2012 Product Review

Our full review of these products revealed a clear winner. Arthur Andrew Medical recently unveiled their answer to the somewhat stagnant nattokinase market by offering the world’s first raw nattokinase probiotic called Nattobiotic. While the concept of raw is becoming overwhelming popular, most raw products are lower in activity compared to their pure or processed counterparts. Nattobiotic being a raw ingredient we would expect a see low activity. What surprised our team was, Nattobiotic actually rated the highest in fibrinolytic activity “per capsule” of any nattokinase product we have ever tested.




Historical Overview

It’s always convenient to find all of the information about the products you are researching in one place. Who invented Nattokinase? Where Does Nattokinase come from? What is Nattokinase used for? For those of you just learning about Nattokinase, we have dedicated a brief history section for this miraculous enzyme and detailed information on the people who discovered it. In addition we have selected scientific and clinical articles for reference and a brief history of Dr. Sumi, considered the father of Nattokinase. These pages are loaded with interesting Nattokinase facts, and updated information about the history of Nattokinase and its use in natural medicine.




Nattokinase Clinical Overview

There have been a number of clinical trials on nattokinase and all of them have shown positive results regarding natto’s properties to improve cardiovascular health. Natto food has been consumed for centuries, being a very powerful and traditional food in Japan that is consumed not only for cardiovascular support, but also as a natural and safe way to decrease blood pressure. The medical applications of Nattokinase have been scientifically proven through multiple clinical trials and case studies. The Japanese have known for years that the consumption of natto can help control and lower blood pressure. Until recent modern research, this belief was just considered folk tradition.




Nattokinase Review

This year there were almost 100 contenders in competition for the best overall Nattokinase product. We have done the research and crunched the numbers making it easier for you to compare brands without all of the guesswork. While Nattokinase manufacturing has remained consistent for over a decade, the front runner in 2012 broke the mold introducing the first ever raw nattokinase probiotic rated at over 5,000 FU’s of strength. Quite an impressive characteristic for a raw product indeed. Arthur Andrew Medical’s Nattobiotic takes our #1 spot for 2012 as the world’s best Nattokinase product. Please read our editors full review of the best Nattokinase products of 2012.


 
 
 
A+
Arthur Andrew Medical Nattöbiotic®

Nattobiotic was our 2012 Editor’s Choice award winner.  Compared to any of today’s Nattokinase products Nattobiotic is a hands down winner.  A side by side comparison of Nattobiotic compared to Nattokinase NSK reveals, better potency, greater value and a cheaper price. Nattobiotic delivers the seeds to generate nattokinase in the digestive tract using probiotics. This new delivery method can regenerate and grow nattokinase in our digestive tracts.  Something that’s never been attempted in a Nattokinase product before.

A
Jarrow NattoMax®

NattoMax® is made from Nattokinase NSK-SD, the most commonly found Nattokinase on the planet.  Jarrow Formula’s NattoMax® rounds out our #2 spot for Nattokinase products reviewed in 2012.  Jarrow Formula’s for the most part are always a solid bet in terms of price and quality.  Jarrow isn’t known for adding synthetic or unnecessary ingredients to the mix.  While this product remains a good contender as far as Nattokinase NSK-SD goes, it still can’t compete with raw probiotic Nattokinase products, such as Nattobiotic in terms of strength and delivery method.  NattoMax® is a great product if the consumer insists on using the NSK-SD brand. 

B+
Pure Prescriptions Nattokinase NSK-SD

Pure Prescriptions Nattokinase NSK-SD is yet another brand of the NSK-SD variety.  This product did not receive our highest mark, but rated above average based upon price competitiveness and purity.  This product is NON-GMO and vegan friendly.  Like other NSK-SD nattokinase products you are better off buying the Doctors Best brand, based solely on the price. Like many other NSK-SD products this one is too free of binder, fillers and artificial ingredients.   Pure Prescriptions uses the standard 2,000 FU per serving activity material, and has the Vitamin K removed during processing.   

B+
Doctor's Best Nattokinase

Doctor’s Best uses the NSK-SD brand of Nattokinase for their Best Nattokinase product.  This product is almost identical to every other Nattokinase product that uses the standardized NSK-SD brand of Nattokinase.  Doctor’s Best winds up being the best NSK product that we reviewed and is one of the cheaper brands to purchase, but this brand falls off the mark by adding unnecessary chemical additives like Magnesium Stearate which has been shown weaken the immune system. While Doctor's Best Nattokinase doesn't hold a candle to Arthur Andrew Medical's Nattobiotic in terms of overall value, it is the most competitely prices NSK-SD product.

