I found some natto not made in Japan. It is from Japanese Traditional Foods, in Sebastopol, California. It comes in one-serving containers with tiny shoyu and mustard packets, just like frozen natto. It costs more – 50% more — than the frozen stuff, to my surprise. Since Japanese Traditional Foods was founded in 2006, and the Japanese natto makers are huge, I suppose it makes sense. It tastes almost the same as frozen natto, although I plan to do side by side comparisons just for fun.
The package had a curious statement:
Natto is a fermented food product, so it is best to consume it as soon as possible.
Huh? I think this is basically false: the fermented bacteria prevent other bacteria from growing. Sure, you can overferment but that won’t happen soon. Just as you can leave cheese at room temperature for quite a while, nothing bad will happen.
Seth,
If you want Natto, you can go to Yao-ya san Market, a small Japanese Market in El Cerrito, CA on San Pablo.
BambooLarry
Seth-
Thanks for the response! I’m glad, that makes the two hour slot super easy to fit into my schedule!
I read the Shangri-La Diet book a couple years ago, and remember the basic stuff. I took oil last time and was very successful. I’m taking the sugar water this time (no opportunity to buy the oil for a couple weeks). I don’t have a lot of weight to lose – about 10 pounds. I’ve never been overweight, but I’ve gained these 10 extra pounds because of bad eating habits and just wanna nip it in the bud!
My question: How much sugar (tablespoons) in how many liters of water would you recommend? I exercise regularly, which curbs my appetite right after, but I’m afraid it might make me hungrier in the long run. How much sugar water would you recommend to be “not hungry – Shangri-La style”?
Thank you!
P.S. I WISH I had a book to answer my own questions, but I’m in Romania and can’t order one…too expensive, not enough money, and it may not even get to me for weeks and weeks. Thank you so very much, again.
Caroline, you can check out boards.shangriladiet.com to see details of how the diet is done by various people and with what results.
Huh? I think this is basically false: the fermented bacteria prevent other bacteria from growing. Sure, you can overferment but that won’t happen soon. Just as you can leave cheese at room temperature for quite a while, nothing bad will happen.
You are half-right when you say:
the fermented bacteria prevent other bacteria from growing.
The bacteria (or micro-organisms/fungi such as yeast) are not fermented — they do the fermenting. Taking wine for example, generally, you kill off everything living in the must via addition of sulfur, after which you add your desired yeast. The yeast then ferment by digesting the sugars in the must thereby generating alcohol, which ironically kills them off. As we used to joke when making wine, in a sense, the yeast are killed by their own shit, which we consume.
BTW I think you like this article on PREbiotics (not PRObiotics).
https://online.wsj.com/article/SB123846243487972081.html
We’ve all heard of healthy bacteria called probiotics, commonly found in yogurts and dietary supplements. A new wave of products now include prebiotics, dietary ingredients intended either to help increase levels of good bacteria naturally found in the body, or to be used in combination with probiotics to improve their efficacy. Scientists say prebiotics do increase levels of good bacteria in the gut, and some research has linked their consumption to health benefits.
However, I remain skeptical. This appears to be the latest food marketing angle backed by ostensible “scientific” evidence. Although, perhaps the supposed symbiotic relationship between humans and bacteria may be more important than I assume as tangential to this discussion is the hypothesis that we have incorporated bacteria in our DNA via some lateral mechanism.
https://whyfiles.org/shorties/079bact_gene/
Huh? I think this is basically false: the fermented bacteria prevent other bacteria from growing.
Maybe what this is arguing is actually congruent with your hypothesis. Perhaps they mean to say that it is best to consume natto immediately, before the bacteria die (via a mechanism as described above in my wine example) or run out of food, as to reap the supposed benefits of these supposed beneficial bacteria.
Presumably they fermented it the optimal amount. The longer it sits, the further it gets from that ideal state. That is an interpretation that makes sense. In the fridge, the bacteria aren’t likely to die.
In Japan, natto is sold refridgerated not frozen and has a sell by date usually of about 5 days from the current date…I wonder if freezing kills bacteria.
Chris, I suspect dead bacteria are as almost as helpful as live bacteria, at least for natto. I don’t think the immune system can discriminate alive from dead. For other benefits of fermentation perhaps alive are better.
I just really want to find natto in a recyclable plastic tub. I hate throwing away styrofoam all the time. Back on the East coast I had a friend who knew of a local grower and it cdme with about three helpings in a plastic tub that could be washed out easily w some hot water.