Is Nattokinase the Safest Blood Thinner?

Get Your Life Back in Rhythm

Is Nattokinase the Safest Blood Thinner? Most of my heart patients are scared to death of blood thinners. No one wants a blood clot, but yet no one wants to bleed to death either. Nattokinase may just be the safest blood thinner you have never heard of. In this article, I'll teach you everything you need to know about this natural blood thinner. Why I Eat Natto for Breakfast Since my health turn around nearly seven years ago, natto has been a part of my daily breakfast. This is a practice I described in our best selling book, The Longevity Plan. And if you haven't read it yet, pick up your copy now to find out why this best selling book has consistently maintained a 4.9-star rating on Amazon! When I first tried natto, I'll admit I was grossed out. Even though it smells like a dead rat what bothers me the most is how slimy and sticky it is. The reason why it is sticky and slimy is that it is a probiotic. In other words, the helpful bacteria from this probiotic make it slimy and sticky. While the Japanese eat it every morning over rice with mustard, soy sauce, or other flavorings, I just eat it plain. I scoop up a big tablespoon of the stuff and quickly swallow it down. It doesn't taste good but knowing how good it is for me makes it tolerable. Of note, my wife and two-year-old son also eat natto with me. My older three children won't go near the stuff. One Reason Why the Japanese Rarely Get Heart Disease For decades researchers have tried to figure out why the Japanese rarely get heart disease and why they live so long. Despite high rates of smoking among men, the Japanese are somehow still protected. One possible explanation may be natto. Natto, or fermented soybeans, is their equivalent for cereal in the morning. Natto contains nattokinase, a natural blood thinner, and is also off the charts in vitamin K2. For those not familiar with vitamin K2, vitamin K2 helps to keep calcium out of your arteries and into your bones where it belongs. Indeed, studies show that Japanese eating the most natto have the lowest rates of heart disease and strokes. They also live the longest. Interestingly, some studies show that it is only fermented soy that offers any of these benefits. What is nattokinase? Nattokinase is a food enzyme found in natto. Natto, in turn, is made from fermenting soybeans with the helpful bacteria called Bacillus natto. Thus, to get nattokinase, you can either get it naturally from eating natto or in a supplement extract form called nattokinase. Natto vs. Nattokinase: Which is Best? In choosing between eating natto or taking a nattokinase supplement, I have always gone with natto. The reason for this is really quite simple. Natto is so much better for you than taking a nattokinase supplement. To visualize what natto is doing for you just think of natto as nattokinase plus vitamin K2 in a probiotic form. When you take a nattokinase supplement, you don't get the probiotics and you don't get vitamin K2 either. And when it comes to vitamin K2, no other food on this planet comes anywhere close to natto. As I described in a previous article, vitamin K2 may be one of the best ways to protect your heart and bones from the aging process. I also worry about the purity of any supplement. With supplements, you really never know what you are getting. As supplements are totally unregulated, the blood thinning effects you get from bottle to bottle may not be the same. My philosophy on supplements is that a supplement should be a supplement. In other words, you should only consider a supplement when you can't get it naturally from food. Given that natto can be easily purchased at your local Asian grocery store, or shipped over ice from an online source, most people should have no problem obtaining natto. How does nattokinase thin the blood? Whether you get nattokinase from eating natto or from taking a supplement, nattokinase thins your blood many different ways.