Nattokinase: Nature's Miracle Drug?
Nattokinase: Nature's Miracle Drug?
A (bro)Scientific Breakdown and Practical Applications For Your Heart
If you’ve been on “our side of Twitter/X” for more than a day then it’s very likely you’ve seen someone talk about our topic of the day—Nattokinase—more than once and typically in an overly positive way.
Nattokinase has some scientific and medical literature showing that it could be something of a miracle supplement/compound due to the fact that not only has it been shown to decrease the risk of arterial plaque buildup, but also to reduce already existing plaque in the arteries—this is a VERY big deal, warranting the hype it’s gotten over the last few years.
While this is great and all, today we’re going to take a bigger dive into the enzyme derived from soybeans and take an objective look at what it is, how it works, how effective it is, and how you can apply this to your health and fitness regimen.
Before we get started, this isn’t medical advice. I’m not saying this as some disclaimer to prevent liability when one of you does something dumb, but rather because this will cover some serious issues and I do not want anyone to think this is a magic fix. When we start talking about atherosclerosis and clotting, things are serious, this is something you need actual medical advice from a medical professional to prevent medical contradictions and/or any negative drug interactions if you take things for these issues already. I am here to present information that is publicly available online in a singular place so you can be better informed and make better decisions.
That out of the way, let’s get into the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where, and why’s) of Nattokinase.
What Is Nattokinase?
This is actually where the first point of contention that requires nuance is going to come into play…
Nattokinase is an enzyme that comes from the Japanese food Natto (it’s actually not a kinase but rather a protease enzyme but that is neither here nor there). Natto is made of boiled soybeans that have been fermented.
Now, I know, “soy” is associated with high estrogen and low testosterone and a rather fun insult to hurl at reply guys, so this is usually the first question I get when I bring it up; “isn’t soy bad for my testosterone though?”.
Again, as much as I love the insult and meme of soy, in reality, it’s mostly rooted in myth. Soy isn’t actually as bad as people make it out to be, especially trace amounts, furthermore, there is a mice study where nattokinase increased testosterone (for what that’s worth) so it’s just not really a valid concern.
The enzyme nattokinase is extracted during the fermentation process into the powder we see in capsule form. You can get nattokinase by eating natto itself as a viable way to get nattokinase as it’s around 1400-2000fu (fibrin units) per 50g serving.
For practical purposes the most common way to get it will be capsule form—this is what I do because 1. I’ve never seen natto in a store and am too lazy to find one 2. I enjoy my diet the way it is.
Anyway, I digress, you didn’t come here for a lesson on Japanese culinary culture…
What Does It Do?
Nattokinase is a fibrinolytic enzyme which means it’s in a group of medications used to manage and treat dissolving intravascular clots.
The main effect we are looking at here is its fibrinolytic properties which causes fibrinolysis—a process that prevents blood clots from growing and becoming problematic.
When we take or consume nattokinase and digest it, it becomes active and also breaks down into peptides that then have various fibrinolytic outcomes.
One of the main effects that nattokinase or the peptides it metabolizes into begin to digest fibrin which are proteins in our body involved in the clotting process.
While not inherently bad (it’s nice not to bleed out from a simple paper cut), when we have elevated levels of fibrin, as you can probably guess, we can run into issues—namely with blood clots and plaque buildup in our arteries which can then cause a clot in your brain, heart, lungs, and other organs which is often fatal. With this, arterial plaque buildup in general can reduce blood flow which can cause high blood pressure, erectile dysfunction, dementia, and a bunch of other stuff I can promise you that you don’t want to have.
Some research has shown that not only can it help prevent the formation of new clots and plaque, but it can also improve existing atherosclerosis (the hardening and thickening of arteries from plaque buildup) which is significant because this is much harder to achieve than just reducing new plaque formation.
There is also some research showing that the peptides nattokinase metabolizes into can help lower blood pressure by reducing renin activity and angiotensin II.
There were some reports showing it can even improve our lipid profiles but there isn’t anything currently supporting that claim, so not to say it for sure doesn’t (we need more research), I wouldn’t bank on using this to improve any issues with lipids/cholesterol levels.
On top of all of this, it can help shrink and remove nasal polyps and mucus which can help with sinus issues and even some conditions like asthma.
Now, I do not want this censored or to create some outrage, but I also don’t care about feelings over facts, so let me leave you with this:
Given the virus that circulated over the last 4 years that is KNOWN to cause issues with blood clots (regardless if jabbed or not, still a risk factor of the virus itself), it might be worth considering if this is a good preventative measure given the situation. I legally can’t say much here, BUT I feel more comfortable about my health and subsequent risks by taking it for that reason.
So, for those of you in the same mental tax bracket as me, what this means is nattokinase can help us reduce our risk of blood clots and help ensure our arteries are not getting clogged up with plaque + it might also help us lower our blood pressure.
For those who need the spark notes because Tik Tok culture has fried your brain, nattokinase can:
Reduce the risk of blood clots and plaque buildup
Potentially reduce existing plaque buildup and dissolve clots
Lower your blood pressure
Reduce the overall risk of heart disease, stroke, deep vein thrombosis, atherosclerosis, sinus health, and even HEMORRHOIDS (it’s also good for your butthole, who woulda known)
Now, let’s look at this from a critical point of view.
While there is some data and research showing all these benefits, nattokinase has not been as extensively researched as it could be and there are still some question marks on how significant its overall impacts are.
