Lol. There are a bunch of chicken soup RCTs showing improved symptoms, but the best ones use hot water as the control, so (a) we don't know whether the benefits depend on the chicken, the chicken fat, the veggies, the spices, etc. (maybe vegan broth works as well?), and (b) there's huge potential for subject and/or placebo effects, because everyone knows whether they're drinking chicken soup or water (unless the chef is deeply incompetent...lol).
I twice tried a carrageenan spray for a cold. I found it amazingly effective, it reduced the duration of the cold to about 24 hours. But on both occasions it gave me sinusitis that persisted for weeks; once could have been coincidence but twice... no thanks!
Very anecdotally, I find early treatment by sucking on zinc citrate tablets, after eating/drinking to keep the throat coated, amazingly effective, reducing the length of my colds from a consistent 4-5 days before I adopted that protocol seven years ago down to a consistent 2-3 days, and reducing symptoms by maybe 80-90% including almost no sneezing, maybe 1-2 sneezes in total per cold. Normally with a protocol like that I would try not using it again, to see if the symptoms revert to 4-5 days, but so far it has never been convenient!
I can see how it wouldn't be ideal to stay sick 2-3 days longer just to prove that the tablets work. Glad you found something that does seem effective!
what? No Chicken Soup RCT? lol…
Lol. There are a bunch of chicken soup RCTs showing improved symptoms, but the best ones use hot water as the control, so (a) we don't know whether the benefits depend on the chicken, the chicken fat, the veggies, the spices, etc. (maybe vegan broth works as well?), and (b) there's huge potential for subject and/or placebo effects, because everyone knows whether they're drinking chicken soup or water (unless the chef is deeply incompetent...lol).
Of course, there is the ‘comfort’ factor of grandma’s chicken soup. :)
I twice tried a carrageenan spray for a cold. I found it amazingly effective, it reduced the duration of the cold to about 24 hours. But on both occasions it gave me sinusitis that persisted for weeks; once could have been coincidence but twice... no thanks!
Very anecdotally, I find early treatment by sucking on zinc citrate tablets, after eating/drinking to keep the throat coated, amazingly effective, reducing the length of my colds from a consistent 4-5 days before I adopted that protocol seven years ago down to a consistent 2-3 days, and reducing symptoms by maybe 80-90% including almost no sneezing, maybe 1-2 sneezes in total per cold. Normally with a protocol like that I would try not using it again, to see if the symptoms revert to 4-5 days, but so far it has never been convenient!
I can see how it wouldn't be ideal to stay sick 2-3 days longer just to prove that the tablets work. Glad you found something that does seem effective!