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24.04.2024

PEA protects against colds, flu - and perhaps also Covid

When half the world starts coughing and sneezing again, supplementation with palmitoyl-ethanolamide - usually abbreviated to PEA - may ensure that the viral misery passes you by. According to a sponsored human study, two capsules per day should be enough.

Study
Researchers from the Australian RDC Clinical divided 426 healthy and adult subjects into 2 groups. They gave one group 2 capsules each day, each containing 300 milligrams of PEA, for 12 weeks. The subjects in the other group received a placebo.

The supplement the researchers used was a product from Pharmako Biotechnologies. That company markets PEA as Levagen+. Pharmako Biotechnologies sponsored the study.

Results
During the experiment, the subjects in the PEA group suffered from sore throat, cough, runny nose or other symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection 39-42 percent less often than the subjects in the placebo group.

This difference was statistically significant, as shown in the table below. Click on it for a larger version.

The researchers based themselves entirely on the self-reporting of their subjects. The researchers did not find out what kind of virus was affecting their test subjects. They were probably cold viruses, flu viruses - and perhaps also the well-known coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Mechanism
The researchers have not studied exactly how the antiviral effect of PEA works. Based on the literature, they suspect that the effects found are related to the activation of the endocannaboid receptors by PEA. As a result, PEA can inhibit inflammation.

"PEA has demonstrated the ability to increase beta-enzyme activity, which, in turn, enhances the synthesis of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol, suggesting that an increased endocannabinoid tone may modulate mast cell degranulation," the researchers write. In this respect, the immunologial effect of PEA may be surprisingly similar to that of corticosteroids.

"Similarly, Levagen+ modulates endocannabinoid signaling and contributes to the activation of cannabinoid receptors. This may mean that those with more severe symptoms may respond better to Levagen+ than those with mild symptoms."

Source:
Nutrients. 2023 Oct 20;15(20):4453.

More:
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PEA against chronic pain | Metastudy 28.09.2023
Palmitoylethanolamide, a natural painkiller with no side effects 03.11.2016

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