B+
Now Nattokinase

Now brand’s Nattokinase ranks above average in our editor’s review this year.  A significant portion of the rankings are derived from the products high potency to low price ratio.  While this product will never compete in overall quality it does hold a candle to other nattokinase products in terms of value.  Now Brands Nattokinase does lose a significant amount of points for additives and unnecessary artificial ingredients including:  Cellulose (capsule), Maltodextrin, Stearic Acid (vegetable source), and Silica.

B-
Douglas Labs Nattosyn

Nattosyn, by Douglas Laboratories is not pure nattokinase, but rather a blend of Nattokinase NSK-SD and other non-essential ingredients, including: Nattokinase (NSK-SD) 50mg (1,000 FU), Hesperidin methyl chalcone 100mg, and Standardized Pomengranate Extract (fruit) 50mg. This product rated considerably lower in its category based on only containing half the amount of Nattokinase as other NSK-SD products and carrying an expensive price tag.  If consumers are interested in the other ingredients they would be better of purchasing another NSK-SD product, with a higher activity and buying the other ingredients separately.

B-
Swanson Ultra Nattokinase®

Swanson's Ultra Nattokinase product contains 2000 FU’s of Nattokinase per cap, making the end result the same for users that choose a NSK-SD brand. Swanson’s brand is also very competitive when it comes to price, however this product contains indigestible dextrin (mix of plastic polymers and carbohydrates), gelatin (animal collagen), cornstarch (starch from corn kernel), magnesium stearate (hydrogenated cottonseed or palm oil) and silica (sand or quartz). Swanson's non-vegetarian product can't compare to Nattobiotic by Arthur Andrew Medical.

B-
Enzymedica Natto-K®

Enzymedica Natto-K, is yet another Nattokinase product that uses the NSK-SD brand in their private labeled product.  Natto-K is another Nattokinase based product that adds additional ingredients to the mix, making this more of a systemic enzyme rather than a Natto only.  If you are looking to purchase pure nattokinase, this probably isn’t the product for you.  The Addition of Amylase, Protease, Bromelain, Glucoamylase, Cellulase, and Lipase, make this product more expensive than just getting NSK-SD.    The fact that each capsule only contains 1,000 FU’s of nattokinase and in a proprietary blend, make this product a poor contender.

B-
Pure Encapsulations NSK®

Like the dozens of other Nattokinase products on the market, Pure Encapsulations uses the NSK-SD brand of Nattokinase.  When comparing NSK-SD products it is important to know that all of these products are virtually identical.  What sets them apart, basically boils down to 2 criteria, price and purity.  When comparing NSK-SD products consumers want to pay the least amount for identical enzymes. Pure Encapsulations ends up being one of the more expensive brands to purchase.  This brand scores higher in purity containing no additional binders or artificial ingredients. 

C+
Nutricology Nattozyme®

Nattozym is a non-vegan, NSK-SD brand of Nattokinase manufactured by Japan BioScience Laboratory and distributed by Nutracology.  This product uses softgels instead of the most common powdered Nattokinase, you typically find.  While softgels are an advantage in drug delivery, they are a rather poor idea for delivering food supplements such as Nattokinase.  Nattokinase is a food ingredient and breaksdown in the body similar to how nutrients from food are absorbed.  In order to make a stable softgel fillers, excipients and animal bi-products are used to create the gel and its capsule. This product gets low marks for unnecessary additives.

C
Source Naturals Nattokinase

Nattokinase, by Source Naturals provides 2,000 FU’s of activity from Nattokinase NSK-SD.  This is the standard strength for an NSK-SD material.  Unlike many other NSK-SD products this product comes in softgels as opposed to powder in a capsule.  Nattokinase is a food ingredient, so including it in a softgel to mimic a drug delivery is an unnecessary and requires the addition of several non-vegan additives and fillers.  These softgels require the addition of soybean oil, gelatin, glycerin, beeswax, glycerin fatty acid ester, and soybean lecithin in order to create the oily gel.

