Because it infects adults between two and four times per year, the guilty virus has earned its name as the common cold.
What to do?
- Decongestants and antihistamines may relieve its miserable symptoms including fever, sore throat and stuffy noses.
- Zinc and vitamin C have shown some benefit.
- Of course, antibacterials are useless because colds are caused by viruses, not bacteria.
Could probiotics help?
One survey conducted in Canada evaluated probiotic use in six trials involving over 1700 adults. The results which appeared in Canadian Family Physician Journal revealed that only one trial showed that taking probiotics for at least three months lessened symptoms of the common cold.
And yet another study from Germany found that a probiotic supplement plus vitamins and minerals taken for a minimum of three months may reduce the incidence and the severity of symptoms in common cold infections.
Older people are particularly vulnerable.
In a study from Italy , a group of elderly people received fermented milk and a strain of L. casei for three weeks.
Results? The colds still came but didn’t last as long.
Shorter colds–that’s something we can all warm to.