BHT... It used to safeguard our food supply; now it can safeguard you.
BHT, a distant relative of vitamin E, is an antioxidant that was once widely used to protect food from damage by oxidation
and microorganisms. It is now frequently used to combat the aging process.
BHT’s usefulness as a supplement is due to two unrelated
characteristics: its antioxidant properties, and its effects on
biological
membranes. BHT’s antioxidant properties are responsible for its
activity against aging, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and
brain damage; its membrane effects are responsible for its
anti-viral benefits.
According to the medical research literature, BHT can be useful for:
preventing viral infections, such as herpes, and terminating their outbreaks
prevention of DNA damage and cancer by certain carcinogens
protection of the brain from damage by alcohol
increasing the tissue concentrations of Vitamin E
preventing birth defects in diabetic pregnancies
preventing atherosclerosis
protection from manganese toxicity
Read BHT Monograph
BHT, distantly related in structure to vitamin E, is an antioxidant that was once widely used to protect food from damage
by oxidation and microorganisms. It is frequently used as an anti-aging supplement.
What we can’t tell you
In
the U.S. and some other industrialized countries, government agencies
like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have adopted censorship as a
method for intensifying their control over the supplement industry and
its customers. Thus, FDA regulations prohibit us from telling you that
any of our products are effective as medical treatments, even if they are, in fact, effective.
Accordingly, we will limit our discussion of BHT to a brief summary of relevant research, and let you draw your own conclusions
about what medical conditions it may be effective in treating.
In
the United States, BHT is approved by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) as a food additive but is not considered a “nutritional
supplement” because it is produced non-biologically. The FDA therefore
prohibits its sale as a supplement. Nevertheless, its medical uses are
documented in the medical literature and will be described here, even
though LifeLink is required to pretend that this product is being sold
merely to prevent the spoilage of food.
How does BHT work in the body?
BHT’s
medical usefulness is due to two unrelated characteristics: its
antioxidant properties, and its effects on biological membranes. BHT’s
antioxidant properties are responsible for its benefits vis-à-vis
aging, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and brain damage; its membrane
effects are responsible for its anti-viral benefits.
As an antioxidant, BHT terminates certain
kinds of chain reactions that damage structures in living cells. These
chain reactions normally occur during the extraction of energy from
fats and sugars, a process which takes place in sub-cellular organelles
called “mitochondria”.1
The molecular apparatus for energy extraction has been evolving here on
Earth for several billion years, but is still far from perfect — and
harmful byproducts are generated along with the energy. One of these
byproducts, called the “peroxide radical”, gives rise to chain
reactions in which repeated molecular damage takes place until the
chain reaction is forcibly terminated by an appropriate antioxidant
molecule. The body produces such antioxidants, but not in sufficient
amounts to prevent some damage to DNA and other essential biological
structures. This is why we benefit from adding antioxidants through
supplementation — they neutralize some of the chain reactions that the
body’s own antioxidants miss. BHT can serve as such an antioxidant.2
In
BHT’s other function, as a membrane manipulator, molecules of BHT merge
with the lipid membranes of cells and of viruses that have lipid
envelopes (such as the herpes virus). The presence of enough BHT
molecules in a viral envelope can alter the envelope’s physical
properties enough to make the viral particle incapable of infecting a
human cell. This can bring a halt to a viral infection’s spread within
the body.
What is BHT good for?
preventing viral infections, such as herpes, and terminating their outbreaks3,4,5,6
prevention of DNA damage and cancer by certain carcinogens7,8,9
To put it briefly, BHT has been shown to lower the incidence of herpes outbreaks, and to shorten the duration of those outbreaks
that do occur.15,4,16
It appears to work better in some people than in others — perhaps
because the susceptibility of human cells to membrane-altered viruses
varies from person to person. For some people BHT may be an excellent
preventative; for others it may ineffective. There’s no way to predict in
advance whether it will work for you — you simply have to try it to
find out.
A good, readable review of BHT as a herpes fighter is the one on this site under "News" Health Monographs.6 As Ed Sharpe points out in his review, the evidence for BHT’s effectiveness comes both from the medical literature and from numerous anecdotal
reports. Since the review was written there have been a few more studies5,3 and lots more anecdotal reports, such as the experiment reported on by Lucky Phoswa of South Africa in his blog.7
While
people’s genetic susceptibility to herpes viruses probably varies
between individuals, the herpes virus’s susceptibility to interference
by BHT probably does not vary from strain to strain. While viruses can
develop resistance to antibiotics, which act upon specific viral
protein structures that are determined by specific viral genes, viruses
are highly unlikely to develop resistance to a substance like BHT,
which alters membrane properties that are not determined by viral
genes.
The myth of BHT toxicity
During
the 1970s and 1980s, neurotic food-activists scared the public into
thinking that BHT and other food preservatives were highly
carcinogenic. They succeeded in getting preservatives removed from most
food products — and as a result, thousands of cases of food poisoning,
some of them fatal, now occur every year that would otherwise have been
avoided. Those preservatives were protection against the production of
toxic chemicals in food by microoganisms. But at realistic doses BHT is
not carcinogenic — in fact, it is anti-carcinogenic.17,8 Our society has paid dearly in both money and health for caving in to the irrational demands of those food-activists.
At high doses, on the other hand, many substances, both synthetic and naturally-occurring, are carcinogenic — they can initiate or promote the growth of cancer cells. All plants, including those we use for food, produce
many kinds of substances that cause cancer when fed at huge doses to lab animals.18,19 Cooking generates even more carcinogens in food.22,23 But so what? At lower doses many of them actually protect against cancer. We don’t consume these substances in carcinogenic amounts, and we don’t consume BHT in such amounts, either.
The medical literature suggests that oral doses of BHT up to at least 6 grams/day have no toxicity.20
There is one report of someone who took 80 grams and suffered temporary
light-headedness, headache, slurred speech, and unsteady gait.20 It has also been shown that applying BHT to the skin in the amounts used in cosmetics does not lead to any toxic effects.21
Conclusion
Is BHT useful for the conditions and purposes mentioned above? We aren’t allowed to tell you, so you should take a look at
some of the references cited here, and then decide for yourself.
Hypericins are highly concentrated extracts from the herb Hypericum perforatum. These extracts have been shown to have anti-depressant and anti-viral activity.
Medical research has confirmed several of hypericin’s
applications:
• improving mood via its
anti-depressant and anti-anxiety properties;
• antiviral action against
cytomegalovirus, human papillomavirus, hepatitis B, herpes, and skin warts;
• reducing
depression-related anorexia, hypersomnia, or insomnia.
Hypericins are
highly concentrated extracts from the herb Hypericum perforatum. These
extracts have been shown to have anti-depressant and anti-viral
activity.
Medical research has confirmed several of hypericin’s
applications:
• improving mood via its
anti-depressant and anti-anxiety properties;
• antiviral action against
cytomegalovirus, human papillomavirus, hepatitis B, herpes, and skin warts;
• reducing
depression-related anorexia, hypersomnia, or insomnia.
