Life without Serrapeptase/Nattokinase

I must admit, part of the reason why I don't update more often is because I've gotten a lot of page views, but very few comments, which makes me wonder if this is helping anyone at all. But maybe some people prefer to read and not comment. If so, this is for you guys!

March 15th was the day I stopped taking Serrapeptase regularly, since then I've barely taken it at all. It was making me feel like my ulcers were still bleeding, so it definitely had to be dropped from my routine. However, my body still feels good, and I still do take my Liquid Chlorophyll every morning, sometimes in the evening. I also continue to stretch every morning which has greatly helped my body. In the past, the muscle in my right leg between my pelvic bone and thigh was very weak and would sometimes cause me to limp. The muscle would sometimes get so stressed throughout the day that it would get to a point where it felt like it twisted, and then I wouldn't be able to walk for about a week. This, of course, was at times the bane of my existence. Stretching helped change all that. Since I started stretching, I noticed the muscle wouldn't hurt as much when I would walk, and over time it's become more limber and flexible, and it now feels like it works with me, as opposed to against me. All in all, stretching has helped my existence become easier! And it's such a simple thing to do, my basic routine can be done in about 5 minutes, though I'm sure sometimes I take longer with it by taking deeper breaths and just getting oxygen into my lungs. Trust me, it's a relaxing way to help start your day! Experiment with stretches and see what works for you :)

As usual, I have to put a reminder here about eating a diet high in Thiocyanate. It's simple to do once you get the hang of it, I promise! For instance, last night's dinner was beets, lentils, and roasted chicken. It was healthy and delicious! This morning's breakfast was Golden Grahams and warm milk. Variety in the diet is essential so you don't get bored and hop off the wagon like I did when I first started my new way of eating. A good suggestion for adding Thiocyanate filled foods to the diet would be to add a little bit at a time. For example, experiment with different recipes and find what works for you. Over the summer, I would make smoothies out of frozen strawberries and coconut milk ( with a bit of brown sugar and vanilla essence for extra flavor!) The smoothies were delicious, filling, and high in Thiocyanate! There are tons of things you can try, such as fried, baked, or boiled plantains, baked sweet potatoes, stewed lentils, steamed broccoli, raw carrots, bananas, and almonds just to name a few! Try them out consistently and get your Thiocyanate in large  amounts as well as your other vitamins from foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. Try these out and let me know what works for you!

Dangers of Nattokinase

Pretty upset right now. My stomach has been hurting on and off for the past week and a half, it's been doing it more since last night, I actually woke up with a bit of pain last night. Nothing extreme, but enough to wake me up. I mentioned before that I have stomach ulcers, and I think they are what make my stomach so incredibly sensitive to when I eat out, which I've been doing more since last Sunday. It only occurred to me tonight, after I ate dinner and my stomach began hurting, that since I have ulcers and Nattokinase is a blood-thinner, that the Nattokinase is probably what has been contributing to my stomachaches. I looked it up, and lo and behold, the website says, 

"Nattokinase should also not be taken by those who bleed very easily. It should be avoided by those who have recently had a bleeding ulcer, surgery, stroke or heart attack." 

This is all even more upsetting to me because my health has been feeling a bit more poor in different ways as well, and I can't be certain, but I wonder if my elevated heart rate during my work outs was not attributed to the Nattokinase in my system. As I said to a friend last night who said I should live it up more, "my health is a full time job." It gets incredibly frustrating when I have setbacks such as these. I was doing really well on the Serrapeptase and Liquid Chlorophyll alone and I really should have done more research before adding Nattokinase to my diet. It should have popped out at me that it was a blood thinner, but then again, I really wanted to be rid of the clutches of this disease. 

So this is where I am now, my ulcers are once more proving to be a problem when I eat, and it will take several weeks before they heal sufficiently to not bother me anymore. I'm not sure if they will ever heal completely, hence my absolute and essential need to stay away from blood-thinners, Ibuprofen, and anything else that might irritate them. Really can't say how frustrated I am about my ulcer situation, but I gotta press on. My warning to everyone is to really do your research before you add anything new to your diet, please look into the side effects. I still suggest eating a diet high in Thiocyanate and eat healthy in general. Eat as natural as possible because that's always best for your body.

