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)

• mast cell activation

• orthostatic intolerance/dysautonomia (with or without tachycardia)

• interstitial cystitis

• Long COVID

• 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.

How do you know if your cortisol's high or low without a lab test? Find out in this episode. For more, subscribe to youtube.com/@feelbetterthanfine

Connect with Brandy at [email protected] or [email protected]

Many symptoms that seemingly have nothing to do with the thyroid gland are in fact due to low thyroid... and, TSH isn't the right test to figure out whether you've got a thyroid problem.

Tune into this episode to discover a few of the many symptoms of low thyroid and what needs to be tested to rule out a problem.

And, be sure to check out this assessment to see whether your symptoms point to a thyroid problem.

Grab your assessment here: subscribepage.io/is-it-your-thyroid (in case that link above doesn't work 🙂)