Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Effect of vitamin C on common cold: randomized controlled trial

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 60, pages 9–17 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To investigate the relationship between the common cold and vitamin C supplementation.

Design:

A double-blind, 5-year randomized controlled trial.

Setting:

A village in Akita prefecture, one of the regions in Japan with the highest mortality from gastric cancer.

Subjects:

Participants in annual screening programs for circulatory diseases conducted under the National Health and Welfare Services Law for the Aged, and diagnosed as having atrophic gastritis. Of the 439 eligible subjects, 144 and 161 were assigned to receive 50 or 500 mg of vitamin C, respectively, after protocol amendment. During the supplementation phase, 61 dropped out, and 244 completed the trial.

Intervention:

Daily vitamin C supplementation of 50 mg (low-dose group) or 500 mg (high-dose group).

Results:

Total number of common colds (per 1000 person-months) was 21.3 and 17.1 for the low- and high-dose groups, respectively. After adjustment for several factors, the relative risks (95% confidence interval (CI)) of suffering from a common cold three or more times during the survey period was 0.34 (0.12–0.97) for the high-dose group. No apparent reduction was seen for the severity and duration of the common cold.

Conclusion:

A randomized, controlled 5-year trial suggests that vitamin C supplementation significantly reduces the frequency of the common cold but had no apparent effect on the duration or severity of the common cold. However, considering several limitations due to protocol amendment, the findings should be interpreted with caution.

Sponsorship:

This study was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid for Cancer Research and for the Second Term Comprehensive 10-Year Strategy for Cancer Control from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 2
Figure 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson TW, Reid DBW, Beaton GH (1972). Vitamin C and the common cold: a double-blind trial. Can Med Assoc J 107, 503–508.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous (1996). Beta Carotene and Vitamin A Halted in Lung Cancer Prevention Trial (press release). Washington, DC: US National Cancer Institute. January 18, 1996.

  • Baird IM, Hughes RE, Wilson HK, Davies JEW, Howard AN (1979). The effects of ascorbic acid and flavonoids on the occurrence of symptoms normally associated with the common cold. Am J Clin Nutr 32, 1686–1690.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Briggs M (1984). Vitamin C and infectious disease: a review of the literature and the results of a randomized, double-blind, prospective study over 8 years. In: Briggs MH (ed.), Recent Vitamin Research. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. 39–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bsoul SA, Terezhalmy GT (2004). Vitamin C in health and disease. J Contemp Dent Pract 5, 1–13.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Charleston SS, Clegg KM (1972). Ascorbic acid and the common cold. Lancet 1, 1401–1402.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clegg KM, Macdonald JM (1975). L-ascorbic acid and D-isoascorbic acid in a common cold survey. Am J Clin Nutr 28, 973–976.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen S, Tyrell DAJ, Russell MAH, Jarvis MJ, Smith AP (1993). Smoking, alcohol consumption, and susceptibility to the common cold. Am J Public Health 83, 1277–1283.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Elwood PC, Lee HP, Leger AS, Baird IM, Howard AN (1976). A randomized controlled trial of vitamin C in the prevention and amelioration of the common cold. Br J Prev Soc Med 30, 193–196.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Glazebrook AJ, Thomson S (1942). The administration of vitamin C in a large institution and its effect on general health and resistance to infection. J Hygiene 42, 1–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goodhart RS, Shils ME (1980). Modern Nutrition In Health and Disease 6th edn. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hemila H (1996). Vitamin C and common cold incidence: a review of studies with subjects under heavy physical stress. Int J Sports Med 17, 379–383.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hemila H (1997). Vitamin C intake and susceptibility to the common cold. Br J Nutr 77, 59–72.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hemila H, Douglas RM (1999). Vitamin C and acute respiratory infections. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis 3, 756–761.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kabuto M, Imai H, Tsugane S, Watanabe S (1993). Correlation between atrophic gastritis prevalence and gastric cancer mortality among middle-aged men in 5 years in Japan. J Epidemiol 3, 35–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karlowski TR, Chalmers TC, Frenkel LD, Kapikian AZ, Lewis TL, Lynch JM (1975). Ascorbic acid for the common cold: a prophylactic and therapeutic trial. JAMA 231, 1038–1042.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kim MK, Sasaki S, Sasazuki S, Okubo S, Hayashi M, Tsugane S (2004). Long-term vitamin C supplementation has no markedly favourable effect on serum lipids in middle-aged Japanese subjects. Br J Nutr 91, 81–90.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kurita H (1994). Ministry of Health, Welfare and Labor: Dietary recommended intakes. In: Recommended Dietary Allowance for Japanese 5th edn. Tokyo: Daiichi shuppan (in Japanese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine M, Conry-Cantilena C, Wang Y, Welch RW, Washko PW, Dhariwal KR et al. (1996). Vitamin C pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers: evidence for a recommended dietary allowance. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93, 3704–3709.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ludvigsson J, Hansson LO, Tibbling G (1977). Vitamin C as a preventive medicine against common colds in children. Scand J Inf Dis 9, 91–98.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pitt HA, Costrini AM (1979). Vitamin C prophylaxis in marine recruits. JAMA 241, 908–911.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki S, Tsubono Y, Okubo S, Hayashi M, Kakizoe T, Tsugane S (2000). Effects of three-month oral supplementation of beta-carotene and vitamin C on serum concentrations of carotenoids and vitamins in middle-aged subjects: a pilot study for a randomized controlled trial to prevent gastric cancer in high-risk Japanese population. Jpn J Cancer Res 91, 1–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sasazuki S, Sasaki S, Tsubono Y, Okubo S, Hayashi M, Kakizoe T et al. (2003). The effect of 5-year vitamin C supplementation on serum pepsinogen level and Helicobacter pylori infection. Cancer Sci 94, 378–382.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Takkouche B, Regueira C, Gestal-Otero JJ (2001). A cohort study of stress and the common cold. Epidemiology 11, 345–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takkouche B, Regueira-Mendez C, Garcia-Closas R, Figueiras A, Gestal-Otero JJ (2002). Intake of vitamin C and zinc and risk of common cold: a cohort study. Epidemiology 13, 38–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsubono Y, Okubo S, Hayashi M, Kakizoe T, Tsugane S (1997). A randomized controlled trial for chemoprevention of gastric cancer in a high-risk Japanese population: study design, feasibility, and protocol modification. Jpn J Cancer Res 88, 344–349.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We express our appreciation to the staff at Hiraka General Hospital and the public health nurses at the Sannai village office for their support and assistance with the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology and Prevention Division, Research Center for Cancer Prevention and Screening, National Cancer Center, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    S Sasazuki & S Tsugane

  2. Division of Dietary Reference Intakes, National Institute of Health and Nutrition, Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    S Sasaki

  3. Division of Health Policy, School of Public Policy, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Y Tsubono

  4. Division of Clinical Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Y Tsubono

  5. Hiraka General Hospital, Ekimae-cho, Yokote, Japan

    S Okubo & M Hayashi

Authors
  1. S Sasazuki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S Sasaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Y Tsubono
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. S Okubo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M Hayashi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. S Tsugane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S Sasazuki.

Additional information

Guarantor: S Sasazuki.

Contributors: The study was designed and supervised by YT, SS and ST. SO, and MH coordinated the fieldwork and advised on the study design. SS analyzed the data, interpreted the current findings, and wrote the paper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sasazuki, S., Sasaki, S., Tsubono, Y. et al. Effect of vitamin C on common cold: randomized controlled trial. Eur J Clin Nutr 60, 9–17 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602261

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602261

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links