 [ Symptoms ] i am required to wear safety shoes but they aggravate my hemorroids what suggestions can you offer [ Disease ] the jury is out on whether vitamin c can prevent a cold and according to the latest research vitamin c does not make a cold shorter or less severe although experts do not recommend upping your dosage for that purpose some say it may help ward off germs if you have been exposed to physical or environmental stress    for example with especially strenuous exercise or exposure to bitter cold weather even so some people swear by it “i have some vitamin c in my diet every day but i bump the dose up when i get sick ” says lauren richter do assistant professor of family and community medicine at the university of maryland center for integrative medicine “generally it will reduce the length of the symptoms by at least a day or two and also will help with the severity ” she says an extra 500 milligrams a day is about all you need