What is Nama Shoyu

Nama Shoyu

Definition: In Japanese, nama means raw (or unpasteurized) and shoyu means soy sauce. Nama Shoyu is raw, unpasteurized soy sauce popular amongst those following a raw food diet.
Though the product is heated well above the raw-allowed 115°F, it is still used by many raw foodists because it contains living enzymes. The Ohsawa brand Nama Shoyu is fermented, or cultured, in the traditional way, in wooden barrels under the sun. The label boasts "living enzymes and beneficial organisms".


Nama Shoyu is 100% organic and produces a unique blend of flavorful amino acids. The Japanese consider this flavor to be a fifth taste, called umani, their word for flavor. This Japanese soy sauce with its rich, fermented, fragrance and smooth, slightly salty, slightly sweet flavor, has secured an international reputation as a versatile and delicious seasoning.

Best Uses for Nama Shoyu in Raw Food Preparation:

• Marinades
• Dipping Sauce (for lettuce wraps or raw nori rolls)
• Raw Soup Stock
• Salad Dressings
• Sauces

QUALITY INGREDIENTS

The unique intricate flavor is created with non-gmo, organic soybeans, wheat, fermented with sea salt and Spring Water from Japan known as ‘God Spring’.  It's the only soy sauce that's aged for 4 years in cedar kegs by a unique double-brew process, so it can be made with less sea salt naturally, while still retaining its full-bodied flavor and delicate bouquet. Food lovers will be pleased to discover that this new raw enzyme and lactobacillus rich soy sauce product has been introduced to the North America that is based on the traditional artisanal methods of processing. Manufactured by Ohsawa, this Organic Nama Shoyu has been nicknamed the “champagne of soy sauces” because of its unsurpassed smooth less acidic, less salty, mineral rich flavor and quality.

NAMA SHOYU  Fermented Soy A Healthier Alternative

Because shoyu is a fermented soy food, it shares many of miso’s very powerful medicinal and nutritional properties while avoiding the problems associated with unfermented soy foods. It is said to aid in digestion and is rich in minerals. Scientists have given particular attention to the high concentration of brown pigment in shoyu, because of its strong antioxidant and anticancer properties. A recent study by the National University of Singapore reports that the dark soy sauce has antioxidant properties that are 10x more potent than the antioxidants in red wine, and 150 times more effective than vitamin C! Nama Shoyu is also un-pasteurized and virtually the only ‘living’, ‘raw’ soy sauce available in North America. It's full of health-giving ‘live’ enzymes and beneficial organisms like lactobacillus.

IS NON-FERMENTED SOY HEALTHY ?

Although North Americans now use soy sauce on everything from salads, sauces to popcorn to sushi, but beware most of the $80 million spent annually on common soy sauce is for a product containing soy extract, ethyl alcohol, sugar, toxic common table salt, food coloring and hexane (hexane is a toxic solvent used in the chemical industry to dissolve fats and oils) defatted soybean meal often containing sodium benzoate as a chemical preservative. Not fermented, this product is the result of a 1 day chemical process.

Non-fermented soy;

1. Has enzyme inhibitors that prevent mineral absorption including blocking calcium and cause vitamin D.*
2. As well phyto-estrogens that increase a thyroid-stimulating hormone which can cause endocrine disruption in animals and humans.*
3. Strong evidence reveals possible higher cancer rates of esophagus, stomach, pancreas, thyroid and liver cancers when non-fermented soy is consumed. *

Nama Shoyu is manufactured by Ohsawa, a trusted name in macrobiotics and adds ‘new’ flavor to your foods and positive health benefits to your body.

Reference: http://foreverhealthy.net/html/archives/articles/shoyu.asp 

Nama Shoyu Nutritional Facts