The Linus Pauling Effect
In the 1970s, Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling published a book called Vitamin C and the Common Cold. He claimed that massive doses of Vitamin C could wipe out colds and even cancer. Because of his fame, the public believed him instantly.
Fifty years later, we are still drinking fizzy orange powder the moment we feel a tickle in our throat. Unfortunately, modern data shows Pauling was wrong.
The Evidence: The Cochrane Review
In 2013, the Cochrane Collaboration—widely considered the gold standard for medical reviews—published a meta-analysis titled "Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold." They aggregated data from 29 placebo-controlled trials involving 11,306 participants.
The Findings:
- Prevention: For the general community, regular supplementation of Vitamin C (1g/day) had no effect on the incidence of colds. You are just as likely to get sick taking it as you are not taking it.
- Duration: Regular supplementation did shorten the duration of colds slightly—by 8% in adults and 14% in children. If your cold lasts 7 days, Vitamin C might save you about 12 hours of misery.
- Therapeutic Use: Taking Vitamin C after symptoms appeared (which is how most people use it) showed no consistent benefit on duration or severity.
Note: The only group that saw significant benefits were extreme physical athletes (marathon runners and skiers), who saw a 50% reduction in cold risk.
The Better Option: Zinc
If Vitamin C is a bust, what works? Zinc. While Vitamin C is an antioxidant, Zinc is a mineral that actively interferes with the replication of rhinoviruses (the bugs that cause colds).
A 2017 meta-analysis found that patients who took Zinc lozenges (specifically zinc acetate or gluconate) within 24 hours of symptom onset saw their cold duration reduced by 33%. That is the difference between being sick for 7 days versus 4.5 days.
The WellFact Protocol
- Prevention: Eat whole fruit. A single Kiwi or Orange provides more than enough Vitamin C for maintenance. Your body urinates out the excess anyway.
- Treatment: Ignore the Vitamin C aisle. Buy Zinc Lozenges. (Look for ones that dissolve slowly in the mouth to coat the throat).
- Hygiene: The most effective cold prevention tool remains washing your hands.