Warm lemon tea and honey, a nice way to prevent a cold one would think according to popular belief, but new research shows that vitamin C cannot cure colds.

Renowned American chemist Linus Pauling advocated the benefits of Vitamin C in the 1970s, in his book “Vitamin C and the Common Cold,” recommending 1 gram of Vitamin C a day for preventing colds.

Professor Harri Hemila from the Department of Public Health at the University of Helsinki differs, after his extensive research: “It doesn't make sense to take vitamin C 365 days a year to lessen the chance of catching a cold.”

Hemila and his colleagues reviewed 30 studies involving more than 11,000 participants and spreading over several decades. The analysis brought no proof that daily doses of Vitamin C can help the average person escape a cold.

The researchers’ study showed that those benefiting from Vitamin C supplements are more likely to be people living in very cold regions or undergoing great physical stress, such as marathon runners, skiers, arctic explorers, and soldiers. But not the average adult.

For the above-mentioned individuals, a daily dose of 200 mg a day would reduce the risk of catching a cold by half. For the rest of the population, 200 mg a day lead to a 4 percent reduction of risk, hardly worth the effort and money, the researchers said.

The myth-debunking study appears in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library, published by the Cochrane Collaboration.

While Vitamin C supplements do not protect against colds, as previously though, the researchers emphasized that there are other health benefits. They also said more research is needed on the effect of vitamin C on children with colds and the effect on pneumonia.