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from the if-there's-a-protease-is-there-also-an-amateurtease? dept.
Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
Chemical Compounds in Foods Can Inhibit a Key SARS-CoV-2 Enzyme:
Chemical compounds in foods or beverages like green tea, muscadine grapes and dark chocolate can bind to and block the function of a particular enzyme, or protease, in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to a new study by plant biologists at North Carolina State University.
[...] In the study, the NC State researchers performed both computer simulations and lab studies showing how the so-called "main protease" (Mpro) in the SARS-CoV-2 virus reacted when confronted with a number of different plant chemical compounds already known for their potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
[...] Computer simulations showed that the studied chemical compounds from green tea, two varieties of muscadine grapes, cacao powder and dark chocolate were able to bind to different portions of Mpro.
"Mpro has a portion that is like a 'pocket' that was 'filled' by the chemical compounds," Xie said. "When this pocket was filled, the protease lost its important function."
Journal Reference:
Yue Zhu, De-Yu Xie. Docking Characterization and in vitro Inhibitory Activity of Flavan-3-ols and Dimeric Proanthocyanidins Against the Main Protease Activity of SARS-Cov-2, Frontiers in Plant Science (DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.601316)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Tuesday December 01 2020, @06:36AM (4 children)
nuf said [xkcd.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by driverless on Tuesday December 01 2020, @07:39AM
I was about to post the obligatory "in mice" but sheesh, they didn't even get that far.
(Score: 4, Funny) by choose another one on Tuesday December 01 2020, @09:17AM (2 children)
Yeah, bleach works in vitro...
On the other hand, I'm all for listening to your body and stuffing your face with copious quantities of dark chocolate, got to work out that conflict, over a cup of tea I think...
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday December 01 2020, @09:37AM (1 child)
A bottle of muscadine wine will do too, I guess. I'd be willing to give it a chance at least.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by choose another one on Tuesday December 01 2020, @12:08PM
As with anything in medicine, results may be a bit variable, you may need to give it several chances... (note to self: add more chocolate to shopping order).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2020, @07:01AM (1 child)
Trummp was RIGHT! Chemical compounds injected in the membrane make you go insane.
(Score: 2) by bart9h on Tuesday December 01 2020, @08:57PM
INSANE IN THE MAINBRAAAAANE [youtube.com]!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2020, @11:38AM (2 children)
Now food is made of "chemical compounds"? What are vaccines made of?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2020, @12:20PM (1 child)
Bioterror compounds
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2020, @12:43PM
Bioterror residues.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/nucleotide-residue [sciencedirect.com]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2020, @12:06PM (3 children)
Because there is a difference.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday December 01 2020, @04:26PM (2 children)
Dark Chocolate is made from Cocoa beans . . .
https://www.webmd.com/diet/video/dark-chocolate-benefits [webmd.com]
Unless you were mixing it up with Coca:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca [wikipedia.org]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2020, @04:35PM
Yep. Dark Chocolate also works the west side of N. 1st St.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2020, @08:02PM
I've always wondered why adding milk to the healthy, wonderful dark chocolate turns it into the horrible, killer milk chocolate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2020, @01:53PM (2 children)
Queue some pharmaceutical corporation getting a patent on these compounds and the FDA banning natural sources from containing more than trace amounts of these compounds. They did it for Lovastatin and red yeast rice.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2020, @04:58PM (1 child)
Also I just noticed the FDA recently banned
"In its advisory dated September 16 signed by FDA Director General Rolando Enrique Domingo, the agency said that based on its post-marketing surveillance, Reno Liver Spread, Miracle White Advance Whitening Food Supplement, Turcumin natural and standardized turmeric curcumin, DESA Spanish Style bangus (milkfish) sardines in corn oil, and Samantha’s Dips and Sauce Spanish Sardines Pasta sauce each did not have a corresponding certificate of product registration (CPR), which is required under Republic Act 9711 or the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009."
https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/09/16/news/latest-stories/fda-bans-sale-of-5-unregistered-food-products/768751/ [manilatimes.net]
"Curcumin, a substance in turmeric, may help to reduce inflammation. Several studies suggest that it might ease symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, like pain and inflammation. Other compounds in turmeric might also be medicinal."
https://www.webmd.com/diet/supplement-guide-turmeric#1 [webmd.com]
In general I don't really think the FDA always has the public interest in mind. It's possible there is a lot of back door dealings between the FDA and pharma and they try to prohibit anything natural in order to promote pharma.
Regardless I want to make my own health decisions. I don't want the FDA making my health decisions for me. I don't want them trying to force me to take a more expensive patented drug instead of a cheaper alternative.
You may claim that there are no clinical trials, etc... Yes, clinical trials should be done. First of all clinical trials require FDA approval so that gets them involved in the whole political process associated with getting these trials done. Secondly it should be up to me to decide what I want to consume and not consume, not the FDA. Things like alcohol and cigarettes are legal and that's OK. Yes, clinical trails should be done.
Also the constitution doesn't give the federal government any right to regulate intrastate commerce. Most of what the FDA does when they ban something that states deem to be OK is unconstitutional so long as the product isn't being imported into the state or exported out of the state. Let the state regulate this stuff within their own borders, we shouldn't let the FDA essentially violate the constitution by banning products within a state.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2020, @05:04PM
A list of substances the FDA has recently banned or wants to ban.
https://anh-usa.org/fda-moves-to-ban-customized-curcumin-others/ [anh-usa.org]
How can we do clinical trials on a substance if the FDA outright bans it?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 01 2020, @04:16PM
Dark chocolate prevents COVID! doctors stunned