Research Suggests Miso Soup Protects Against Cancer

Above, miso soup. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

RocketNews24 has posted an interesting article on the health benefits of miso soup.

They wrote:

Miso soup is a staple of the traditional Japanese diet and has long been anecdotally connected with Japanese people’s famously long life expectancy. Now, research has linked consumption of miso soup with a reduced risk of stomach and breast cancer. 

Japan’s cancer rates are low compared to western countries, but the country’s relatively high rates of stomach cancer have often been blamed on the high sodium content of the traditional Japanese diet. However, research suggests that miso, the fermented soybean paste which makes the base of miso soup and many other Japanese dishes, could actually counter-act the harmful effects of sodium consumption and even smoking.

A study conducted by Japan’s National Cancer Center showed that people who eat miso soup daily are less likely to die from stomach cancer, especially men. The thirteen-year study, which involved over 265,000 men and women over forty, found that people who eat miso soup daily are 33 percent less likely to contract stomach cancer than those who never eat it. Furthermore, smokers who ate miso soup daily were actually less likely to die from stomach cancer than non-smokers who didn’t eat miso.

Good thing that I happen to like miso.

To read the full article, go here.