A cure the common cold has been sought for many years to no avail. However new research results point to Zinc as being a possible cure to some of the symptoms of the common cold.

The new research study was done by scientists in India, they looked at 15 randomized controlled trials which compared Zinc treatment and prevention performance for the common cold against zinc-free placebos.

From their analysis of all 15 randomized trials the scientists were able to find that healthy adults and children who took zinc syrup, lozenges, or tablets within 24 hours of their first signs of a cold coming (sneezing,coughing or sniffling) experienced shorter and less severe colds than the zinc-free placebo participants.

Furthermore the researchers also found during their analysis that those healthy adults and children that took zinc syrup, lozenges, or tablets daily for at least five months before experiencing any symptoms of a cold reduced their chances of experiencing common cold symptoms by about one-third, on average.

Although to conclude their study researchers associated with the study couldn’t recommend any specific over-the-counter zinc supplements for you to take to have the best results. During their analysis researchers couldn’t be certain on the amount of Zinc that was taken in by each patient.

Zinc when taken in too large of amounts can be dangerous due to the in-balance of key minerals (Copper and Calcium mainly) in your body that it causes, zinc poisoning. Also consuming zinc supplements does come with some side-effects for some, like nausea and bad after-taste.

The study in question was published on the online Cochrane Library, you can read it here.