Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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After reading about natto, I expected it to be a horrendous food that I'd be able to choke down once a week at best, but I had some earlier and found it to be completely inoffensive. I'm now thinking about eating it every day, but I wonder if it would be too much K2 at that point. I'm consuming a lot of K1 every day via 2 cups of lightly steamed spinach and a stalk of steamed broccoli, so I'm not sure if some kind of clotting issue could arise as a result of too much total vitamin K.

I suspect that it is not at all out of the realm of possibility that a Japanese person could eat a serving of it every day (along with plenty of K1 as well), and it seems that they would have made the association if people were dropping dead.

Any thoughts?

flag	asked Jan 5 2011 at 7:25 Travis Culp♦ 39.6k●1●32●132

	I'm sorry but my dictionary can't translate natto for me. Could you please tell me what it is? – mephju Jan 5 2011 at 13:20
	Natto is fermented soy beans. its get gluey and sticky. and looks a bit like eating spagheti or cheesemacs.I worry on natto that is can have GMO soy and that the salt which is just is very poor salt. best is to make a brand who sells organic natto. – oak0y Jul 1 2011 at 18:23

Paleo Seb · Answer 1 · 2011-01-05 10:14:30Z UTC

I wouldn't worry about getting too much K2 out of natto, I would rather worry about the phytoestrogens and lectins in the soy as well as its goitrogenic properties. Even though it's fermented, some nasties are just very hard to eliminate completely.

Here is an interesting bit: http://blog.cholesterol-and-health.com/2010/10/fermentation-does-not-neutrailize.html

K2 doesn't play any part in the blood clotting properties of K1, so don't worry about total vit. K consumption.

Here is a lengthy, but really interesting article on K2, also by Chris Masterjohn: http://www.westonaprice.org/abcs-of-nutrition/175-x-factor-is-vitamin-k2.html

Travis Culp · Answer 2 · 2011-01-05 18:33:24Z UTC

I suppose that's a good point. I wonder if 50g a day would do more harm than good. Seems like the broccoli could mitigate the phytoestrogens and the lectins should be largely diminished by the fermentation. I take fairly substantial doses of iodine from eating Laminaria digitata a few times a week, so a goiter is nigh on impossible.

According to that article, K1 maxes out at about 200µg, so the 1600µg that I take in stops being relevant at that point. And, as you said, it doesn't have a synergistic effect with K2.

Overall, I think I'll have 1 serving a day and see how things go. It's not out of the ordinary for me to eat a couple dozen eggs in a week and I love hard cheese and chicken liver, so I am already getting a fair amount of K2, but I think this boost could be beneficial.

Thanks for the help.

P.S. I had some this morning for breakfast and I will say that it is a food best served for dinner. I read that the smell was like ammonia, but I find it to be more reminiscent of coffee or chocolate or something along those lines, but the texture is not something you want to wake up to.

Dan · Answer 3 · 2011-08-23 13:59:45Z UTC

Natto is high in nutrients and seems to have a lot of health benefits; I first heard about it in Tim Ferris' "4-Hour Body," and I want to try it sometime soon. However, I won't be eating it more than once a week. Why? I'm not so concerned about estrogen and such, but according to the USDA database, 1 cup of natto has almost 10mg Omega-6 (PUFA is 2/3 total fat). If you're eating natto regularly, it'll really mess up your 3/6 ratios.

skatergirl · Answer 4 · 2012-12-17 18:39:27Z UTC

I listened to an interview by a dr. who did some great research on vitamin K and she said there were not any toxicity concerns for too much K. Whatever anyone's opinion on Dr. Mercola, the interview with the dr who wrote of Vit. K is on his site. Check it out and make your own opinion.

Btw, would you share how you're eating your natto? Soy sauce, mustard? I'm eager to try it but would like some tested ways to eat it. Thanks :)

thhq · Answer 5 · 2012-12-17 19:17:49Z UTC

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What makes natto even remotely paleo? A processed soybean product. Sheesh. Next thing you know edamame and tofu will be paleo.

answered Dec 17 at 19:17

thhq
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	Maybe because it's fermented? – Matt Dec 17 at 21:37
	Natto is "paleo" in that it is a traditionally consumed fermented product, in the same way that Kimchi or Saurkraut is processed and fermented. Many "paleo" people use fermented soy products (like soy sauce), but many stay away. Your choice. – AmandaLP Dec 17 at 22:12

How Much Natto Is Too Much?

5 Answers