Properties: Warm, sweet and salty

Meridans Entered:
Primary: None given

1. Nourishes the Blood
   Kidney Blood deficiency with loss of vigour, poor concentration and memory
   Health maintenance and longevity
2. Eliminates Toxicity
   Debilitation from external disease
   Slow healing wounds, sores and boils

Suggested Daily Dosage: 3-9g in decoction. Stir in at end. Eaten frequently in Japan for health maintenance.

Interactions:

• MAOIs: Tyramine is broken down by monoamine oxidase and inhibitors can prevent this breakdown. Usually in small quantities in soy, but fermentation case raise by 20-fold causing high blood pressure.
• Antibiotics: May decrease effectiveness of soy by killing gut bacteria required to break it down.
• Oestrogens: May compete for the same receptors decreasing the effectiveness of oestrogen medications including tamoxifen.
• Warfarin: May decrease the effectiveness for reasons unknown. Have blood checked regularly.
• Medications changed by Cytochrome P450 2C9: May affect these medications including amitriptyline, cannabidol, clopidogrel, diazepam, diclofenac, estradiol, fluoexitine, fluvastatin, ibuprofen, loratidine, methadone, naproxen, phenytoin, progesterone, s-warfarin, tamoxifen, testosterone, tolbutamide, valproic acid and zafirlucast. For a complete list see the Cytochrome P450 Substrates.
• Should be stopped before surgery due to probable anticoagulant effect and inhibitory effect of soy extracts on CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 (University of Texas at El Paso, accessed 2021)).

• Genistein
  Isoflavone described as an angiogenesis inhibitor and a phytoestrogen. It plays a role in prevention of atherosclerosis and as an inhibitor of estrogen dependent cancers.
• β-galactosidase
  Glycoside hydrolase enzyme that catalyzes hydrolysis of terminal non-reducing β-D-galactose residues in β-D-galactosides.
• Amylases
  Enzymes that break down starch into sugars like glucose and maltose.
• Proteases
  Enzymes that break down proteins into amino acids.
• Lipases
  Enzymes responsible for breaking down triglycerides into free fatty acids and glycerol by catalyzing the hydrolysis of the ester bonds in triglycerides. It is produced by the pancreas but also available from certain foods in cases of insufficiency.

Notes:

Liu Lihong, in Classical Chinese Medicine, pp. 59-60, connects miso, derived from fermented soy beans, with the Kidneys on the basis of their shape resembling a kidney, their salty taste, and fermentation being a rotting process which the Su Wen attributes as the odour associated with Water and the Kidneys.