Carrie Lam, MD and Jeremy Lam, MD, host the Dr. Lam Show, where they show their passion for Integrative and Functional Medicine and share nutritional education to empower people to take control of their health. This pair of siblings started LAM CLINIC, where they're able to provide whole-person healing not only in person but also through telemedicine all over the world.
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This enzyme helps people with heart and cardiovascular ailments. It can also reduce systemic inflammation, and be a blood thinner. It increases the good cholesterol and helps plaque removal.
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Nattokinase Nattokinase is an enzyme extracted from natto, a popular Japanese breakfast dish made from fermented soybeans. Natto has long been used in folk medicine to actually be able to benefit cardiovascular health. So natto, known for the strong, cheesy like smell and sticky consistency is made by adding a Bacillus subtilis which is a bacteria and boiling the soybeans and leaving it until it becomes fermented. So the only source of nattokinase is natto and it can only be produced using the specific fermentation process. The extracted enzyme is manufactured into capsules and tablets, and can also be found in powdered form in Japan. And while it's mostly safe and tolerable, nattokinase may have some side effects and interactions with certain medications. What is nattokinase used for? Nattokinase has traditionally been touted as to be very good for cardiovascular health as it can help to break down blood clots and improve circulation. So some of the things that it has helped are the studies that we will talk about is chest pain, atherosclerosis, blood clots, hemorrhoids, blood pressure, and cardiovascular diseases. So deep vein thrombosis is actually a term that describes blood clots in your legs, in the deep veins tends to affect those with underlying circulation issues. So nattokinase in a study was able to break down fibrin, which is a protein involved in blood clotting, and it was more effective than placebo. And so it can also be a very good anti coagulant, which is a blood thinner, reducing the concentration of factor eight, which is a blood clotting protein. So therefore it does make your blood thinner and you have to be very careful about taking it with other blood thinners, especially blood thinning medications. If you do have deep vein thrombosis, definitely do not stop your medications, always ask your doctor first. Another thing that nattokinase can help with is atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is called the hardening of arteries, meaning there's some buildup of fatty plaque on the arterial walls. And the biggest culprits are usually high cholesterol. So you would find that your doctor puts you on cholesterol medication in order to help reduce this risk of cardiovascular disease. Nattokinase also is able to reduce some of this arterial plaque and actually increase your good level of cholesterol, the good cholesterol rather than the bad cholesterol. So, that's a good benefit that nattokinase has. Some of the side effects, like we talked about previously is that it does influence your blood circulation. So people with bleeding disorders like if you have hemophilia definitely don't take nattokinase is they can make bleeding worse. People who take blood thinners like warfarin or Heparin, have to be careful as you may have easy bruising and easy bleeding. Those with low blood pressure can also be careful about nattokinase because it can lower your blood pressure even more causing some lightheadedness or dizziness. And those who are on anti hypertensive drugs like ACE inhibitors or calcium channel blockers nattokinase may intensify this drugs these drugs affects making your blood pressure even lower. So definitely be careful if you're on anti hypertensive medication. If you're planning to get a surgery, stop the nattokinase at least two weeks prior to reduce your risk of excessive bleeding. And don't use it in children. Nattokinase can be found in capsules or tablets and most of the times, it's recommended that you take them on an empty stomach. It's recommended that you take nattokinase on an empty stomach because it acts as a systemic enzyme in that you can actually help to reduce inflammation when you take it in an empty stomach. Natto is also high in fiber and can give you a good amount of iron, magnesium, calcium, vitamin C and potassium when you're eating natto food. So we talked about nattokinase today as a beneficial cardiovascular supplement. So to summarize, nattokinase is a great enzyme to be able to help the not your blood, improve circulation and also reduced stomach inflammation if taken on an empty stomach. We're here to empower you to take control of your health. So if you have any questions about this at all, give me a call.