C-
Pure Prescriptions Cardiokinase

Cardiokinase by Pure Prescriptions uses a new strain (“strain N”) of Bacilius Substilisin bacteria that the manufacturer claims produces higher activity than other strains. The company also claims the product has 10% better lymphatic absorption when compared to NSK-SD brand Nattokinase.  Cardiokinase is one of the only products reviewed that is not rated in Fibrinolytic Units FU’s.  Pure Prescriptions marketing for this product is extremely ambiguous claiming that the Fibrinolytic rating is not important and then comparing the fibrinolytic Unit comparison to NSK-SD on their website.  This product has little scientific validation to support their claims, and very confusing marketing.

D+
Allergy Research Group 36mg NSK-SD

Allergy Research Group distributes several potencies of the Nattokinase NSK variety. The particular product we reviewed was the Nattokinase NSK-SD 36mg softgels.  Each capsule contains only 720FU’s the lowest we have seen.  This Nattokinase was advertised on the Allergy Research Group’s website for $157.59 for 300 softgels.  As we have mentioned before, softgels while sounding like a great idea require a great deal of additives and unnecessary filler ingredients to create the gel.  This Nattokinase product ranks lowest on our list of rated products based upon a huge price tag, unnecessary fillers, and the smallest amount of activity we have seen in an NSK product.

 



Nattokinase In Action

Nattokinase is well known for its cardiovascular benefits. A remarkable and well documented story of the successful effects of nattokinase comes from an occasion where nattokinase was used on a patient in Japan. The man that used nattokinase was 58 years old and acquired a blood clot in the retina of his right eye. This blood clot created a fluid buildup and bleeding in his right eye after a short while this gentleman began to lose his vision the university hospital where he was treated prescribed him a 3 oz dose of natto each evening before bed. This was a preparation stage by the hospital in order for this man to receive the full benefit of nattokinase.




Natural Blood Thinner

Nattokinase supplementation was shown to suppress intimal thickening (thickening of the blood vessel wall) following induced injury of the rat femoral artery and appeared to enhance tissue type plasminogen activator (t-PA) while not tending to increase bleeding versus the control group. Thus, orally administered nattokinase could be considered as a cardiovascular disease (CVD) nutraceutical by decreasing plasma levels of these blood clotting factors associated with an increased CVD risk. Fibrinolytic activity, the amounts of t-PA, and fibrin degradation by-product in the plasma are doubled when nattokinase is given to human subjects by oral administration.




Nattokinase is a Powerful Clot Buster

There are numerous enzymes that are produced naturally by human beings. However, there is only one single enzyme that actually works to break down and break up blood clots, known as plasmin. A scientist by the name of Doctor Martin Milner working with the Center for Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon stated that nattokinase is an extremely potent treatment due to the fact that it increases the human body's ability to battle blood clots through multiple methods, because of its ability to relate to plasmin. Additionally, nattokinase augments the human body's ability to fabricate both plasmin and additional clot-dissolving agents, like urokinase.


Nattokinase Research Organization

The Nattokinase Research Organization "NRO" is part of a larger group of research websites all of which are operated by the Enzyme Research Organization "ERO". The ERO maintains and operates several enzyme related research and review websites including, but not limited to: Serrapeptase.org, Bromelain.org, and Papain.org.   ERO is a nonprofit collaboration of scientist, doctors, enzymologists, and technical experts from around the world.  Members of the ERO volunteer their time performing research and gathering consumer information.  ERO does not have a central headquarters or base of operation, rather the consortium exists online only.  Funding and proceeds are derived from donations, advertising dollars, and contributors like you.

NRO is continuously gathering the latest information and breakthroughs in manufacturing for the miracle enzyme nattokinase.  If you would like to submit information regarding your company’s nattokinase or if you have information that you feel may be beneficial to the organization please feel free to contact us.  If you have specific questions regarding any of the products reviewed on our website please feel free to contact us as well.  In many cases if we cannot answer your questions we can put you in contact with the manufacturer who will be happy to assist you. For general questions please visit our message board, where you can share information with peers and ask questions to our experts.

ERO Disclaimer:

The ERO is limited to answering questions that are not specifically medical or disease related. By law we cannot assist you with any medical advice including dosages, drug interactions or advice regarding specific diseases and medical issues.  Please understand that our staff will try to assist you with any questions as they pertain to your health and enzymes in general.  The contents of our website is published for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat or prevent disease.  Please use this site and its contents with caution, and never follow any indications that may contradict the advice or direction of your physician.