Taking zinc for the common cold

[Sgent]

The Cochrane Collaboration is a very well-respected international non-profit whose 28,000 volunteers review the best, solid evidence to help determine if medications or other health interventions really work. They are, in short, da bomb.

When Cochrane speaks, people listen.

Cochrane recently released a review of studies examining the effectiveness of zinc supplementation on preventing and treating the common cold.


They found that there was good evidence that zinc taken early, during the first symptoms of a cold, can lessen the duration and severity of illness; furthermore, zinc taken daily during cold season can reduce the frequency of these annoying infections.

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/07/zinc-common-cold.html

[provis99]

1. Zinc, schminc.

Want to cure a cold? Wrap raw bacon around your neck!

[just55650]

15. haha

[hlthe2b]

2. I'll stick with green tea, getting enough sleep & a flu shot...

Knock on wood, it has served me well for six years running. And, yes, i drink a lot of green (and white) tea.

But, then again, I do get zinc daily in a multi-vit that has recently become questioned, in terms of necessity, effectiveness. :shrug:

[GKirk]

4. You don't really think

that the flu shot has anything to do with you not getting a cold do you?

[hlthe2b]

8. OF course not... I'm talking preventive steps towards all URTI...

You do know what URTI stands for, right?

[GKirk]

9. Yep n/t

n/t

[gateley]

3. First hand experience. The moment I feel a cold coming on

I start sucking on Cold-Eze like crazy. I still suffer the beginnings for a few days, but if I've been digilent, then all symptoms are GONE! Poof! Not "getting better" but gone! I kept yammering about it to my boss and after about a year he agreed to try it just to shut me up. Couple of days later he said "you know, that candy-medicine works!". :7

[GKirk]

5. Guess what?

Cold-Eze has zinc in it. Maybe you knew that.

[gateley]

11. Yeah - I did -- should have specified it in my rave review! :-) nt

[mopinko]

10. i use it too.

keeps your sinuses dry so you don't get that secondary infection that is what really makes you sick when you have a cold.

[RC]

6. People might try washing their hands or using hand cleaner.

Keep your hands away from you face too.
Prevention works better than trying to deal with it after the fact.

[gateley]

12. Since I started feeding my cat raw food (no lectures, please)

I've almost developed a Howard Hughes obsession with germs/bacteria. My dad was a surgeon and very fastidious, and as I'm scrubbing, rinsing, scrubbing, rinsing, I can see him from the beyond rolling his eyes and going "uh, I think you got it, Mary Ellen." That has REALLY cut down on my colds. There's always somebody around my house who's got a cold, it seems, and I RARELY pick it up and have to go to the Cold-Eze treatment.

[GKirk]

13. What's the connection between

the raw cat food and your new OCD?

[gateley]

14. I'm whack about keeping my hands and every inch of the kitchen

and her dishes bacteria and germ free! The most common problem (and biggest criticism for those who are against raw food for pets) is the bacteria. Granted, a lot of it is stuff that comes in the food itself (like e-coli, but hell, that's been discovered in name-brand canned and dry foods, too), and the bacteria that can occur when you use not-clean-enough dishes and utensils and leave the food out too long. I've gone overboard, I admit.

[Lint Head]

7. No matter what anyone says this has worked for me for several years.

I usually get the store brand version of ColdEze. Anything containing zinc works for me.

A bullet containing zinc doesn't work. Sorry. I couldn't help myself.