Vitamin C and zinc will NOT help you fight Covid – even at high doses – study reveals

Vitamin C and zinc won’t help fight Covid, even at high doses, a study has found.

The results of the test, which looked at the benefits of the two supplements for people who isolated themselves at home with the virus, were so unimpressive that the scientists decided to cancel it altogether.

Although both have been popular in combating other colds and viral flu, they ‘have failed to live up to their hype’, according to an editorial published in the newspaper JAMA Network Open.

Three groups of 214 adults recovering from Covid at home participated in the test, which saw them receiving high doses of vitamin C, high doses of zinc and both.

Meanwhile, a fourth group received fever-reducing drugs and were instructed to rest and hydrate, but did not take any of the supplements.

But the scientists found no evidence of a reduction in Covid’s symptoms in any of the first three groups.

In addition, high doses ended up causing unpleasant side effects for some, including nausea, diarrhea and stomach cramps.

Previous research has found that, as an antioxidant, vitamin C plays a crucial role in supporting the immune system and can reduce colds by 14% in children and 8% in adults.

However, the National Institutes of Health found that it did not seem to be useful if taken after the onset of cold symptoms.

Zinc, in turn, can help cells fight infections, with a deficiency that contributes to decreased antibody production.

A review of 13 studies said that zinc can reduce the duration of a cold by one day if ingested within the first 24 hours after the first signs, but warnings against its use in nasal sprays have been issued after being linked to more than 100 cases of loss of smell.