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.

Colds used to always run their predictable course with me:

1. Throat scratchy.
2. Throat sore and scratchy.
3. Nose starts to run.
4. Nose becomes faucet; Kleenex stores deleted.
5. Nose starts to clear; cough sets in.

If lucky, the whole thing would be over in around 7 days. When unlucky, residual stuffiness / coughing would linger for some weeks afterward.

So last Wednesday, when my throat felt scratchy, I felt a certain sense of doom. Not for the first time, I dosed with Cold-FX in response. (Per their recommendations—six pills the first day, then four, then two.) I have found that, for me, Cold-FX tends to lessen the severity and duration of colds. But this time, it was quite extreme. Really, I had a mildly scratchy throat and a bit of coughing at night, for about five days. No fatigue. No stuffed-up nose. No real sense that I ever needed a cough drop or a Tylenol sinus or anything.

Was that even a cold? Jean says no (partly because he didn’t catch anything at all). But I definitely had some sort of throat thing for a few days. It was just super mild.

Oh, well. No sense in worrying about not being sick. And I don’t know whether Cold-FX deserves any credit or not. But I’m certainly keeping it on hand…