What enzyme breaks down Hemocyanin?

Question

I have an intolerance to shellfish and discovered that hemocyanin is a protein produced by almost all crustaceans. I could be way off, but if this protein is the one I am intolerant to, wouldn't I be able to take the appropriate enzyme and be fine, much the way people who are lactose intolerant do with lactase? Just a thought I would like to pursue; any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Hemocyanin is fine, it's just copper and some functional groups similar to our own Hemoglobin.

Most shellfish allergies are actually due to being allergic to a protein called Tropomyosin, which should seem strange because we use Tropomyosin in our muscles to help stimulate actin/myosin filaments to slide across eachother in muscle contractions. But in any case, tropomyosin is probably the culprit. And you can find the allergy from a lot of different sources, including dust mites and cockroaches as well as crustaceans. It's not as simple as just taking an enzyme you're missing. The thing to do is look for recipe substitutions, avoid shellfish, and I always suggest adding some vitamin C and bioflavonoids to your diet (vitamin supplements) to help your body deal with inflammation and allergens.

Take care of yourself.

Craig

Answer 2

Hemocyanin is a protein. Pepsin and trypsin should destroy it.