A little over 25 years
ago a paper got published in the journal Science showing that
BHT (Butylated
hydroxytoluene), a common food preservative, could inactivate herpes
simplex and other lipid-coated viruses in lab dishes. Two years later
another paper in the same journal reported similar results, but this
time in live animals—dietary BHT could prevent chickens from dying of
Newcastle disease. Like herpes simplex, NDV (the virus that causes
Newcastle disease) is lipid-enveloped, i.e., its nucleic acid core is
sheathed in a fatty membrane. Viruses of this type require an intact
membrane to be infective. BHT seems to work against such viruses by
disrupting (“fluidizing”) their viral membranes.
In the chicken study
cited above, the amount of BHT needed to inhibit NDV turned out to be
equal to the amount already present in chicken feed as an additive,
i.e., 100 to 200 parts per million of total diet. Assuming a comparable
result for humans and a total food intake of about 2 kilograms per day,
this would mean that 200 to 400 milligrams of BHT ingested daily should
be adequate to protect most people from infection by herpes and other
lipid-coated viruses. See Table
for a listing of common viruses which
have a lipid envelope and are therefore amenable to inhibition by BHT.
If our diet consisted
exclusively of foods containing BHT as a preservative (such as some
breakfast cereals, potato flakes, chewing gum, and certain baked goods
made with shortening), we’d probably get enough BHT to ward off
herpes—or mumps and measles for that matter. But we don’t. Most of our
diets tend to be more varied than that and, besides, in recent years
we’ve all been conditioned to avoid food additives.
The other option for
getting enough dietary BHT is to consume it as a food supplement, a
controversial proposition at best because it isn’t a nutrient—it’s a
synthetic antioxidant. Nevertheless, this is precisely what some
pioneering life-extensionists did in the late ’70s. Inspired by early
scientific reports on the antiviral activity of BHT, a number of people
suffering from herpes began to experiment on themselves. As described
in several books published a few years later, the BHT experimenters
discovered that a daily dose of 250 to 1000 mg resulted in rapid
recovery from herpes eruptions with no recurrences. This figure is in
good agreement with the estimate based on the chicken study above.
In addition to these
anecdotal reports, a number of studies published over the years have
confirmed the activity of BHT against many different human and animal
viruses, including such members of the herpes family as CMV or
cytomegalovirus and pseudorabies as well as genital herpes. BHT has
been shown to inhibit infectivity of HIV, the AIDS virus, although
contradictory results have also been reported. Several studies have
revealed a protective effect of BHT against the development of
influenza infection as well. The mechanism involved may have to do with
the fact that BHT is a highly potent, membrane-active antioxidant as
well as a membrane fluidizer. It’s known that reactive oxygen species
(ROS) play a role in the pathogenesis of viral infections—including RNA
viruses such as influenza, DNA viruses such as hepatitis B, and
retroviruses such as HIV—and it’s been suggested that antioxidants may
be useful as therapeutic agents in such infections.
If BHT is so effective
against lipid-enveloped viruses, why don’t doctors prescribe it for
their patients? The answer is that almost none of the controlled
studies on the antiviral properties of BHT have been performed on
humans; most of the experiments thus far have been conducted in lab
dishes (in vitro) or in animals. A human clinical trial of BHT cannot
be performed because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has
approved BHT for use only as a food preservative, not as a medicine.
But that hasn’t stopped some people from using BHT on their own to
treat herpes or other viral conditions.
Since it is not a
natural product, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has prohibited
its sale as a supplement (although approving its use in food as a
preservative). BHT is therefore sold as a food preservative… To
use this product in a government-approved manner, "add BHT to cooking
oils or salad dressings to retain their freshness."
In the past, safety
concerns have been sometimes raised about BHT because of its reputed
toxicity when given to rats in massive doses—doses much larger than
those usually consumed for their antiviral effect. On the other hand,
25 years is long enough for any adverse effects as well as positive
benefits to have shown up in humans. Many individuals—including my
friend Roger, whom I’ve known since high school—have been supplementing
with BHT on a regular basis for years at a time. Roger looks pretty
healthy to me these days, but I phoned him anyway to press him for
details on his BHT experience.
Roger first began
taking BHT in 1984 after reading about it in Pearson and Shaw’s
groundbreaking book "Life Extension: A Practical Scientific Approach."
Initially he took about 1 gram per day because he was buying BHT in
bulk at the time and larger amounts were easier to measure out than
smaller ones. Later he was able to obtain BHT in capsules containing
250 mg per cap, and from that point on he took 250 mg every day for 6
to 7 years. Not surprisingly, during this period he remained completely
free of herpes eruptions. More surprising is that he still remains
herpes-free to this day, 19 years after his last dose of BHT. Around 6
years ago Roger had a comprehensive physical exam, including blood
work. His physician told him that no antibodies to the herpes simplex
virus could be found in his system.
