Adding Miso to Your Diet Can Help You Recover From Tough Rides
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You’ve likely noticed that the interest in fermented foods and their purported health benefits has recently exploded. So much so, that you can now buy foods such as fermented salad dressings and fermented salsa along with more traditional fermented food options such as yogurt.
This may leave you considering how to incorporate more probiotic-rich fermented foods into your diet, including miso.
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This aged condiment is a paste made from fermented soybeans (and commonly used as the base of the classic miso soup), and has long been a staple in Japanese cuisine—though it’s now gaining traction in Western kitchens as well.
So, what is it about this paste that makes it so popular, and does the health hype stand up to science? Read on to learn about the health benefits of miso, and if you should start stirring it into more of your meals for a nutritious boost that carries over into better performance on the bike.
Okay, what exactly is miso?
While several varieties of miso exist, the miso we most often see on store shelves is made from cooked whole soybeans, which are combined with koji (a bacteria starter), salt, and rice or barley. Over months (or even years), the enzymes in the koji work together with microorganisms in the environment to break down the structure of the beans and grains to produce a paste that is similar in consistency to nut butter. These days, you may find varieties made with items like chickpeas and farro instead of soybeans.
The color, aroma, and taste of miso vary based on several factors including the proportion of soybeans to koji, and the fermentation time and conditions. Reddish-brown “dark” miso, which results from a longer fermentation process and greater soybean-to-koji ratio, has a bold, saltier flavor. Light yellow miso is less salty with a subtle tartness. And white miso, which goes through the shortest fermentation period, contains a proportionally high amount of koji to soybeans and has a mellow, lightly sweet taste.
How nutritious is miso?
Miso certainly has some nutritional merits, but maybe not as many as you think.
A one-tablespoon serving of miso paste contains the following:
33 calories
2 g protein
1 g fat
0 g saturated fat
4 g carbs
1 g fiber
634 mg sodium
Miso is a source of several important micronutrients including manganese, copper, and vitamin K. However most recipes only call for one to two tablespoons of the paste, at most, so don’t expect it to contribute much of these to your diet. You’ll get way more vitamin K—which is essential for better bone health—by eating a handful of spinach.
Soybeans are a great source of protein, but since you’re unlikely to consume a great deal of miso paste on any given day, the amount of protein you would get from miso will not likely make a substantial difference in your diet.
The only significant micronutrient in miso is sodium. Government guidelines suggest that we consume no more than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium per day, with the American Heart Association suggesting that many people move closer to 1,500 mg daily. That means a tablespoon serving of miso contains about 28 percent of the daily allotment for sodium.
While sodium levels vary among brands, individuals who need to limit the amount of sodium in their diets for health reasons, such as lowering blood-pressure numbers, or are prone to sodium-induced bloating may need to go easy on the stuff. With that said, a 2020 research review published in the journal Environmental Health and Preventative Medicine found that a relationship between the frequency of miso soup intake and blood-pressure levels or hypertension incidence has not been observed. Compounds in miso may result in less of a blood pressure spike compared to regular salt intake.
Certainly, athletes who are frequently working up a sweat can use miso as part of their sodium nutrition plan. After a hard-charging ride, the salty liquid of a miso broth can be beneficial in aiding with rehydration and electrolyte replenishment efforts. It’s also possible to use miso as a salt replacement in soup and sauce recipes, so the total amount of sodium in the final dish may not be that much higher.
Since miso is considered a fermented “live” food, it is not too far of a stretch to say it can boost the population of friendly bacteria in your gut—similarly to items like yogurt and sauerkraut—which helps improve your immune and digestive health. Data suggests that consuming more probiotics can help bolster the immune systems of training athletes, and may even help improve your brain function.
The caveat here is that it’s hard to know if the microorganisms that miso supplies will benefit your particular gut microbiome. Aspergillus oryzae is the main bacterial strain found in miso, but your gut is home to countless varieties of critters, and researchers are still sorting out which strains impact which health outcomes. And, other dietary measures—such as eating more fiber and fewer processed foods—may end up being more important in fostering a healthier gut.
However, miso’s fermentation process appears to increase the amount of easily digested protein it contains and reduces levels of substances—called anti-nutrients—that can inhibit nutrient absorption. While soy can be hard for some people to digest and bring on unpleasant issues like gas, the fermentation process breaks down the structure of the soy beans so digestion is easier.
Including soy foods, such as miso, in your diet could provide benefits attributed to isoflavones, a natural chemical found in plants that may have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory powers, which help fend off certain diseases. There is also some preliminary research suggesting that consuming fermented soy products may benefit heart health by improving cholesterol numbers. But it’s still unknown just how much miso you would have to consume to notice any effects.
Another unknown is the impact that heating miso may have on its probiotics; using it in hot soups and stews may kill off its probiotics. Many Asian dishes add it at the end of cooking to prevent doing just that—a common practice is to remove a small amount of the warm liquid, stir the miso into this, and then add the mixture to the dish.
How do you incorporate miso into your meals?
You can now find miso in most supermarkets and Asian grocers; much larger selections are available at Japanese markets. If you’re new to cooking with miso, you may want to start with lighter-colored miso. Its milder flavor makes it more versatile as an ingredient, and it also typically dissolves more freely into soups, dressings, and sauces.
The most basic way to eat miso is to mix it with hot water for soup. Common add-ins include tofu, seaweed, dashi (a Japanese soup stock), and green onions. From here, you can use it to add depth of flavor to chicken noodle, lentil, and other soups. Go ahead, try whisking a little bit into your go-to tomato soup—you won’t be disappointed.
You can also use miso to add subtle salty savoriness in marinades and dressings, mix with tahini for a mayo-like sauce that is especially great over grain bowls, stir into softened butter and spread on crusty bread or corn on the cob, and blend into mashed potatoes and dips for a hit of umami. People are even sneaking it into baked goods like cookies and brownies.
Some studies—including this one and this one—found that adding miso to a starchy carb (in this case, white rice) can lower the glycemic index (GI) value of the carb by impacting digestion rates. The glycemic index is an indicator of how fast a particular food raises blood sugar levels, and it’s thought that consuming too many high GI foods can raise the risk for poor health, particularly type 2 diabetes. So, including miso in meals with high amounts of carbs, such as rice and pasta, could bring about a better blood sugar response. Further research is required before any conclusions can be drawn.
Remember that darker means more powerful, so you can experiment with using more pungent red-brown miso in hearty stews and braises or as part of a glaze for meats and fish, like salmon.
Refrigerated in an airtight container, miso should last for at least a year.
Because miso is made with soy, those with a soy allergy should avoid it. And, if you need to steer clear of gluten, be sure to select miso not made with a gluten-containing grain like barley.
The bottom line: Foods like miso paste that are consumed in small quantities don’t always provide substantial nutrition and health benefits, and there is very little quality miso research to go on. But that shouldn’t stop you from using it to take your cooking up a notch.
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