As a former promoter of ColdFX, I feel obliged to report that Marketplace looked into ColdFX’s claims and found them wanting. When I started taking it, it was based on a small study that showed a reduction in both incidence and severity in those who took ColdFX every day, versus those who did not.

Apparently they have since done bigger studies, however, which show only a minor reduction in incidence of colds, but none in severity. Also (and this was also true of the first study) it was only for people who took ColdFX every day, not those who started only at the onset of a cold.

Furthermore, Marketplace showed evidence that the Chinese factory where the stuff is assembled doesn’t maintain the best health standards, and at least one batch of it contained a potential harmful bacteria.

So, as a believer in science and all that, I thought I should stop taking ColdFX. Perhaps the milder colds that I had previously experienced on it would have happened regardless.

But I have to say… My current cold, the first in a few years that I haven’t treated with ColdFX, was definitely worse than any I had while taking it.

I realize that this is also not proof. Perhaps I would have been equally stuffed up regardless of my American ginseng intake. So, I’m just reporting this as an observation.

Fortunately, I’m feeling much better now. That’s the thing about colds. Whatever you do or don’t take for them, they still just eventually go away and you feel better.