Thread by @alan2102z

Stunning new finding: #linoleic acid inhibits #SARSCoV2 viral replication!

https://twitter.com/DorissLoh/status/1596512997832523777

Thanks to @DorissLoh (your essential Melatonin Connection) for this great find. Follow her.

@DrDan20000

Linoleic acid is a fatty acid distributed widely in foods, especially nuts, seeds and vegetable oils.

Pubmed link:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36417532/

The authors write that "Our results [set] the stage for [free fatty acid]-based antiviral strategies to overcome COVID-19."

Totally Cool!

Now: I will set the stage in more detail, which you might find helpful.

Remember that your doctor, and the public health "authorities", and the #zerocovid-ians, will NEVER provide this detail or any other relevant practical help to individuals like you and me.

They are obsessed with vaccines, facemasks, obscenely-expensive and problematic drugs purveyed by criminal corporations, and (possibly) air filters, and that is IT, THE END, as far as they are concerned. Bizarre and inexcusable, but true.

Now then:

The first impulse is to consume more linoleic-rich vegetable oils such as safflower, sunflower, corn, and so on, or seeds and nuts. (They are all linoleic-rich, varying somewhat in precise composition.)

But it may or may not be necessary to consume more; most people already have goodly amounts of linoleic in body fat stores. Increasing circulating free linoleic acid would be a matter of mobilizing body fat, which is easily done by fasting.

Enter THIS item: "Association of periodic #fasting with lower severity of #COVID19 outcomes in the SARS-CoV-2 prevaccine era":
nutrition.bmj.com/content/early/…

.... which provides the following detail: "In the switch to #ketosis during fasting, circulating levels of fatty acids, including linoleic acid, increase.2,3,4 Intriguingly, linoleic acid tightly binds to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19.5

The attachment of linoleic acid to the spike reduces the affinity of SARS-CoV-2 for ACE2.5 An acute rise in linoleic acid while a person is fasting, thus, provides a direct mechanism for fasting to acutely reduce the severity of COVID-19." end quote

The authors conclude that "Routine periodic fasting was associated with a lower risk of hospitalisation or mortality in patients with COVID-19."

Nice!

Fasting not only raises blood levels of linoleic acid, but of #ketones which are themselves related to covid pathophysiology (and probably outcomes):

nature.com/articles/s4158…
Impaired ketogenesis ties metabolism to T cell dysfunction in COVID-19

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32838361/
Investigating Ketone Bodies as Immunometabolic Countermeasures against Respiratory Viral Infections

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33014275
COVID-19: Proposing a Ketone-Based Metabolic Therapy as a Treatment to Blunt the Cytokine Storm.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35784364
Beta-Hydroxybutyrate [a ketone --alan2102]: A Dual Function Molecular and Immunological Barrier Function Regulator.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35783654
Ketone Bodies Improve Human CD8+ Cytotoxic T-Cell Immune Response During COVID-19 Infection.

So we have a complex picture in which 1) linoleic acid itself exerts direct antiviral effects, and 2) ketosis induced by fasting (to raise linoleic levels) has its own benefits apart from #1.

A point of further complexity (and complementarity): linoleic acid itself is ketogenic to a degree. All fatty acids are potentially ketogenic, the more so with unsaturation. The sat fats (animal fats, mainly) are less so; the polyunsaturates (PUFAs) from vegetable fats more so.

(There are a few exceptions, but that is a general rule.)

All fats are potentially ketogenic, but not all DIETS are. Dietary carbohydrate shuts down ketosis; carb restriction accelerates ketosis. Fasting, which necessarily involves carb restriction, is ketogenic, but you can

also achieve robust ketosis on normal calorie intake just by cutting carbs to near-zero. You can probably further accelerate ketosis by emphasizing, in your low-carb diet, ketogenic fats such as vegetable oils.

Returning to my comment above: "The first impulse is to consume more linoleic-rich vegetable oils. But [that] may or may not be necessary". It may not be strictly necessary, but it might be desirable.

If you are doing a keto diet for any purpose, and especially for covid prevention/treatment, then emphasis on linoleic-rich vegetable oils or foods (nuts and seeds) would be logical and rational. Further, higher linoleic acid intake is associated with lower incidence of most

killer diseases, and there are mechanistic explanations as to why this is so. There are many scores of studies on this subject and they go far beyond the scope of this thread; I just wanted to mention it in passing.

Lastly, for those who are worried about peroxidation of vegetable PUFAs like linoleic, which goes with the current meme re the supposed harm of "#seedoils", please see notes here:

https://twitter.com/alan2102z/status/1597889631840010240

But wait! There's more!

Direct inhibition of virus by linoleic acid (again):
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36352079/
Linoleic acid binds to SARS-CoV-2 RdRp and represses replication of seasonal human coronavirus OC43

(Warning: badly written abstract. English is 2nd language here, maybe 3rd.)

And:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36185653/
Relationships between plasma fatty acids in adults with mild, moderate, or severe COVID-19 and the development of post-acute sequelae

"Lower levels of...gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), linoleic, and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), were observed in adults with moderate disease.... Early recovery-stage depletion of GLA and EPA was associated with the development of PASC [Post-Acute Sequelae of Covid, i.e. long covid]".

GLA is a derivative of linoleic acid; a zinc-activated desaturase converts linoleic to GLA, and this is one reason (of many) to attend to zinc nutriture. Note the mention of #longcovid and the possibility of fatty acid insufficiency playing a role therein.

And:
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35783629/
Circulating Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and COVID-19: A Prospective Cohort Study and Mendelian Randomization Analysis

This study reports on 4100 COVID-19 patients, including 970 hospitalized ones, with 20,000 controls. The authors write:

"In the observational association analysis of each PUFA measure separately, total, omega-3, and omega-6 PUFAs, DHA, and LA [linoleic acid] were associated with a lower risk of severe COVID-19."

HOWEVER, they go on to emphasize the role of omega-3 fatty acids (NOT linoleic, which is omega-6), which have more pronounced anti-inflammatory effects. Many studies have made similar observations, concluding that omega-3s could be important.

In my original posts above I did not get into the omega-3/omega-6 balance issue (another point of complexity!), and it was beyond the scope of the thread, but ought be at least mentioned.

It is unwise to consume large quantities of omega-6 (linoleic, "seed oils") over long periods without any omega-3s. They balance each other, and the omega-3s might have greater significance in uncontrolled inflammatory phase of SEVERE covid disease.

At any rate, if you are considering dietary PUFA enrichment, especially long-term, include some omega-3 sources as well, the premier vegetable one being flax oil (extremely rich in omega-3s). Fish oils also provide omega-3s, possibly in better form.