Today Roger’s health
is generally excellent, with no indication that his years of
supplementing with BHT have harmed him in any way. The only adverse
effect he ever encountered happened early on, while he was still
experimenting with the size of the dose. Roger found that taking 3
grams of BHT each day resulted in dizziness and disorientation, which
quickly disappeared when he cut his dose back to 1 gram per day. No
adverse effects were seen thereafter.
Of course, a sample of
one doesn’t constitute much of a survey. I needed to consult a larger
database, so I turned to Steven Fowkes, resident guru at the Cognitive
Enhancement Research Institute in Menlo Park, California and co-author
of Wipe Out Herpes with BHT. Steve, by the way, is working on
an
updated version of his 1983 book.
Steve Fowkes was
unequivocal in his judgment. In the decades since BHT first arrived on
the supplement scene, Steve hasn’t heard of any adverse reactions other
than two minor ones. First, BHT can cause hives in some people who are
sensitive to it. Second, BHT can cause a temporary decrease in blood
clotting when people first begin taking it in substantial doses.
Allergic sensitivities
to food additives such as dyes and preservatives have been known for
some time but the role of these additives in precipitating chronic
urticaria (hives) or other symptoms is still a matter of debate. Only a
few cases over the years have identified low-level BHT intake as the
sole cause of hives, so this reaction is not likely to be very common;
however, it may well become more common if provoked by large doses of
BHT. Fortunately, the condition tends to clear up after BHT use is
halted.
As for the transient
blood-thinning effect, Steve cautioned that people who have never taken
BHT before should acclimatize themselves by starting out with small
doses (less than 250 mg for the first day, if possible) and ramping up
gradually over the course of a week; there is a special need for
caution among those who are taking anticoagulants at the same time. In
no case should the final dose exceed 1 gram per day without medical
supervision. BHT’s anticlotting effect will diminish within 2 days in
any event, unless extremely high doses (around 5 grams per day or
higher) are being taken.
But what about liver
toxicity? BHT gets metabolized in the liver, so won’t taking large
amounts compromise liver function? Steve’s response was that he has
spoken with literally hundreds of people who have successfully treated
themselves for herpes with BHT. So long as a dose level of 1 gram per
day was not exceeded, no cases of hepatic injury (as determined by
pathologically high serum levels of the liver enzymes ALT and AST) have
yet been reported by this group.
Unfortunately, some people taking BHT
will find that not even 1 gram per day is sufficient to eradicate
herpes. According to Steve Fowkes, the problem lies not with BHT but
rather with the individual; the more unbalanced a person’s metabolic
state, the less effective BHT seems to become. Rather than increasing
the dose to more than a gram per day, Steve suggests maintaining the
BHT level while supplementing with additional nutrients, including
vitamins B12 and B6, polyunsaturated fatty acids, magnesium, and
selenium; vitamin A is also suggested, although women who are capable
of getting pregnant should limit their intake of this vitamin. In
addition, anyone who suspects they are hypometabolic should arrange to
have a thyroid test done, since hypothyroidism can increase the body’s
viral susceptibility.
Finally, Steve
suggested that the combination of BHT with hypericin (from St. John’s
wort) is a synergistic antiviral combination, more effective than BHT
alone. To determine an appropriate dose level, hypericin intake should
be ramped up gradually from 1 mg per day until an effective dose is
reached, usually 10 mg per day or less. Steve also recommended pulsing
the hypericin at the effective dose level, i.e., using it for about a
week at a time with time off between dosing episodes. Because hypericin
can cause photosensitivity of the skin, sun exposure should be limited
to half the usual daily amount during and after hypericin intake. One
of the nice features of BHT is that it tends to inhibit any oxidative
stress induced by hypericin; for this reason, Steve feels that anyone
taking hypericin should always take BHT with it. More information on hypericin
will appear in a future article on this
blog.
After talking with
Steve Fowkes and reviewing the scientific literature, I’ve concluded
that the benefits of taking BHT seem to greatly outweigh the risks. In
the process of researching this article I was reminded of a fundamental
principle of toxicology first enunciated around 500 years ago by
Paracelsus, the great Renaissance physician and alchemist: “All
substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The
correct dose differentiates a poison from a remedy.” Or in the present
case, “the correct dose differentiates a remedy from a food additive.”
Table of Common
Lipid-Enveloped Human and Animal
Viruses.
Only the ones in the
left-hand column can be inhibited
by BHT alone.
Lipid-enveloped
viruses
Non-enveloped viruse
hepatitis B
hepatitis C
HIV
Influenza
herpes family
HSV-1
HSV-2
herpes zoster
Epstein-Barr
cytomegalovirus
HHV-6
pseudorabies