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Enzyme Defense (formerly Virastop) anyone?

Mary

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I've read this is supposed to be effective against viruses and also helps the immune system. I was drawn to this product in particular because of the catalase, which may help with PEM.

So - does anyone have any experience with Enzyme Defense, formerly known as Virastop?
 

drob31

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Looks interesting. I know some formulas that seem similar but don't have catalase.
 

Hip

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Looking back at my supplements diary, it looks like I tried Virastop on five different occasions over the last few years.

Typically I'd take it for around one week (at dose of 1 or 2 Virastop capsules per day), though on one occasion I took Virastop for 3 weeks in a row.

Interestingly, in my supplements diary, the notes I made about changes in my symptoms on these five separate occasions mention an increase in conscious awareness a few times: I wrote things like: "slightly more conscious awareness today" and "conscious attention a little better than normal". It is relatively rare for me to make such comments in my notes, so this may have been caused by Virastop.

I did not note any other changes in symptoms though.


I wonder if this apparent benefit of slightly increased conscious awareness was due to the antiviral effect, or due to one of the ingredients (eg catalase) that may be having a good effect on ME/CFS?

Virastop / Enzyme Defense contains 50 Baker units of catalase. I am not sure how that compares to the 600 mg of catalase that @Mya Symons used to combat exercise induced PEM (see his post here).
 

Hip

Senior Member
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Searching this forum, here is one report of Virastop really helping with symptoms, but at doses of 16 to 18 capsules per day!

Interestingly, they report a similar increase conscious awareness:
I also noticed that colours seemed a lot clearer and I was much more alert and aware of what was going on around me, whereas in my normal state I walk around feeling like a bit of a zombie in a kind of semiconscious state!
 

Mary

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@Hip - thanks for all the links! I've been taking the Enzyme Defense for a few days, just increased it to 4 a day, mainly for my immune system. I've been fighting a bug for a couple of weeks now, and also get sick every time I crash. It's too soon to tell if it will help, but at least I'm not worse ...

It's hard to find a supplement with catalase. I think I stumbled across the one that @Mya Symons used: http://www.invitehealth.com/catalase-hx/best-product/?source=gsIH&gclid=COG_7eai8NACFZCJfgod1gMEYA

It has 600 mg. of catalase; I don't know how that compares to 50 baker units. This article explains what a baker unit is, though again I don't know how it compares to milligrams: http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/catalase/

How to Read the Units of Measurement for Catalase
The Catalase enzyme is an antioxidant measured in the FCC as (Baker Units). One Baker Unit is defined as the amount of catalase that will decompose 264 mg of hydrogen peroxide under the conditions of the assay. The FCC notation stands for Foods Chemical Codex and is a division of USP (United States Pharmacopeia). It sets standards for ingredients. In the case of enzymes, FCC is a standard assay used to accurately determine the activity of enzymes. The current compendium is FCC VI.

It would be very pricey to take 16 or 18 Enzyme Defense caps a day, though I may try it some time for a short while just to see what would happen. Years ago NADH and l-carnitine (taken at separate times) boosted my energy and stamina a lot, for about a week or so - and then just stopped. Calcium pyruvate had the same effect for about 3 days but it hasn't happened since. I'm wondering if the same thing would happen with high-dose Enzyme Defense - a short intense boost which doesn't last. One way to find out ---
 

Hip

Senior Member
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It's hard to find a supplement with catalase. I think I stumbled across the one that @Mya Symons used: http://www.invitehealth.com/catalase-hx/best-product/?source=gsIH&gclid=COG_7eai8NACFZCJfgod1gMEYA

I looked on the UK eBay, and it has a few catalase supplements such as "Go Away Gray" and "Catalase Extreme" and others, which are sold for the purpose of preventing and reversing gray hair. Quoting one product's blurb:
Hydrogen peroxide is naturally produced by the body and Catalase breaks it down. If you do not produce enough Catalase, the hydrogen peroxide takes over and bleaches your hair from the inside out, causing it to gray.

They probably don't work for fixing gray hair, but I might buy one of these to see what catalase does for ME/CFS.
 
Last edited:

frederic83

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I've read this is supposed to be effective against viruses and also helps the immune system. I was drawn to this product in particular because of the catalase, which may help with PEM.

How could enzymes be antiviral ?
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,824
How could enzymes be antiviral ?

I think the theory is that the proteolytic enzymes (proteases) in Virastop disable viruses, but I cannot find any scientific evidence demonstrating that this approach actually works.

It says here that:
Enzymes, particularly the proteases, turn out to be an excellent therapy to use against a virus by working on several levels. Many viruses are surrounded by a protective protein film, something a protease enzyme can digest away. Eliminating this coating leaves the viruses unprotected and vulnerable to antivirals and destruction. There is also research showing how enzymes support the immune system helping it to more effectively work on problems in the body, including viruses.

Is there any evidence that any enzymes may be effective in the treatment of viruses? One example comes from a study by Dr. Billigmann. In 1995, he published the results of a study with enzyme therapy as an alternative in the treatment of the virus Herpes zoster. In a controlled study with 192 patients, one of the objectives was to confirm that enzyme therapy had been effective on this virus in a previous study.

The other objective was to compare the effectiveness of enzymes with that of a standard drug called acyclovir. The high costs of treatment with this drug and others often meant patients with Herpes zoster would not receive medicinal therapy. They concluded that overall the enzyme preparation showed identical efficacy with the drug acyclovir, and thus also confirmed the results of the prior study.

The above description is vague, but I think the "protective protein film" they refer to may be the viral capsid, which is the protein shell of a virus, which contains the viral genome. On top of the capsid shell, enveloped viruses (such as herpes viruses) also have an additional lipid layer covering the capsid, whereas naked viruses (such as enteroviruses) do not have this fatty layer, and just have the naked protein capsid shell.

The Billigmann 1995 study using enzymes to treat varicella zoster virus is this one. In the abstract, they do not really say much about the enzymes used, nor the mechanism of action.



I found some discussion here which is interesting:
QUESTION: Can typical protease (protein degrading enzymes such as Proteinase K) degrade the intact (infectious) virion capsid proteins?

ANSWER: Yes, but you have make sure your capsid can be digested with a certain protease. For our purpose (release of the viral genome) we digest AAV capsids at 56°C for 2 h (Proteinase K)
AAV = Adeno-associated virus.

Note that proteolytic enzymes are also called: protease, peptidase and proteinase.
 

Mary

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17,335
Location
Southern California
I looked on the UK eBay, and it has a few catalase supplements such as "Go Away Gray" and "Catalase Extreme" and others, which are sold for the purpose of preventing and reversing gray hair. Quoting one product's blurb:


They probably don't work for fixing gray hair, but I might buy one of these to see what catalase does for ME/CFS.

@Hip - if you try one of these products, let us know you do. I considered the Catalase Extreme but reviews were poor for gray hair. Gray hair is not my issue but I guess I assumed it was an inferior product - but I could very well be wrong!
 

Hip

Senior Member
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17,824
I considered the Catalase Extreme but reviews were poor for gray hair.

From what I read, these catalase products don't really work at all for restoring hair color; it's all a bit of a con; however, provided the products do contain a good dose of catalase, they should be fine to try for ME/CFS.
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
From what I read, these catalase products don't really work at all for restoring hair color; it's all a bit of a con; however, provided the products do contain a good dose of catalase, they should be fine to try for ME/CFS.

Isn't catalase supposed to breakdown hydrogen perioxide which is what causes hair to turn grey?