Cold and flu season is here, and chilly weather drives people indoors where they're apt to spend more time in close proximity with others and whatever sneezes and sniffles they may have.

Plus, the school season is in full swing, where children bring home more than just popsicle art projects and homework; they're also bringing home a host of germs.

All it takes is brief contact to a cold or flu virus to push a person under the weather.

While people can't avoid every germ, they can prepare their body to fight the cold and flu viruses and potentially lessen the duration of sickness.

With a bevy of over-the-counter drugs promising relief, many overlook the one thing that can work hard against colds and the flu -- vitamin C.

Vitamin C has a number of benefits for the body. It assists in the production of collagen, an important structural element in the walls of blood vessels, gums and bones. But perhaps what vitamin C is best known for is its antioxidant properties.

Vitamin C, among other nutritional elements, finds and destroys potentially harmful molecules known as free radicals.

Lately there has been much research into the efficacy of vitamin C in boosting immune function, which means it may be effective in helping to treat everything from cancer to cardiovascular disease to macular degeneration in the eyes.

Studies have shown that higher levels may help the heart function properly, help to lower bad cholesterol, increase alertness, energy and mental clarity and lower blood pressure.

Vitamin C also could be the first line of defense when colds or the flu strike, though studies vary to its efficacy.

In one recent study, children regularly taking vitamin C had cold symptoms for 14 percent fewer days. For adults, days with cold symptoms fell 8 percent with regular vitamin C use.

Many believe that taking high levels of vitamin C at the onset of symptoms can shorten colds. And the immune-boosting power of vitamin C can make a body less susceptible to falling hard to the flu virus.

Many vitamin C products on the market offer the bare minimum of the vitamin, which will do little to boost the immune system. Nutritional experts offer that the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C -- 60 milligrams -- is barely enough to stave off scurvy. Higher optimum levels of vitamin C are recommended to be somewhere between 4,000 to 6,000 mg per day.

And because vitamin C is watersoluble, it is often flushed from the system every 12 hours, and there are no side effects to taking high amounts of vitamin C, nutritionists say.