What really CAN shorten a cold, according to science

So, you’ve got an annoying sniffle, sore throat or pesky cough and want to shake it off as quickly as possible.

You’re not alone, about one in 250 people are thought to have a cold at any one time in the UK, and across the Atlantic people in the US suffer an estimated 1billion colds every year. 

Sadly, there is no way of curing the common cold. But there are some simple methods of not only easing your symptoms but potentially reducing the length of your illness. 

Here, Professor Ron Eccles, an expert in biosciences at Cardiff University, and the former director of its Common Cold Centre, shares the best ways of not only beating a cold but cutting it short in record time. 

The spray, also sold as a ‘Dual Defense Nasal Spray’ in Boots for £6, is applied directly into the nasal passage and is an effective way of shortening the duration of a cold

Professor Eccles recommends several over the counter remedies for making pesky colds more bearable, but one he stands by is a nasal spray. 

But not all such sprays are created equal. He suggests using products containing Carragelose and kappa-Carrageenan — which are extracted from seaweed — within the first 48 hours of getting symptoms.

‘It’s no use when you’ve got severe symptoms, you need to take it within 24 to 48 hours maximum,’ Professor Eccles told MailOnline.  

‘The sooner you take it the better, because it has an antiviral action. The problem is, once the viruses start to really trigger the symptoms, it’s a cascade that just carries on. You can’t stop it,’ he added. 

The seaweed extracts used in the nasal sprays act as an anti-viral agent, helping form a protective barrier which blocks viruses and allergens from spreading further in the body — reducing the overall length and severity of the cold. 

Other nasal sprays have also shown some promise.

A 2024 study involving almost 14,000 British adults tested two types — one that used a saline liquid to reduce levels of the virus and another that used a microgel to trap viruses and neutralise them in the nose and stop them from spreading. 

Results, published in the journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine, showed both the sprays cut the duration of illness by about 20 per cent. Meaning participants weren’t ill for as long. 

But if you miss the window to use a spray don’t lose hope, Professor Eccles said managing symptoms of a cold can be just as good as getting rid of the virus itself. 

‘If you can get rid of the symptoms, you’re not worried about the virus, your immune system will get rid of that itself. But if you control the symptoms, then basically you’ve got rid of your cold,’ he said. 

This shows the common symptoms (green tick), occasional and possible symptoms (orange circle) and the symptoms that never occur (red cross) with the common cold, flu and Covid

Professor Eccles explains that a hot sweet beverage works because it promotes salivation which soothes the throat

A hot sweet drink, such as a cup of honey with lemon or blackcurrant, is a simple way of relieving the symptoms of a cough and sore throat. 

Professor Eccles explained that such a beverage works because it promotes salivation which soothes the throat. 

For flu-like symptoms such as a headache, fever, chills or muscle aches, he suggested taking a paracetamol. 

Finally, to deal with a blocked-up nose, he urges people to use a nasal decongestant spray containing the chemicals oxymetazoline or xylometazoline.

‘Those will open up your nose and give you a good night’s sleep, because you can’t sleep with a blocked nose,’ he added. 

However, people can also take proactive steps to not only to reduce their length of illness if they do catch a cold but actually preventing infection in the first place by keeping their immune system healthy. 

Professor Eccles said simply eating a balanced diet of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as doing mild exercise like walking is enough to keep the immune system working well. 

But there are also numerous supplements and remedies promising to alleviate cold symptoms.

One Cochrane Library review found that taking small doses of  zinc supplements over a few days might be helpful in reducing the duration of a cold

Orange juice is packed with vitamin C and although it is a common belief that drinking it will help you stay healthy and ward off a cold, experts say it won’t. However, there is a small chance it could speed up your recovery 

One of these is zinc a vital mineral critical for the development of cells that form the immune system.

As a result, there is some suggestion that taking a zinc supplement could help your body fight off common colds. 

One Cochrane Library review found that taking small 10-40mg doses of zinc supplements over a few days might be helpful in reducing the duration of a cold. 

The mineral is naturally found in red meat and dairy products and most people can get all the zinc they need from their diet alone. 

Although taking supplements can help boost your zinc levels, the NHS recommends avoiding taking more than 25mg of zinc a day as too much can cause gastrointestinal issues and even weaken your immune system. 

Vitamin C, another essential vitamin that helps with the regrowth and repair of tissue in the body, and may also help shorten a cold. 

Adults need roughly 40mg of vitamin C a day, half of the amount found in a standard glass of orange juice. 

One review supporting taking vitamin C to fight off colds, published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine in 2016, found data ‘show a decreased severity and duration of colds when vitamin C is consumed at doses at or above 0.2 g/day’.

Another review, published last year, researchers from the Australian National University and the University of Helsinki found vitamin C reduced the severity and duration of cold symptoms.  

But the NHS says there’s little firm evidence vitamin C prevents colds or speeds up recovery.

Vitamin D is another supplement that could help you fight off a cold.

Found in foods such as oily fish, red meat, egg yolks and also from direct sunlight, vitamin D help regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in your body — two vital nutrients for keeping bones, teeth and muscles healthy.

But according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which provides health advice and guidance to the NHS, vitamin D could play a role in the immune system’s response to respiratory viruses including the common cold.

So, taking vitamin D might just keep your immune system in shape.

Although we can get enough vitamin D from our diet and sunlight for most of the year, we may fall short from October to early March as daylight hours start to decline in the colder months.

The NHS advises everyone should consider taking a supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D every day during the autumn and winter.

One US brand of supplement, called EZC pack sold for about £30 a box, combines vitamin D, vitamin C, Zinc in one supplement which it says will provide ‘immune support’. 

But Professor Eccles said you don’t need to burn a hole in your pocket when buying supplements.

‘I don’t think it’s useless. It’s just not worth paying that much money, you can buy vitamin D from your supermarket brand,’ he said. 

He added: ‘I’ve taken vitamin D especially over the winter period, it is quite cheap. But of course, people go for believing they’re getting more effective vitamins. I don’t think it’s worth paying a large amount of money when you can get the vitamins from supermarket brands freely available.’