New study finds that vitamin C does not help much when it comes to preventing colds. Instead, going to bed earlier is a better solution.
The study, conducted by researchers from University of California in San Diego and published in the journal Sleep, finds that those who sleep for less than six hours are more prone to getting sick with colds compared to those who sleep for one hour more.
To arrive at their findings, researchers required 164 healthy participants aged 30 years old on average to put on a wrist actigraphy, or a device that tracks their sleeping habits.
The researchers tracked their sleeping habits for a week and later on, they placed the participants in a hotel. They introduced rhinovirus, the virus that causes common cold, into their system via nasal drops.
Researchers then tracked down who among the participants became sick with the common cold and it was found that those who have poor sleeping habits were the ones who tend to get sick easily.
Specifically, those who sleep for only five hours or less every night have 4.5 times more chances of getting a cold compared to those who sleep for seven hours or longer. For those who sleep for six hours, they have lesser chances of getting cold, about 4.2 times more likely, compared to those who sleep for five hours or less.
Meanwhile, despite the popular belief that vitamin C can help prevent common cold, it was found out that vitamin C supplementation offer little benefit of protection based on a collection of 29 studies involving 10,000 participants, as stated in Spokesman Review.
According to Medline Plus taking vitamin C may only help protect from colds if the body has very low levels of the vitamin, as in the case of those who reside in cold regions and those who perform rigorous exercises.
Otherwise, getting enough sleep should offer greater benefits. "Sleep is part of our own nature's defense against illness," said former president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, Dr. M. Safwan Badr.
