Does vitamin C affect the common cold?

Does Vitamin C affect the common cold?

During class we have researched many different internet sites to help us come to the conclusion to whether vitamin C helps prevent and/or cure the common cold. Many of the site supported different answers, some saying yes, vitamin C does help cure and prevent common colds, others disagreeing, stating that no matter how hight the dosage of vitamin C you consume it will have no effect on curing or preventing the common cold. While we were researching, we also discovered overall that, vitamin C is very important for normal functioning of the body.

Vitamin C is a highly effective antioxidant, which in high doses can cure or prevent the common cold, as well as prolong the lives of terminal cancer patients, says Nobel laureate Linus Pauling. He concluded that high doses at the beginning of a cold, has only been shown in some cases, to reduce the severity of the symptoms to a modest degree, due to a mild antihistaminic effect. However, vi...