More healthy eating! Miso soup

I do not believe there is any reason to fear the air we breathe or the water we drink - but sometimes we are thrown a curve ball when the world feels threatening as with the recent events in Japan. I plan to post articles here on foods that help protect the body from harm from external pollutants and recipes to go with them.

So, previously there was Low Tide soup using sea vegetables! and today I will extol the benefits of Miso soup for protection against ionizing radiation. Research has found that miso contains a compound, dipilocolonic acid, which chelates heavy metals and helps carry them out of the body. Animal studies and human anecdotal evidence points to the fact that exposure to radiation can be mitigated by these compounds in miso.

Miso soup - this soup can be as complex or as simple as you want. The essence is using miso to flavor and season the soup.

A simple version is to simmer a length of kombu seaweed in water for 20 minutes, remove the kombu and reserve for another use (more later) then add small pieces of wakame seaweed - this can usually be broken up in the fingers - small cubes of tofu if desired and cook for ten minutes or so. Then add miso to taste, about two tables spoons per serving. Add a small amount of soup stock to a bowl with miso and break it up with the back of a spoon then add to the soup pan and serve. Try not to boil the soup after adding miso to preserve its beneficial enzymes. Enjoy!