Health Chart Update!

I am really glad that I had the idea to keep track of what I am eating and my supplements daily with a chart! It has been 12 days since I began using my chart and it shows me what I need to eat more (greens) as well as showing me trends in my diet. The first page of my charts is finished (I made 5 copies of the original, which I drew up by hand, no need for complicated computer work!) and I wrote a conclusion at the end to sum up all my data. This weekend I was feeling some mild pain in my legs and arms, which felt like they could have been crisis pain, and yesterday I did take 1000mg of paracetamol (acetaminophen) for it, but other than that, I've been okay. It seems like the Nattokinase has been doing its work to keep my blood from clotting, for which I am thankful! I have been feeling good since I added it to my diet.

I had to stop working out due to what I mentioned earlier, but I walked a lot today. One thing I must note, my body feels different when I drink tap water, and from what I have read about parasites, which I talked about in another post, I feel like I have an infection. For that I am eating carrots on a empty stomach (eat nothing else for 30 minutes afterward) and will be trying the garlic cleanse mentioned on this website. Today, I also started with something I hope to keep up, which is to eat a clove of raw garlic on an empty stomach 15 minutes before a meal (yes, I am worried about how I will smell -_-'). I had to take it with two spoonfuls of honey because it is very strong. Garlic is also good for the flu and many other things! Though it did give me a bit of an upset tummy! I am going to try eating it the way it's suggested on this website. Sorry to have to talk about parasitic infections here, I know it's totally gross, but it's very real and incredibly common and is affecting my health! Definitely won't leave that stone unturned!

Insomnia or Waking Up Too Early

Yesterday was day 5 of my new workout routine, which made me really happy. I was also rather fearful as well, because my health has been very good. Yet this is such an unpredictable disease and it could turn at any moment, so I've been wondering, since last night, if my health will continue to remain in a good condition, or if it may suddenly all go to pieces. Of course, I have been keeping up my daily health practices, but yet the worry still remains. 

A few days ago, I began taking the Nattokinase that I finally ordered. I'm not sure I feel any different from taking it, and I also feel that a few other factors might be masking the effects that I could be feeling. I have a really bad cold with a pretty deep cough right now, that I have been remedying with a tea made of lemons, onions, and honey, but I also have to use my inhaler because of my asthma. The cough that I have gets deeper and more painful if I don't use my inhaler, and I think I could have prevented it from getting so bad if I had used it a bit more consistently, and sooner, while the cold was developing. One of the side effects of the inhaler is that it increases my heart rate (I guess that means it raises my blood pressure?). Because of that, I've been having trouble sleeping for the past few nights and have been waking up around 4am, and I don't know if it's because of the Nattokinase or because of the inhaler (I use Ventolin).

Workin' It Out!

I must say, I am incredibly proud of myself today! I feel absolutely terrible, I have a cold/flu type thing going on, but not only did I make it to work and saw most of my students (was late to my first class so the first batch got a free period!), I also did my 10 minute workout today! I figured that if I am already feeling terrible, I might as well work out anyways because it could help me feel a bit better. In any case, I have spent years dreaming of being fit and not breathing heavily when I go up the stairs, and am still at point A because I've never had the stamina to see me through to point B. If I don't take now, the beautiful present moment, as my time to seize upon and take advantage of, then I know I never will. It really is now or never! Very happy to have noted down on my health chart that I got in my 10 minute workout today :D

In other news, I received my shipment of health supplements from Amazon.co.uk (thank you Amazon for your loyal and quick service!), so today is my first day on Nattokinase! We will see how it makes me feel as I progress with it, and whether or not I notice a difference. From my chart, I can see that I am on quite a few supplements, but it is better than not having taken any steps and constantly being afraid of my next hospitalization! Also, a word about supplements, if you can get something naturally from food, go for that as your source! The more natural it is in form, the more beneficial it is to your body. The natural form, such as fruits for instance, which have natural sugars, also have fiber in them. When fruits are eaten, instead of imbibed as a juice, the sugars are more slowly absorbed, because the fiber from the fruit is there to help slow down the sugar absorption. That's one tiny little example, but I hope you get my point. The more natural it is, the better it is for your body, because it also comes with the fibers and other nutrients that will benefit your body. I wish you good health, my friends! :)