Facts About Nattokinase

Nattokinase is an enzyme, a 275 amino acid peptide chain, that is named after and extracted from a Nattō, type of Japanese food. Nattō is produced by fermentation of soybeans by microorganisms. There is a wide range of food made from soybeans by fermentation, but the natto preparation requires Nattokinase enzyme. Natto is cheese-like food usually eaten for breakfast and it is a folk remedy for diseases associated with cardiovascular system. Alternative medicine commonly recommends  Nattokinase for blood pressure regulation.

Nattokinase is promoted by alternative medicine because it has been effectively marketed by Kenrico as a product that can prevent cell damage or apoptosis. It is used as a cure for some gastrointestinal disorders, dermatological disorders and immunodeficiencies. Alzheimer’s Disease is associated with toxic amyloid fibrils, and there are some evidences that Nattokinase enzyme can be effective in catabolism of those fibrils.

Nattokinase have shown effect in increasing the clot dissolving activities (in other words, fibrinolytic activity) of animal and human blood. Blood clotting is a physiological process of the human and animal body in order to allow blood to be thicker and form a clot in a blood cell. If there were no blood clots, any and even minor cut could lead to severe bleeding. Only one enzyme is produced by a human body to dissolve the making of blood clots and that enzyme is plasmin. As a person becomes older, the production of plasmin is lower and lower, which can lead to blood coagulation or thrombosis. Scientific researches have shown some results of nattokinase in breaking up the thrombus and dissolving existing fibrin to prevent blood coagulation. Nattokinase has got higher fibrinolytic activity than plasmin. This enzyme has also been used to regulate blood pressure. Human volunteers having high blood pressure problems were tested and orally administered by lyophilized nattokinase enzyme and 4 out of 5 people showed significant changes in their blood pressure.