More than 100 million Americans have high blood pressure (BP)—42% of U.S. adults to be more exact. That’s a dangerously high number considering that high blood pressure puts you directly in the crosshairs of heart disease and elevated stroke risk. And while there are many drugs to reduce high blood pressure, a lot of them come with a long lists of side effects ranging from uncomfortable to dangerous.

Fortunately, there is a little-known and highly effective way to lower your blood pressure and reduce the risk of blood clotting. It can, in turn, lower your risk of heart disease and stroke while bypassing all the miserable side effects of prescription drugs.

It’s called nattokinase. It’s natural, it’s safe, and incredibly effective. Please read on to learn about how you can use it to lower your BP starting today.

What is Nattokinase?

Nattokinase is an enzyme extracted from natto—natto is fermented soybeans, a popular breakfast food in Japan. Like many things fermented, natto has a strong smell and taste. However, nattokinase doesn’t. It’s an odor-free powder and it’s now sold worldwide.

Despite its broad availability, and despite the prevalence of high blood pressure, nattokinase hasn’t broken into the ranks of popular high blood pressure treatments. But that’s changing with every person nattokinase helps. Here’s how…

How Nattokinase Lowers Your Blood Pressure

There’s a protein called fibrinogen circulating in your blood, and it’s one of the best markers for predicting heart attacks and strokes. One of its primary purposes is to help your blood clot. In most cases, this is a good thing. If you are cut and your blood doesn’t clot, then it will continue to bleed out of your body.

But too much fibrinogen means that your blood is more likely to clot inside your arteries.

In scientific terms, nattokinase has potent fibrinolytic activity. It’s neuroprotective, antihypertensive, anti-atherosclerotic, lipid-lowering, and antiplatelet.

In layperson’s terms, it degrades fibrin—preventing excess fibrinogen and therefore excess clotting. This “greases the wheels” in your bloodstream. Your blood pressure drops because your blood isn’t as thick, and therefore it doesn’t require as much force to circulate through your arteries. It’s like the difference between sucking a thick milkshake through a straw…or just plain milk.

Nattokinase also prevents your arteries from hardening, allowing them to expand and contract as needed for smooth blood flow.

When I first learned of nattokinase, it seemed too good to be true. But research backs it up. A recent eight-week double-blind, placebo-controlled study—the gold-standard in medical studies—tested nattokinase’s BP-lowering abilities.

Sure enough, participants who took nattokinase saw a significant drop in systolic and diastolic BP while the placebo group saw no change in their BP levels. The study showed that nattokinase worked very well for both sexes but better in men.

What is Nattokinase Good For?

People with healthy BP levels have an average life span that’s five years higher than those with high BP. But this doesn’t even account for the extra benefits you get from using natural methods to lower your BP. Popular BP prescriptions such as lisinopril and atenolol carry the following possible side effects:

• Internal bleeding
• Headaches
• Abdominal pain
• Indigestion
• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Easy bruising
• Depression
• Insomnia
• Fatigue

Safe to say, those side effects reduce your quality of life at the minimum. At their worst, they can send you to the hospital or require another prescription to quell these side effects.

Getting the Most Benefit from Nattokinase

Step one for tackling high BP is to have it checked regularly—you can find inexpensive blood pressure cuffs online or at your local pharmacy. Step two is to talk honestly with your doctor about your diet and lifestyle—often times making small adjustments to how you eat and how often you exercise is all it takes to get your BP under control.

If you are already taking a medication for your BP, ask what would be necessary to reduce or eliminate its use—especially if you’re experiencing annoying or uncomfortable side effects. They may say that a better diet and more activity are necessary first. And rightly so.

Even prescription medications won’t get the job done if your diet has too much sugar, sodium, and unhealthy fats. A healthy diet and regular exercise will compliment any prescription and supplement—often making them work better.

The same is true for stress management. Just thinking about something stressful can elevate your blood pressure. While you cannot remove every stressor in your life, you can change the way you cope with it so that stress doesn’t affect your health.

Mindful meditation, yoga, exercise, social activity, and talk-therapy are simple and effective ways to reduce your stress.

But if diet and lifestyle changes don’t get the job done, nattokinase is proven safe and effective for lowering BP in as little as eight weeks. Plus it’s natural and side-effect free!

I recommend that you take 2,000 FU/day (fibrinogen units) of nattokinase. Though it’s derived from soy, its fermentation usually removes any risk of soy-related allergies.

Treating BP at its Root

Cardiovascular disease is responsible for over 30% of deaths worldwide—and high blood pressure is one of its key ingredients. Nattokinase is a safe, effective natural alternative to popular prescriptions with very low risk of side effects. When combined with a healthy diet and exercise, it’s proven to be an effective, natural and safe way to treat BP at its root.

References

• “More than 100 million Americans Have High blood Pressure, AHA Says.” American Heart Association. Published Jan. 31, 2018.
• “Nattokinase: A Promising Alternative in Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases.” Biomark Insights. Published July 5, 2018.
• “Consumption of Nattokinase is Associated with Reduced Blood Pressure and Von Willebrand Factor, a Cardiovascular Risk Marker.” Integrated Blood Pressure Control Journal. Published Oct. 13, 2016.

Last Updated: August 3, 2021
Originally Published: June 12, 2014