Easy key to fewer sick days

Taking zinc has been known to speed healing from a cold, but scientists long believed high daily doses over 100 mg were needed—a level that can be toxic. Now a review in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine Open reveals the two most common forms of the mineral (zinc gluconate and zinc acetate) cut the length of a cold by 40 percent at doses as low as 50 mg a day. The authors suggest choosing lozenges that don’t have citrate, which is added for flavor but binds to zinc ions and prevents their release. Try: Life Extension Enhanced Zinc Lozenges, ($9 for 30, LEF.com/ffw).