Nattokinase

What Is Nattokinase?

Nattokinase is an enzyme from natto, the sticky fermented soybean dish eaten at breakfast in Japan. The bacterium that does the fermenting, Bacillus subtilis var. natto, secretes it. Here it is isolated from that fermentation and capsuled on its own.

How It Works in the Body

Nattokinase is a serine protease — a protein-cutting enzyme, from the same family as the subtilisins in laundry detergent. What sets it apart is what it cuts. Its substrate is fibrin, the stringy protein mesh the body lays down and clears again as part of normal blood flow.

Fibrin is built and broken down continuously, and plasmin is the body's own enzyme on the breaking-down side. Nattokinase acts on fibrin directly, which is unusual for a protease of that family.

What It Supports

• Blood pressure: Supports blood pressure already within the normal range.
• Healthy fibrin levels: Fibrin is laid down and cleared constantly, and nattokinase supports healthy fibrin levels.
• Smooth blood flow: How much fibrin is present is one of the things that sets how freely blood moves, so it supports the smooth flow of blood.
• A food-derived enzyme: It comes out of a fermentation people have eaten for centuries, not from a chemical synthesis.

Who It May Suit

Suits adults with an interest in vascular health who are not taking anything that acts on clotting. This product contains soy. The enzyme comes from a soy fermentation, and soy protein is one of the other ingredients. The capsule is plant-based.

Good To Know

Nattokinase preparations differ in whether vitamin K2 from the fermentation stays with the enzyme. Stop use well before any planned surgery or dental work, and tell the team you have taken it. Talk with your healthcare provider before use, and be specific if you take a blood thinner, an antiplatelet medicine or daily aspirin, or have a bleeding disorder — nattokinase acts on fibrin, so it can add to their effect.