Study: Zinc good for healthy immune function, destroying viruses, bacteria

NEW YORK It’s a study that probably couldn’t have come at a better time given the recent recall in this space, except you may not yet have heard of the zinc study. That’s because for all the major news media outlets that quickly picked up on Matrixx’s recall a few months back on a pair of Zicam products, not one of them picked up on this news — news that not only supports the efficacy of zinc-based products, but also provides a little insight into how it may work.

Not getting picked up as a news story a second time around may not be altogether bad news, however, as it may have only confused consumers around the immune-boosting benefits in supplementing with zinc.

But there is an important takeaway here. Zinc works. And while the Food and Drug Administration has certainly questioned the safety around a pair of zinc products, that news will eventually fade from the public consciousness. What will not fade away is the anecdotal consumer experience backed up by sound science. Studies like these only underscore what Matrixx, Quigley and now Novartis have in their zinc-formulation cough/cold SKUs — a safe and efficacious cold buster good for cutting into symptoms when you can’t afford to miss work.