The moment you’re semi-sure you’re getting a cold, get some zinc lozenges. That’s the result of a meta-analysis of 15 different scientific studies of the mineral, and cut the length of coughing and sneezing days by 40 percent.
Zinc lozenges have long been considered a potential salve for colds, but the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews recently pulled out 15 studies with respectable methods and found that, most often, zinc seemed to help those with a cold. So much so, in fact, that coughing could be cut from five days to two, and the total duration of a cold from seven to four days.
Zinc is Probably the Most Effective Cold Treatment Known to Medicine
https://lifehacker.com/zinc-is-probably-the-most-effective-cold-treatment-know-5761676