Looking at everything, I would say it’s safe to assume that it definitely has positive effects on all the above, but to what degree we might not know. From what we know, it’s effective enough that I trust it to help prevent these issues and improve my health, but if I had known issues like atherosclerosis then I would probably not rely on just nattokinase to prevent a heart attack, pulmonary embolism, etc.
That said, some clinical research goes as far as to state “Nattokinase is an ideal treatment, therefore, for heart attack patients, ischemic stroke patients, those at risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis—in short, any patient with a clotting problem. Hypertension is another hallmark of atherosclerosis.” so it’s definitely not something to take lightly if you have issues (again, I mean this in the sense of discussing it with your doctor, not taking this post as a medical recommendation itself).
I do not like to be overly optimistic about things like this, so I always use an error of caution as health isn’t something to be unrealistic with. This is not something that is a miracle pill that makes up for poor lifestyle choices, but rather it can likely aid you in further improving your health and hopefully improve any issues you might have.
How Safe Is It?
When we talk about things that can “thin” your blood (or anything for that matter), it is crucial you have zero health contradictions or interactions with existing medications that can cause issues.
With that said, currently there is only 1 study showing a patient having cerebral microbleeds when taking nattokinase with aspirin. I believe this was a person with high risk/who previously had a stroke, but I can’t find any more details than the link attached to this quote: “We suggest that nattokinase may increase risk of intracerebral hemorrhage in patients who have bleeding-prone cerebral microangiopathy and are receiving other antithrombotic agent at the same time.” So, if this is you, avoid, otherwise…
There are no toxicity risks observed with nattokinase in dosages all the way up to 1000mg/kg/day in rats which is over 100 times the usual dose for humans, and it has been stated: “the advantages of NK include a proven safety profile with a long history of human consumption, the convenience of oral administration (many antithrombotic drugs are injectable), ease of mass production, and it possesses multiple key favourable cardiovascular effects.”—this link highlights the section of the study going over the safety profile.
So, with all that said, it is safe (I would assume it wise to avoid if soy allergy however) for anyone without any health complications and those with health complications should be bringing it up to their doctor in the first place.
How Much Should You Take?
I’ll state first off that personally, I take 12,000fu’s of nattokinase a day because it is within the range of recorded benefit and the capsules I have are 2000fu’s each so it’s just easy to take 3 in the morning and 3 at night.
The data is somewhat all over the place in terms of dosing. Some studies have said that as little as 500fu having benefits, with some saying less than 4000fu doesn’t have much benefit, and some have said as much as 10,800fu a day to get the maximum benefits.
Given that nattokinase is fine to take in the higher range of this and some data shows you might need that higher range, I opt to take a higher dosage to ensure I am actually getting the benefits. I care about this because as a competitive bodybuilder, there is some “stuff” you have to take to be competitive which is known to cause risk with clots, plaque buildup, blood pressure, etc.. If you are in the same boat, (in plain English, if you take any gear) then this is a good addition to your harm reduction protocols.
Generally, I would feel comfortable saying 4000fu-10,800fu (more if you want, I won’t recommend it per se, but I’m still alive and my blood work is impeccable) a day is a good dosage protocol to reap the benefits.
Taken straight it from the horse’s mouth:
Where Should You Get It From?
There are a bunch of places to get this, it’s a straightforward supplement so there isn’t really a “best”, but that said, I’ll list my trusted brands.
Also, remember, you can get this through diet by eating natto, so if you like it then cool, if you’ve never tried it then maybe you’ll find a new piece of your diet you enjoy.
My trusted sources (None of these are affiliates, I have no incentive to get you to take this/it doesn’t influence the integrity of the information):
Doctor’s Best (this is what I take solely because it popped up on Amazon first and it’s a good brand)
Pure Encapsulation (in mg not fu but 100mg = 2,000fu)
I’ve just listed their actual websites as I don’t think Substack allows Amazon links, but they’re all on Amazon too. I’m sure there are other great brands but I’m either not aware of them or have never used their products/done due diligence.
It should be cheap, don’t get scammed, I pay less than $30 for 270 capsules, BUT Pure Encapsulation has a great reputation if you trust them more for whatever reason.
Conclusion
I’ve said more than enough to paint an accurate picture of what nattokinase is, what its potential is, and how to go about it, BUT I cannot overstate how great it is to have something with this amount of recorded benefit/risk reduction with such a safe/minimal risk profile.
I won’t call it a miracle supplement per se, your lifestyle choices will trump everything, but it does have some pretty miraculous potential.
I should also note there are other thrombolytics and fibrinolytics with similar positive benefits like serrapeptase and additional things like bromelain that can also improve these aspects of health, but nattokinase alone is a potent protocol and I didn’t want to write 30,000 words.
I would like to see a lot more research done on this to really paint a better picture, but I’m not sure the pharmaceutical industry will be happy about a natural compound with potential profound health effects…
With that said, as with everything I have strong opinions, loosely held, so while it’s clear we have benefits, I will keep an open mind to how truly effective it is and adapt my opinions to the best evidence we have at the time (and update my finding whether good or bad).
On that note, enjoy your week, we have a lot more to talk about and programs to tease in the near future.
- Ox
DISCLAIMER
This is not Legal, Medical, or Financial advice. Please consult a medical professional before starting any workout program, diet plan, or supplement protocol. These are opinions from a Cartoon Ox. This is especially not medical advice, I am not telling you to do anything, seriously, don’t mess yourself up.
Fantastic info, Ox!
Extremely well presented information, I have a bottle at home and will begin taking it.