As winter draws nearer, even in tropical Hawaii, soup becomes more and more appealing. What better way to warm up than with miso soup!
If you have been to a Japanese restaurant, you have probably tried miso soup made from a soup base of miso. Miso itself is usually made from a fermentation of soybeans, salt, water and either rice, barley, or just more soybeans.
When people think of fermentation, it seems distasteful, but here’s nature’s secret. Most of us are already familiar with fermented foods, such as the local favorites, kim chee and takuan, or the imports, sauerkraut and pickles. In the case of miso, the fermenting helps to break down the protein in the soybeans and makes amino acids more readily available to the body. While soybeans are actually short of some essential amino acids, miso made with rice or barley make up for the rest. The lactobacilli bacteria involved in fermentation also aids in the digestion and assimilation of food and the production of some vitamins.
Miso can be thought of as replenishing the ocean of our birth. Animals evolved from one-celled creatures immersed in a salt and mineral-rich sea. As it happened, this salty media ended up in our blood vessels. Miso soup helps to restore the life-giving quality of blood with minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, and copper.
Most degenerative disease is caused by excess acid in the blood. Miso neutralizes acids with its alkalinizing quality. This relieves fatigue, enhances alertness, and restores vitality. A heaping teaspoon of miso everyday helps maintain the acid-alkaline balance in the body. Studies in Japan have shown that daily consumption of miso soup leads to less mortality and morbidity in cancer and heart disease as compared to less frequent consumption.
Miso contains linoleic acid and lecithin that help dissolve cholesterol in the blood. Miso breaks down aldehyde that comes from alcohol consumption. It combines with nicotine from cigarettes to form a compound that is more easily eliminated from the body. Miso also contains zybicolin, which combines with radioactive substances and eliminates them in the feces. Survivors of the atomic bomb in Japan attributed their avoidance of radiation sickness to the consumption of miso.
You will not know how real miso soup tastes unless you try a higher quality which is difficult to get in Hawaii. Call Gold Mine Natural Foods at 1-800-475-3663 and ask them for a free catalog. Tell them you read it in “Natural Success” and get a 20% discount on miso. Pick a barley miso for your first try.
Sautee a couple of vegetables in sesame oil. Choose from my favorite combos: onion and daikon, Chinese cabbage and carrot, burdock root (gobo) and scallion. Perhaps add some wakame seaweed or some tofu. Then boil any combo above in water. Add a little miso to each bowl before adding the hot soupy mixture, and then stir. This is your miso soup. Make miso a regular part of your healthy diet and you will have a healthier life.