[Can Alternative Remedies Prevent Swine Flu?]
6. A little vitamin C very likely won't hurt. Studies about the usefulness of vitamin C against colds "come down on both sides of the fence," says Schaffner. Helpful or not, there's probably little harm in taking the popular vitamin as long as people remember to keep hydrated, he says. Some people seem to think that if a little vitamin C is good, then taking a lot must be better, which isn't true. If a person is dehydrated, vitamin C can crystallize in the kidneys and bladder, creating stones.
7. Mom was probably wrong about wet hair in the wintertime. Does being wet and cold make people more vulnerable to colds? Probably not, says Schaffner.
In the end, while you can lower the odds of getting sick, the reality is that "you're going to get a cold anyway—it's a question of how many," says Aaron Glatt, president and CEO of New Island Hospital in New York and a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
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