My own personal experience with proteolytic enzymes (from those that support gluten breakdown to the wildly popular nattokinase and serrapeptase) is much different than I expected.
Here's what you need to know (whether you're taking these or considering these) even if you don't have:
- gluten intolerance (and cheat occasionally by popping a handful of enzymes)
- orthostatic intolerance/dysautonomia (with or without tachycardia)
- migraines/severe headaches
(and especially if you do).
This segment is lifted directly out of Reclaim Wellness Intensive, the program I wish I'd had when I first started struggling with these symptoms (yes, I had all of these at once).
P.S. You'll find much more detail about how each of these proteases behaves in the body (whether by upregulating matrix metalloproteinases or the body's own endogenous proteases) inside an upcoming post.
P.P.S. For the tau protein part of this episode, proteases are known to cleave tau protein and those fragments are problematic (see references 5, 6, and 7 below).
References for this episode:
- Biancheri P, Di Sabatino A, Corazza GR, MacDonald TT. Proteases and the gut barrier. Cell Tissue Res. 2013 Feb;351(2):269-80. doi: 10.1007/s00441-012-1390-z. Epub 2012 Mar 20. PMID: 22427120.
- Van Spaendonk H, Ceuleers H, Witters L, Patteet E, Joossens J, Augustyns K, Lambeir AM, De Meester I, De Man JG, De Winter BY. Regulation of intestinal permeability: The role of proteases. World J Gastroenterol. 2017 Mar 28;23(12):2106-2123. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v23.i12.2106. PMID: 28405139; PMCID: PMC5374123.
- Fedorowski, A., Sutton, R. Autonomic dysfunction and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome in post-acute COVID-19 syndrome.Nat Rev Cardiol 20, 281–282 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-023-00842-w
- Foote CA, Soares RN, Ramirez-Perez FI, Ghiarone T, Aroor A, Manrique-Acevedo C, Padilla J, Martinez-Lemus L. Endothelial Glycocalyx. Compr Physiol. 2022 Aug 23;12(4):3781-3811. doi: 10.1002/cphy.c210029. PMID: 35997082; PMCID: PMC10214841.
- Boyarko B, Hook V. Human Tau Isoforms and Proteolysis for Production of Toxic Tau Fragments in Neurodegeneration. Front Neurosci. 2021 Oct 21;15:702788. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.702788. PMID: 34744602; PMCID: PMC8566764.
- Nübling G, Levin J, Bader B, Israel L, Bötzel K, Lorenzl S, Giese A. Limited cleavage of tau with matrix-metalloproteinase MMP-9, but not MMP-3, enhances tau oligomer formation. Exp Neurol. 2012 Oct;237(2):470-6. doi: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2012.07.018. Epub 2012 Aug 6. PMID: 22890115.
- Kostiuchenko O, Kravchenko N, Markus J, Burleigh S, Fedkiv O, Cao L, Letasiova S, Skibo G, Fåk Hållenius F, Prykhodko O. Effects of Proteases from Pineapple and Papaya on Protein Digestive Capacity and Gut Microbiota in Healthy C57BL/6 Mice and Dose-Manner Response on Mucosal Permeability in Human Reconstructed Intestinal 3D Tissue Model. Metabolites. 2022 Oct 26;12(11):1027. doi: 10.3390/metabo12111027. PMID: 36355110; PMCID: PMC9696696.
