Replies

BHT and its interaction with certain lipid coated viruses

BHT is an antioxidant and common food preservative, approved by the FDA for food, oils and fats. Over 25 years ago, a paper was published in the journal Science showing that BHT could inactivate herpes simplex and other lipid coated viruses in vitro (In lab dishes).(1) This was followed by another paper published in Science showing that BHT could prevent chickens from dying of Newcastle disease.(2) The herpes virus and the virus that causes Newcastles disease have a lipid envelope. That is, the nucleic acid core of these viruses is coated with a fatty membrane. Viruses of this type require an intact lipid membrane in order to penetrate cell walls and infect living cells. And BHT will disrupt their lipid membrane.

BHT appears to work against such viruses by disrupting their lipid membranes making them vulnerable to the immune system and imparing their ability to penetrate human cells. BHT also removes binding proteins that the virus uses to penetrate cell membranes. In addition, BHT acts as an antioxidant neutralizing free radicals that damage cell membranes and cause inflammation. It is believed that the destructive action of many pathogenic viruses involves the destructive action of free radicals on cellular membranes. More recent studies have confirmed the anti-viral activity of BHT against many different human and animal viruses including CMV (cytomegalovirus), (3) pseudorabies (4), genital herpes (5), HIV (6) and some strains of influenza.(7)

A few of the viruses that have a lipid envelope and may be affected by BHT include herpes simplex I, herpes simplex II, herpes zoster, ckytomegalovirus, west nile virus, HIV virus, influenza virus, hepatitis B and C viruses, avian flu influenza virus and the SARS virus. BHT has not been clinically tested and approved to treat these infections.

Based on these early scientific results, some individuals afflicted with herpes virus infections began experimenting on themselves with BHT. They used dosages in the 250 to 3000 mg. per day range with the result that they experienced a reduction in herpes outbreaks. For some, their eruptions remained suppressed for as long as they continued to take BHT daily. For others, they were able to eventually discontinue taking BHT with no recurrences. BHT is discussed in Mann and Fowke’s book “Wipe Out Herpes with BHT” and Pearson and Shaw’s book “Life Extension”.(8)(9)

At issue is that none of the controlled studies on the antiviral properties of BHT have been performed on humans. Rather, most of the experiments have been conducted in the laboratory or on animals. In addition, BHT is a common, inexpensive substance that is unpatentable. No pharmaceutical company will invest money in researching and certifying its value as a medication. Furthermore, it may be difficult to perform human trials because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved BHT for use only as a food preservative, not as a medicine.

Therefore, it is not approved for the treatment of herpes infections or any other disease. While doctors have the authority to prescribe BHT, they could face peer pressure and malpractice insurance issues for using unapproved treatments. You are, therefore, unlikely to get a doctor to recommend or prescribe BHT. If you decide to make an independent decision to take BHT, at least tell your doctor what you are doing so that he can give you advice regarding your diagnosis, your other treatment options, potential consequences, possible drug interactions, etc.

The lack of approval hasn’t stopped some people from using BHT on their own to treat herpes or other viral conditions. While there is no accounting of how many people have used BHT to treat herpes and other viral infections, the estimates run from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.

I have taken it in the past starting way back twenty-five years ago, if and when needed and once again started taking it again when this corona virus came on the scene. Since BHT is oil soluble it is absorbed better when first dissolved in oil, like olive oil. What I found works very well is to use 200 ML (two hundred milliliters) of olive oil and dissolve about 18 gm (eighteen grams) of BHT crystals. If this is done within a small container like a glass bottle, warm it up lightly by putting it in a microwave oven for a few seconds (20) to speed up dissolving the BHT. One tsp. of this, depending on the size of the tsp. should give you about anywhere from 450 mg to 500 mg of BHT. And by the way, most likely you may have heard the old saying to close the barn door before the horses are out. He same goes for BHT.. Better to take it before the virus takes hold of your system. Well just a thought until something better comes up like immunization.

Had to fact check ya! Thanks for the great reply!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3021025

Antiviral effectiveness of butylated hydroxytoluene against pseudorabies (Aujeszky’s disease) virus in cell culture, mice, and swine.

Pirtle EC, Sacks JM, Nachman RJ.
Abstract
Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) was evaluated for antiviral effectiveness on pseudorabies virus (PRV) in cell culture, mice, and swine. When relatively small amounts of BHT were mixed with PRV and incubated at 37 C for 30 or 60 minutes before inoculation into cell cultures, the cell cultures did not become infected with virus. The PRV was not infectious when the virus was treated with BHT and then inoculated intraperitoneally into mice, but was infectious when BHT and PRV were inoculated simultaneously or when BHT was inoculated either 30 or 60 minutes before PRV. Swine fed BHT-medicated feed for 10 days before they were intranasally exposed with virulent PRV did not have overt signs of pseudorabies, had a lower concentration of PRV in nasal mucus than did control swine, and had acceptable blood enzyme and cholesterol concentrations during the experiment. The BHT was detected in tissues of 2 swine after they were fed BHT-medicated feed for 10 days, and higher concentrations of BHT were detected in tissues of 3 swine given BHT feed for 29 days.