Silk cocoon with silk worm on green mulberry leaf in silk farm.

by Paul Fassa
Health Impact News

Serrapeptase is a type of proteolytic enzyme, not a brand name. Proteolytic enzymes digest proteins from whole protein foods. But serrapeptase does much more than digest proteins from food. 

It scavenges unwanted proteins throughout the body, chews up internal organ scar tissue, breaks up plaque deposits, and even destroys cancer cells before they form tumors.

Serrapeptase, aka serratiopeptidase, was originally discovered in silkworms that create and use the enzyme to digest the tough mulberry leaves they live on then rapidly bore through their cocoons and fly away as silkmoths when they’re ready.

Yes, these insects are used to produce real silk.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that serrapeptase (serratiopeptidase) was isolated and applied medically, at first in India then China, Japan, and Germany.

Fortunately, today it is available as an over-the-counter capsule or tablet supplement to all of us.

Enzymes: A Short Review

Enzymes are considered more vital for our health than minerals and vitamins. Nutrients cannot be broken down from food or supplements and function as catalysts for cellular nutrition without enzymes. 

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which means they create biochemical chemical processes without becoming part of the end result. That’s why they’re so necessary to both digest food and absorb nutrients.

The different types of enzymes according to their functions on processing food types are:

• Protease for protein.
• Lipase for fats.
• Amylase for starch.
• Cellulase for fibers.
• Lactase for dairy.
• Sucrase for sugar.
• Maltase for grains.

Serrapeptase is a Wondrous Healing Enzyme

Serrapeptase is not your ordinary run of the mill protease. It can function as a safe natural healing agent for many diseases and ailments.  It is commonly used in most of Europe to treat sprains and ruptured ligaments and speed up post-operation recovery with less need for pain-killers. (Source)

Chronic inflammation from autoimmune diseases can be treated with serrapeptase’s ability to treat inflammation in tissues throughout the body, including joints and intestines. Removing the dead tissues and excess fibrin ameliorates the body’s overacting immune system because the irritant is removed. Then actual healing can result without inflammation or pain. (Source) 

There have been many studies and actual clinical trials proving the efficacy and safety that serrapeptase provides for successfully treating inflammation.

For example, a 1990 clinical Italian study did a double-blind placebo test on 193 patients with nose, ear, and throat issues concluded that: 

Serratia peptidase [Serrapeptase] has anti-inflammatory, anti-oedemic [edema] and fibrinolytic [fibrosis] activity and acts rapidly on localized inflammation. (Study abstract source)

Fibrosis, excessive growth of fibrous material that forms scarring, calcification, and other dead obstructive tissue is not confined to any particular organ. The Western medical serrapeptase pioneer in 1980 was Dr. Hans Nieper. 

He used serrapeptase for cardiac patients in Germany so successfully that some who had been scheduled for double or triple bypass surgeries managed well without them after using serrapeptase. Presumably, there were also some dietary changes. Here are some quotes for Dr. Neiper:

The astonishing fact is that, unlike other biological enzymes, Serrapeptase affects only non-living tissue, like the silk cocoon. This is the reason the butterfly is not harmed.

For our health purposes, Serrapeptase dissolves only dead tissues such as the old fibrous layers that clog the lining of our arteries and dangerously restrict the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain.

Regarding clogged carotid arteries, which carry oxygenated blood along the neck and to the head, Dr. Nieper mentioned that many doctors avoid tampering with them surgically out of concerns for creating more problems. So he decided to treat patients with carotid artery blockages using serrapeptase:

We have therefore started to apply Serrapeptase in cases of severe narrowings of the carotid arteries. … The therapeutic results are excellent, certainly lifesaving. It is, however, mandatory that the therapy be conducted for a very long time. The first reliable results can be expected after 6-8 months. 

I have also found Serrapeptase to be an extraordinary substance for safety removing fibrous blockages from coronary arteries, particularly the carotid arteries found in the neck, which supply blood-brain (sic).  (…) I have used Serrapeptase with excellent, even life-saving results.

If you’re inclined toward perusing more science-based evidence that demonstrates serrapeptase’s efficacy and safety, you can access more here.

The True Story of a Miraculous Turn Around from COPD and Emphysema 

Due to serrapeptase’s safety, anecdotal empirical evidence may suffice for most of us.

Here’s a great example, related in a 2004 interview by veteran UK pharmacist with a weekly BBC radio show (at the time) Dennis Gore, who specialized in nutraceuticals and compounding. Britain has fewer restrictions on pharmacists than we do in the USA.

The first dramatic effect that I experienced was with a man in his 60’s who had been a heavy smoker for many years. His wife wheeled him from a special van and into my pharmacy. He was very breathless in his voice and was difficult to understand because he has emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). 

These are considered to be irreversible damage to the linings of the lungs usually caused by smoking or toxic environments. Whereas asthma may be considered reversible, COPD is an irreversible disease. …This man said he had heard me on the BBC Radio Program talking about the [serrapeptase] studies, 

…he was on sprays, on oxygen, and on antibiotics every two weeks as he was always getting bad infections; breathlessly, he told me he wanted to try Serrapeptase. 

To begin with, he took two tablets on an empty stomach, four times per day. Later, he reduced to four capsules per day, and finally, as maintenance, he reduced to a couple per day.

[One day he walked in unassisted] and said that in the early days so much rubbish was coming up that he thought his lungs might be disintegrating, but he soon realized that it was a big clear-out underway. 

He started to feel so much better and he was no longer on antibiotics, no longer on oxygen cylinders, and he was no longer using his sprays. (Source)

Serrapeptase is pricier than many commonly used supplements, but cheap compared to pharmaceuticals that are less effective and prone to adverse effects. 

It is measured in IUs (international units), or SUs (serrapeptase units), or SPUs (serratiopeptidase units). These measurements are more a gage of the supplement’s activity level instead of weight or amount. The higher the IU number the greater its enzymatic activity.

It’s important to purchase serrapeptase with enteric-coated capsules or tablets. Enteric coatings protect drugs or supplements from stomach gastric acid damage and allow passage into the small intestines for absorption into the bloodstream. 

If an enteric coating is not available or desired, take serrapeptase supplements first thing in the morning, before eating, while your stomach’s gastric acid is lower than usual.

This is one of the many items disclosed in the excellent educational video below.