Arnold Schwarzenegger Debunks the Role of Zinc in Preventing Common Colds

Sickness season can often hinder those trying to balance the walk between being healthy and keeping in shape. Of a plethora of wellness solutions popular for preventing sickness, zinc seems to be a popular choice among people. However, does Arnold Schwarzenegger feel zinc could be life-changing?

In his recent newsletter, he talked about how zinc supplements had become a hot product due to their alleged help against fighting colds. However, the reality lay far beyond this idea, especially for the intended purpose.

Schwarzenegger clarified that while consuming some amounts of zinc could indeed be beneficial in some ways, it doesn’t do much to prevent the risk of getting cold. Highlighting a study on the same subject, he revealed how a randomized trial debunked this misconception.

Researchers got over 8000 men and women to test out the efficacy of zinc against the risk, duration, and adverse events caused by cold. The amount of the element, people consumed varied from 45 mg to 300 mg. However, the results were the same – it didn’t help prevent common colds and their effects.

“Even though it doesn’t stop you from getting sick, that doesn’t mean zinc can’t help once a cold hits. It appears that zinc lozenges or sprays helped reduce the duration of a cold by about 2.5 days.”

The key here is to nail the amount of zinc that one might have to consume for the intended purpose. Overdoing the dosage could result in some serious repercussions, such as an empty stomach and other issues.

“The sweet spot for prevention — without the side effects — appears to be anywhere from 50 to 85 mg of zinc per day while you’re sick.”

Supplements like zinc can go a long way in terms of improving health if used in the correct quantity and form. Schwarzenegger has often talked about several such additives to enrich one’s diet, including one of his seemingly favorite – fish oil.

Arnold Schwarzenegger recently came to fish oil’s defense

Contradicting studies on supplements that one might otherwise include in their diet regularly could cause some chaos. But Schwarzenegger ensured no one came for one of those that he had vouched for.

Fish oil caught some fire for its supposed ill effects, particularly due to studies that pointed out a risk of stroke and heart disease due to its consumption. This contradicts one of its biggest benefits since people tend to consume fish oil for brain and heart health.

It turns out that Schwarzenegger had to point out certain discrepancies in the said study that had reached the above conclusion. Highlighting how the researchers didn’t track the dose, frequency, or composition of the fish oil that the subjects consumed, he concluded that the study may have had quality control issues.