Vitamin C has been hailed as a magical vitamin for decades. Feeling sick, sleepy, or a little under the weather? Quick! Jam your mouth full of vitamin C, drink some orange juice and eat some strawberries (which have more vitamin c per weight than even oranges). But why cling to these feelings? Researchers have been unable to prove that vitamin C actually boots immune system power. It seems that every time I see a research study done on vitamin C's mysterious powers, the results are just as vague as the questions which initially prompted the study.

That being said, I guess its obvious that I am skeptical of an actual mechanism for vitamin C to boost the immune system, and yet, why do I pop a few vitamin C pills when I fell under the weather? Have I unconsciously bought into the vitamin C cult?

The answer is no, I believe that vitamin C has a minimal if at all existent effect on bolstering immune function. So why the extra C, easy, I do believe in the placebo effect. The placebo effect refers to  an improvement in health or behavior from an inactive treatment. There are chemicals in us that work in mysterious ways. A placebo effect happens when a patient believes in their treatment or doctors so much, that they get better even if it is not due to the treatment itself. This phenomena is strong enough to be measured against in drug clinical trials. In trials, groups of patients will receive the active drug treatment while another group will receive a placebo, an ineffective treatment. Neither groups will know if they are getting the active or placebo treatment, and so researchers can measure the drug efficacy based on actual drug actions or human placebo effect, which is based on people that "think" that the treatment will help, and so it does. The placebo effect only happens to a small percentage of patients, and if the margin is significant enough, the drug progresses into further testing.

My own placebo effect is on a much smaller scale. I take vitamin C not because I truly think it will help, but because I know that if somewhere, I think it will help, my own body will react in kind. Ahh, but if I don't believe, how does it work? Its the same motivations for superstitions. An educated person may truly not believe in superstitions, but they still may behave in certain ways. Although someone may not truly believe that opening an umbrella inside may cause bad luck, they may still refrain from doing so, just in case. The same is true for me and vitamin C. I'm not saying that its impossible that it helps the immune system (although I remain skeptical), and so my shred of hope assists my own body's power and placebo effect.

So next time you are feeling a little under the weather, its ok, you can pop some vitamin C, and you may just come out feeling fine.