Whey Protein in Breastmilk Can “Kill” COVID-19 Virus, A Recent Study Reveals
Contrary to what they expected, scientists Yigang Tong and his colleagues found out that it wasn’t the antibodies in the breastmilk that largely helped suppress the SARS-CoV2 virus – it was the whey protein.
The Methodology
In their research, the investigators used various types of cells: from animal kidney cells to human lung and gut cells.
Afterward:
- They mixed the cells in human breastmilk, washed the milk off, and then exposed the cells to the COVID-19 virus. Then, they also exposed the sample cells to its relative, pangolin coronavirus.
- Results showed some surprising breastfeeding advantages: the COVID-19 virus as well as the pangolin coronavirus didn’t bind to the cell. They also noted that the breastmilk helped prevent viral entry.
The researchers likewise checked the effect of human breastmilk to the already-infected cells. They observed that the milk effectively inhibited the “post-entry viral replication”. This means that because of the breastmilk, the virus inside the cell didn’t multiply nor increase in number any further.
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