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A new study says that Vitamin C can lower the duration of common cold in both adults and children, especially if the person has been under a lot of physical stress.

The study results are based on five clinical trials, with three of the trials conducted on marathon runners, one on Swiss children attending a skiing camp and one on Canadian soldiers during winter exercises.

Regular doses of vitamin C were helpful in reducing cold duration in children by 18 percent and by 8 percent in adults.

However, researchers say that taking a gram of vitamin C just to shorten the length of cold may not be that effective, because people catch cold only few times a year.

Complete results of the present clinical trials can be found here.                

According to Medline Plus, vitamin C may be helpful in preventing cold if you live in a cold environment or are involved in extreme physical activities like marathon running. Vitamin C helps the body heal wounds, repair cartilage, bones and teeth. Since the vitamin isn't produced by the body, people need to get it from their diets.

Citrus fruits like oranges and grapefruit have high amounts of vitamin C. But broccoli, green and red peppers, spinach, cabbage, sweet and white potatoes also have good amounts of the vitamin.

Vitamin C pills aren't good for people who have kidney disease and they should avoid taking these supplements, according to Medline Plus.

A study published in PLOS ONE (in 2005) reported after analyzing 30 years of scientific data available on the subject that vitamin C intake doesn't prevent cold. The study had a total of more than 10,000 participants.