Can vitamin C cure a cold? How a Nobel Prize winner convinced us it could

From the first hint of cold winter mornings, supermarkets and pharmacies begin heavy marketing to coax us to stock up on vitamin C to get through the cold and flu season.

But where did that idea come from? As we’ll see, it’s a story including a Nobel Prize winner, a book and some claims that don’t quite stack up.

Nobel Prize winner writes a book Linus Pauling was a chemist from the United States who won two Nobel Prizes.

One was in 1954 for chemistry , for his research into chemical bonds.

The other was in 1962 for peace , for his activism against nuclear weapons testing.

He was not a dietitian or an infectious disease physician.

But that didn’t stop him publishing a book on vitamin C and colds in 1970.

This book is widely credited with the skyrocketing sales of vitamin C at the time, a trend that continues today.

In this book, Pauling said we should consume high doses of vitamin C, around 1,000–2,000 milligrams a day for good health, and even more to prevent a cold.

His recommendations were said to be initially from one placebo-controlled trial in children on a ski camp in the Swiss Alps.

He then analysed a further four studies conducted after his claims.

But his interpretation of these studies has been widely criticised .

There were incorrect mathematical analyses, reliance on four poor-quality trials and the overemphasis of the study in children.

So, do mega-doses of vitamin C work? The short answer is not really.