Zinc and Vitamin C - Fighting Colds with a One-Two Punch

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Zinc is one of the most popular supplements for fighting a cold. Sucking on a zinc lozenge every two or three hours the very first day cold symptoms start coats the back of the mouth, the upper nostrils, and the throat with a fine film of zinc dissolved in saliva.

Zinc in the rest of your body has no real effect on the course of a cold, but getting zinc to your mucous membranes can shave one to three days off the duration of a cold and make symptoms a lot more bearable.

Vitamin C is another of the most popular supplements for fighting a cold. The way vitamin C works is not by stimulating the immune system. Vitamin C actually reduces immune activity.

When the immune system does not generate as many macrophages, giant white blood cells that convert infected nose and throat tissue into phlegm and "snot", symptoms are less severe.

Zinc and vitamin C together help cells resist entry by viruses, allowing them to float away harmlessly with the secretions of a runny nose, a good thing as long as you don't reinfect yourself or infect others!

Researchers have discovered that zinc and vitamin C are not the only nutrients that help the body fight off upper respiratory infections. Along with vitamin C and zinc, folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 all reduce colds symptoms.

Providing all the nutrients the body needs to fight a rhinovirus is the idea behind Redoxon Vitamin C and Zinc, made by Hoffman-La Roche. Each Vita Immune tablet contains:

• 10 milligrams of zinc
• 1000 milligrams of vitamin C
• 2333 IU of vitamin A
• 6.5 milligrams of vitamin B 6
• 9.6 micrograms of vitamin B12
• 400 IU of vitamin D
• 45 milligrams of vitamin E
• 400 micrograms of folic acid
• 110 micrograms of selenium
• 900 micrograms of copper
• 5 milligrams of iron

Redoxon has been a tried and trusted over-the-counter colds and flu remedy since 1934. And since the vitamin C in Redoxon is a combination of ascorbic acid and sodium bicarbonate, the pills fizz when mixed in water, making a soothing, tingly beverage that delivers the vitamin C, zinc, and other nutrients that treat a cold directly to the tissues that need them most.

Since Redoxon has been around for 77 years, it has been tested in other common conditions. Doctors in Austria, Germany, and South Africa have prescribed Redoxon for supporting recovery from asthma, anemia, and allergies. A glass of Redoxon fizzing in water once a day will help in all of these conditions.

But even if you are fortunate enough not to have asthma, anemia, or allergies, keep a bottle of Redoxon on hand for treating the very symptom of a cold. You'll have fewer colds and the colds you do have won't last as long-all for about a dollar a dose.

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