Natto A perfect health food　

    picked up by Thomas@Zug　　

NattoA perfect health food

by Barbara Sugihara, article in the onboard magazine of the Airport
Limousine Bus (Haneda-Narita) July 98

A legend says that natto (fermented soybeans) originated in the eleventh
century. It is certain that natto has existed for a very long
time and is one of the few Japanese foods that can't trace its origins
to some other part of the world. For centuries the process for
making it remained unchanged. Wrap hot, boiled soybeans in a wara-tsuto
and keep them at around 40 degrees centigrade for a few
days. In recent years, however, commercial natto-kin has obviated the
need to use straw, which has given way to more convenient
paper and styrofoam packaging.

There is a small firm called Tokiwa Shokuhin which is still producing
natto the traditional way. The owner, Yusaku Makoto, made it clear
that the company's motto, "we aim for self-sufficiency in safe foods",
is not mere advertising but part of his personal philosophy. Japan
currently imports 97% of the soybeans it uses. But Yusaku contracts with
Japanese organic farmers, who supply nearly 75% of the
beans the firm processes. His goal is to help keep bean production
commercially viable for them while assuring his company a reliable
supply of top quality, chemical-free beans.

Mixed with shoyu, mustard and minced leeks, natto makes a quick,
nutritious dish. A 100-gram wara-tsuto of natto, which retails for
about 300 yen, is hardly and extravagance, especially if superior flavor
makes the difference between eating it or not.

Here's to your health!!

In the old days, people knew from experience that natto was good for
them, but it took modern science to discover exactly why. In
addition to all the fine properties originally found in soybeans, natto
fermentation doubles the amount of VITAMIN B2 and increases
VITAMINS B12 and E. It also produces VITAMIN K, making NATTO especially
good for preventing osteoporosis.During fermentation,
natto-kin also produce a wide variety of enzymes. One called
nattokinase, found only the gooey part of natto, is a very powerful
agent
for dissolving blood clots.

The natto-kin bacillus fights other bacteria and in the days before
antibiotics were common, natto was used to treat dysentery and
typhus. Now laboratory tests have demonstrated that it will obliterate a
billion 0-157 colon bacteria in just four days, giving reason to
believe that eating natto regularly may guard AGAINST serious CASES of
0-157 POISONING!! Natto helps to lower high blood pressure,
prevent diabetes, ward off hangovers, and give you more vim and vigor.
If you need any more reasons for eating it, consider preparation
time-something like threee minutes. If you can't get natto made in a
wara-tsuto or pine kyogi nearby, you can order it through Tokiwa
Shokuhin's home page.

http://www.2S.biglobe.ne.jp/~nattou/tokiwa/    Let's eat the nearly
perfect food, Natto!

picked up by Thomas@Zug

Back to English Page

Back to the first home page