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Fermented foods starting to wake people up
But Is it Japan’s most polarising superfood?
BBC Travel Magazine food and wellness Tokyo
(By Erika Hobart28th July 2020)
The Japanese have long hailed natto as a superfood – but its ammonia-like smell and mucus-like consistency make the fermented soybean dish a turnoff for many.
Every day without fail, my 65-year-old mother prepares a dish that many people would say looks, smells and tastes revolting.
Nattō is very stinky. You definitely notice the smell.
Nattō is a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans. It has an ammonia-like smell and mucus-like consistency that makes it polarising, even among people who grow up with it. A 2017 survey by Nifty, a Japanese internet service provider, found that only about 62% of Japanese people actually enjoy nattō. It also revealed that 13% actively dislike the taste. Regardless, many eat it anyway because of the health benefits.
“Nattō is very stinky. You definitely notice the smell,” said Yuki Gomi, a Japanese chef who runs the cooking school Yuki’s Kitchen in London. “But I always have it in my fridge.” She says it’s a staple in her home, the same way that cheese and yoghurt is readily available in many Western households.
The Japanese have long hailed nattō as a superfood and believe that consumption is linked to improved blood flow and reduced risk of stroke – factors that are particularly appealing in a country that is home to one of the world’s oldest populations. My mother often boasts that nattō keeps her blood “sara sara” (silky). Japanese news site SoraNews24 has gone as far as to declare that “a pack of natto a day keeps the death away”. Hitoshi Shirakawa, professor of nutrition and food science at Tohoku University’s Graduate School of Agricultural Science in Sendai, muses this is “probably true”.
He cites a long-term study published in the British Medical Journal earlier this year: researchers at the National Cancer Center in Tokyo found that men and women who ate fermented soy-based foods like nattō on a daily basis reduced their risk of dying from a stroke or heart attack by 10%
Japan is one of the world’s most elderly societies, with senior citizens accounting for more than 28% of the nation’s population (Credit: bee32/Getty Images)
“Fermented soybean foods are less likely to lose [nutritional] components during processing, which is considered to be one of the reasons for the clear association between nattō consumption and [a reduced] risk of cardiovascular diseases,” Shirakawa said. Those nutritional components include plenty of protein, iron and dietary fibre, which have positive effects on blood pressure and weight.
Nattō might even help people feel and look younger. One serving (roughly 40-50g) has the same levels of vitamin K as the daily requirement set by the Japanese government and may help prevent osteoporosis. Nattō is also packed with vitamin B6 and vitamin E, which Shirakawa says boosts cell turnover and slows skin aging.
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