it didn’t include a test of people nor include a placebo for comparison.

Even though chicken soup may not actually treat a cold, it can help treat dehydration that can happen when you have an everyday cold or the the common flu.

For the information about immune system boosters and how to help you immune system, please visit this blog.

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