Your blood is a life-sustaining medium composed of water, proteins, glucose, electrolytes and red and white blood cells. Blood carries oxygen, nutrients, hormones and other important molecules to every cell in your body through a complex network of arteries, veins and capillaries. Injury to a blood vessel triggers a response -- coagulation -- designed to prevent life-threatening blood loss. However, inappropriate or excessive clotting can also be life-threatening. Some herbal remedies, such as ginkgo, white willow bark, and nattokinase, interfere with your blood's ability to form a clot.
Ginkgo
According to Phyllis Balch, author of "Prescription for Herbal Healing," Ginkgo biloba is the world's most commonly used herbal remedy for memory loss. Ginkgo inhibits blood clotting, makes your blood cells more flexible and dilates the small blood vessels in your brain. A study published in the December 2007 issue of "Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin" demonstrated that ginkgo interferes with clotting by making your platelets --- cells that normally congregate at sites of blood vessel injury --- less "sticky."
Nattokinase
Nattokinase is an enzyme extracted from natto, a traditional Japanese food produced by fermenting soybeans. Nattokinase is marketed by the alternative medicine industry for its "clot-busting" benefits, because it has chemical properties similar to prescription medications used by physicians for treating acute heart attacks and strokes. The 1990 issue of "Acta Haematologica" cited a study showing that nattokinase increases your blood levels of a substance called tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA. tPA prevents your blood from clotting by interfering with the actions of proteins called coagulation factors, and it helps to dissolve existing clots.
White Willow
White willow, also known as willow bark or European willow, is the archetypical herbal "blood thinner." The generic name for willow, "Salix," alludes to the salicylate content of plants in this group. For thousands of years, willow has been used for its pain-relieving properties. In 1897, the Bayer Company developed a semi-synthetic derivative of willow bark called acetylsalicylic acid, or aspirin, which is a widely used painkiller, anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant. Like ginkgo, salicylates inhibit clotting by interfering with platelet aggregation.
Considerations
Willow, ginkgo and nattokinase are only three of many alternative remedies that are known or suspected to "thin" your blood. Saw palmetto, pomegranate, peony and dozens of other plants contain substances that have been shown to interfere with clotting or that could potentially do so. While many of these remedies can be exploited for their blood-thinning properties, the use of such preparations --- particularly in combination with other blood thinners --- can increase your bleeding risk. For example, the March 2008 issue of "Internal Medicine" published a case report of a 52-year-old woman who developed a hemorrhage in her brain several days after she added nattokinase to her usual aspirin therapy. Ask your doctor whether blood-thinning herbal remedies are safe for you.
References
- "Prescription for Herbal Healing: Ginkgo"; Phyllis A. Balch, C.N.C; 2002
- "Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin"; Ginkgolide C Inhibits Platelet Aggregation in cAMP- and cGMP-dependent Manner by Activating MMP-9; H.J. Cho, et al.; December 2007
- "Acta Haematologica"; Enhancement of the Fibrinolytic Activity in Plasma by Oral Administration of Nattokinase; H. Sumi, et al.; 1990
- "Thrombosis Research"; The Mechanism of Action of Aspirin; J.R. Vane, R.M. Botting; June 2003
- "Internal Medicine"; Cerebellar Hemorrhage Provoked by Combined Use of Nattokinase and Aspirin in a Patient with Cerebral Microbleeds; Y.Y. Chang, et al.; 2008
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