Zinc

I have just the thing for that cold … Zinc

It seems like we have gone through a hundred potential cures for the common cold, and yet nothing seems to work. Here is a scintillating surprise: zinc might, just might help you with your sniffles and stuffiness.

When we first considered the evidence for zinc and colds, using a review that combined the results from eight different studies, zinc did not seem to prevent or shorten colds. A newer review published in 2011 includes almost twice as many studies, and the combined new evidence suggests that zinc could actually improve your cold symptoms and shorten their duration by about a day. The effect is strongest if you start taking zinc within the first twenty-four hours that you experience cold symptoms. Those zealous people rushing to offer you a zinc lozenge may have a point; zinc works best if you use it at the very first sniffle!

Whether zinc can actually prevent you from developing a cold remains an open question. The review provided some evidence that people who took zinc regularly for at least five months (that’s a long-term commitment!) had fewer colds, but these studies were of lower quality than the studies looking at the impact of zinc on cold symptoms. The research quality is such that this will need to be studied more before we have a definitive answer as to whether zinc really prevents colds.

On balance, it is important to know that using those zinc lozenges could also make you feel bad in new ways. Zinc tastes horrible! In a blind taste test, we bet it would come in third after a rotting dead skunk and old gym socks. In fact, zinc lozenges were more likely to make people feel nauseous than they were to improve cold symptoms. People who use zinc lozenges are also more likely to have distorted taste and irritation in their mouths. The zinc might work for your cold, but it could make you prone to puking and not able to taste as well. Hmmm.

In fact, zinc’s terrible taste actually hurts the science in these studies. Since the placebo pill did not taste like a gym sock, the study participants who got the zinc probably knew what they were taking. When people in a study know whether or not they are getting the thing being studied, the results are not as trustworthy.

There is an added zinc-related caution. In studies of zinc nasal gel, the gel improves cold symptoms and shortens colds, but it can permanently damage your sense of smell. Losing your sense of smell (and your sense of taste, which is affected by how well you can smell) is not a good price to pay for shortening your cold! Makers of a zinc nasal gel have actually paid out over $12 million in lawsuits to people with damaged senses of smell.

The bottom line is that zinc might help your cold, but it could also make you feel nauseous and alter your sense of taste. You might think zinc is worth a try, but you should know that zinc’s benefits might not come so easily.