Common cold has to be the biggest bone of contention for researchers all over the world as they have not been able to find a cure for the illness. Though, a recent review of medical research has revealed a very intriguing fact.

Apparently, zinc as a nutrient has been found to have the most relieving effect on people suffering from common cold. Zinc in the form of lozenges, tablets and syrups can halve various symptoms of a common cold like a runny nose and sore throat within a period of 24 hours.

The revelation was made by a well known medical clearinghouse, The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. It informed that previous studies had revealed that health benefits of zinc were immense.

Various published work was cited by CDSR for its conclusion. For example a report appearing in the Journal of Infectious Diseases had reported that the duration of cold was brought down from seven to four days, when people used zinc lozenges.

Talking about the study, a Professor at the Department of Pediatrics at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India and the lead author of the review, Meenu Singh, said that previous research work clearly indicated that zinc had a significant effect on reducing the prevalence of common cold.