Emergen C Lite For A Cold
By Curtis Alexander, Pharm.D.
America’s Natural Pharmacist
Summary: Emergen C Lite is the low calorie version of the original Emergen C product. It contains higher than normal amounts of Vitamin C as well as Vitamin B12. Many reports indicate that it helps with energy as well as helping people recover from colds and stress quicker. Emergen C Lite contains no msg and is reasonably priced.
Q: My son had taken Emergen C Lite before and he thought it helped him get better quicker. Do you think it might all be in his head or is it something worth trying? I really don’t understand what’s in it or why it even works.
A: Both Emergen C and Emergen C Lite are brand name products by the company Alacer.
What’s important to remember about Emergen C Lite is that it is lower in calories than regular Emergen C … hence the Lite moniker. Other than that the Lite version appears to have the same ingredients as the leaded version of Emergen and do the same thing.
Emergen C Lite Ingredients
Basically, Emergen C is a mix of vitamins and other nutrients in an effervescent drink (drop the tablets in a cup, add water and it ‘fizzes’ – like an Alka Seltzer tablet). The vitamins that are touted in the advertising are vitamin C and a whole host of B vitamins (niacin, folic acid and vitamin B12).
With each serving (packet) you get 1,000mg of Vitamin C, 10mg of Niacin, 25mcg of Folic Acid and 25mcg of Vitamin
Ingredients in Emergen C Lite
B12 as cyanocobalamin. The product also contains electrolytes and other nutrients like magnesium, zinc, chromium, potassium.
Emergen C Effectiveness
Now, in regard to your main question, can this product help him recover from a cold quicker … it’s a little tough to answer but I will say that if he started as soon as he noticed the symptoms coming on – yes, it might be helpful. In fact, despite what a lot of naysayers might spout off about vitamin C – it has proven to be helpful in a lot of infectious diseases but, a couple of caveats, you have to take fairly high doses and you have to start dosing it right away. Otherwise, it isn’t as helpful.
Is 1000mg enough to do anything? I’m skeptical but that’s based on my own experimentation and other’s who’ve tried vitamin C. In the rare case now that I do feel a cold coming on, I’ll start dosing with 3,000mg each serving and keep going depending on the severity of the cold and base my response on bowel tolerance. So, I’ll dose that way every 1 to 4 hours depending on severity until I start getting gas or loose stools – then back off the dose.
I know that probably sounds crude and a bit odd but vitamin C has proven to me on many occassions that it can shorten the severity of a cold. So it’s plausible that it really did help you son. I’m just not too certain if one packet a day is enough vitamin C to really make a difference.
One of the nice things about the product is that you aren’t just taking vitamin C alone. You are taking some pretty important B vitamins that are also critical to energy levels as well as immune response. It’s no wonder that people report using Emergen C to boost their energy in place of coffee. Vitamin B12 is critical in that function. So, that could have also helped your son respond better during his bout with a cold.
At the end of the day, YES … I think Emergen C could have helped with your son’s cold. Especially when you consider the amount of vitamins and nutrients across a pretty wide spectrum. I don’t know if the amount of Vitamin C in the product is enough to make a huge difference but if it were me I’d take one packet a day per the directions and then supplement with additional vitamin C on top of that.
Another nice thing about this product is the price. I was expecting a little higher price – but you can get 30 packets (1 month supply) for about $8. That’s not bad considering if you had to go out and buy each of the nutrients (like B12 and niacin) you’d be running more like $15 to $20 a month.
Also, the feedback on the taste I’ve seen is pretty positive which is big because one of the things about Vitamin C people generally don’t like is the taste (depending on which form of Vitamin C you use it can taste very bitter or like baking soda).
With that being said I’m not rushing out to buy Emergen C Lite. Why? Because although it is a nice mix of nutrients you should be able to get this amount of nutrients by eating right. Which, I do. However, if I were going to be out of town and a little more stressed I would definitely purchase some just as a preventative measure.