Over
the years I have heard so much about BHT for this and BHT for that and
especially about BHT to treat Herpes. As you can see from the title of
this page, BHT does stand for Butylated Hydroxytoluene. It almost sounds
like something that people might use as a weight loss supplement. Well,
it's not. If you do some Googling of BHT you will find that
it has been
banned in some countries because
it poses a very real health risk. Why
the food and drug administration would even approve its use as a food
additive ever is beyond my comprehension. Perhaps they know something
that I don't. I don't know about you but I have never heard of people
using mutagen or carcinogens to treat their herpes outbreaks.
Furthermore, any site offering BHT as a herpes cure all is kind of full
of it since to date there is no way to wipe out the herpes virus from
any individuals body.
In spite of all
the controversy surrounding BHT some people insist that it has worked to
treat and heal their herpes outbreaks. I say - whatever! In spite of my
strong opinions I will go ahead and accept BHT comments from those that
have actually tried the stuff. As you can see from all my comment and feedback pages, I am open to both positive AND negative comments
surrounding the stuff. As soon as I receive input from real people I
will be happy to post them here for your convenience. ~Yoshi2me
BHT
is a food additive that is synthesized from two organic compounds called
p-cresol and isobutylene. It cannot be dissolved in water but is easily
dissolved in organic solvents such as alcohol and gasoline. BHT is
literally everywhere. In 1976, Americans consumed, by mouth, nearly nine
million pounds of the stuff. BHT hides in margarine, instant potatoes,
and chewing gum, to mention only a few examples. It is fed to chickens
and other animals. Americans consume 1 to 2 mg each per day. Each
American has on the average 1.3 to 0.82 parts per million in body fat.
BHT kills herpes simplex virus in the
laboratory. When dissolved in mineral oil at a concentration of 5
percent or 15 percent and applied to the skin of hairless mice infected
with herpes simplex virus type 1, BHT is better than mineral oil alone
at reducing the number of herpes lesions. BHT is probably a virus
envelope interrupter: it probably kills viruses that depend on having an
envelope by dissolving the envelope. Other mechanisms are also possible.
Two important criteria in drug testing have been satisfied in the
testing of BHT as an antiherpes treatment:
1. It kills herpes simplex virus in the test tube.
2.
It is effective at speeding the healing
of sores in mice when applied to the skin in mineral oil, although
not all investigators agree.
As a topically applied mixture in mineral
oil, BHT therapy also resulted in skin reddening and some skin
sloughing. This agent has never been reported to have been given by
mouth to animals for treatment of herpes. Despite this, it was
extensively advanced by a book that was very popular in the 1980's, at
doses ranging from 250 mg to 2,000 mg per day in the treatment of
herpes. There are no published data anywhere in the scientific
literature on the safety of BHT administered in these doses to humans.
Because we take BHT every day as a food additive, it is presumed safe.
However, these doses are as much as 1,000 times the usual daily intake.
At even high doses, the following things happen to animals in
experiments (not a complete list):
1.
Mice given an otherwise improper and
incomplete synthetic diet lived longer if the diet was supplemented with
BHT.
2.
BHT did not affect the life span of
mice who were given proper nutrition, although it did seem to partially
reverse the hazardous effects of inadequate nutrition.
3.
BHT prolonged the life span of mice
whose diets began to be supplemented with BHT when they were eleven
weeks old. It was of less benefit if started earlier in life.
4.
At higher doses, it can cause animals
to bleed into the brain or even bleed to death.
5.
It can damage heart cells.
6.
It can stunt weight gain.
7.
It can decrease the metabolism of the
adrenal glands.
8.
It can cause disorganization and
destructive changes of lunch cells and can lead to serious lung damage.
9.
The liver becomes enlarged, a
phenomenon that disappears when the agent is stopped. A system of liver
enzymes called the P-450 system is induced. If this system stays induced
for long periods, it changes the way other drugs and natural products
are metabolized. For example, if vitamin D is metabolized more quickly
by induced enzymes, over a period of time a vitamin deficiency may
develop that can lead to a bone disease called osteomalacia.
Most of the effects of BHT, both good and
bad, occur at high doses, much higher than the amounts we ingest
incidentally every day. However, the long-term effects of even the small
doses that we use are poorly understood, and the wisdom of ingesting
even these small amounts might well be questioned. There have been no
human studies at these doses with BHT for herpes treatment or for
safety. On the other hand, this chemical has passed the preliminaries of
developing a new antiherpes drug - it works in the test tube and, at
least in some investigators' hands, on the skin of animals. It was next
tried on the skin of humans in a trial conducted by Dr. S. Spruance from
the University of Utah. This double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
failed to show any significant benefit. At this point, there is no
precedent for humans to ingest BHT orally in these doses. Orally, it
should be avoided
until more information becomes available. Topically, it is not helpful.
~X
Hmmm, bet he thinks the moon landings were taped in Death Valley and that
aluminum foil hats keep the CIA at bay. Well, of course BHT kills the
viruses. It kills pretty much anything it comes across. ~Jim
BHT is not safe and not effective against herpes
See
Toxicity from BHT Ingestion
(You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view
this document)
Read this quotation at the end: "fortunately for our patient, follow-up
at six months and one year showed no long-term toxicity. However, she
has had outbreaks of her herpes."
===================================================
The comments here about aspartame forming "toxic" formaldehyde and that
both are the root of all evil are absolutely bogus. Formaldehyde is a
natural substance required for the proper methylation of DNA and
biomolecules (specifically, formyltetrahydrofolate is converted to a
methyltetrahydrofolate and used in conjunction with vitamin B12 to
methylate homocysteine and form the vital amino acid methionine, which
methylates many molecules including DNA). Many seemingly innocuous drugs
and chemicals produce formaldehyde (science has had a test for
formaldehyde for 30 years!); in fact, one caffeine molecule is degraded
to three molecules of formaldehyde, which is three times more
formaldehyde than from the same number of molecules of aspartame. The
government is right. Don't believe the profiteering MDs behind this
conspiracy theory, who evidently couldn't read a biochemistry or
toxicology text if their life depended on it.
~John E. Garst, Ph.D.
Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmacology, and Toxicology
Well that was interesting! First of all Aspartame,
is the same thing that's in Equal right? I've been using Equal products
for years and nothing has happened to me. I don't know much about BHT,
but based on what I have read I don't think I want to know anymore about
it. I'd rather have herpes and be healthy than have some weird health
problems from using a poisonous chemical compound. ~Al
You trust the FDA? The people who approved the
poison Aspartame? Amazing! BHT has been proven safe and affective
repeatedly in curing Herpes. You just don't get it. The giant
pharmaceutical companies will loose money if BHT is recognized as safe.
They will not be able to sell their deadly products that don't work. Of
course they are going to tell lies about safe and affective products
that cure herpes cheaply. ~Alan
Did you know that the whole aspartame controversy
is an Urban Legend? Apparently you have not checked SNOPES lately. BHT
has NOT been proven safe OR effective in doing squat for herpes. If BHT
were recognized as safe for herpes then it would have been crystal clear
to everybody ages ago. Where is this so called "proof" that some keep
screaming about? It's not enough to say that it works if you don't have
the clinical proof to back it up. ~A
Category Archives: BHT
