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From: larry@kitty.UUCP (Larry Lippman)
Newsgroups: net.consumers,net.bio,net.games.chess,net.med
Subject: Re: Japanese super pill: a surmise
Message-ID: <1027@kitty.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-May-86 15:14:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: kitty.1027
Posted: Wed May 14 15:14:59 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 17-May-86 04:17:07 EDT
References: <1070@ellie.UUCP>
Organization: Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, NY
Lines: 37
Xref: watmath net.consumers:5281 net.bio:486 net.games.chess:388 net.med:3993
Summary: Starch -> sugar conversion enzymes

In article <1070@ellie.UUCP>, colonel@ellie.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) writes:
> A local TV station has been advertising a "Japanese super pill" for
> losing weight.  The trade name is "Amitol Plus," and the spiel is
> typically misleading.  It puzzled me when the pitchman stated that
> the Japanese have been using it for centuries.
> 
> To judge from the claim and from the name, Amitol-Plus is probably
> alpha-amylase, or diastase, a powerful starch digestant.  If I remember
> right, the stuff is used in the manufacture of sake, or rice wine.
> I believe it's also sold by Parke, Davis as "Taka-Diastase."
> 
> By the way, I've also heard the word "takadiastase" used generically.
> What's the distinction, if any, between "diastase" and "takadiastase?"

	I guess that taka-diastase can be used generically.  It is produced
by a type of fungus called Aspergillus oryzae, and is in effect a "yeast"
product.  Taka-diastaste is not a precisely defined substance; it exhibits a
large number of enzymatic effects - in fact, well over 25 DIFFERENT enzymatic
functions.
	Diastase is just an amylolytic enzyme; i.e., it converts say, potato
starch into sugars such as dextrin (starch gum) and maltose.  Taka-diastase,
however, not only exhibits amylolytic function, but also digests fats and
proteins.

> I've also heard that it can be extracted from malaria germs!  Can
> such things be?

	I doubt it.  Malaria is caused by a protozoa (Plasmodium vivax).  I
can't imagine protozoa producing taka-diastase; even if they did, I can't
imagine commercial production from protozoa when taka-diastase can be so
easily produced from Aspergillus fungus growing on wheat bran or rice.

==>  Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, New York
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