Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Which is healthier or which does Mcdougall advise: Braggs Aminos or Tamari or Soy Sauce?
I use Tamari, but wondered about Braggs Aminos.

Thanks,

Carol

hallelujahgirl wrote:Which is healthier or which does Mcdougall advise: Braggs Aminos or Tamari or Soy Sauce?
I use Tamari, but wondered about Braggs Aminos.

Thanks,

Carol

They are all loaded with salt. If you want to stay within Dr. McDougall's sodium guidelines, they need to be used sparingly.

Shoyu, aka soy sauce, was traditionally used in Japan, and at some point mass-production shortcuts were introduced that compromised the quality. Macrobiotic teacher George Ohsawa introduced traditionally-processed, long-fermented shoyu to the West. According to a talk I attended years ago by macrobiotic teacher Michio Kushi, to distinguish traditional shoyu from the the prevailing poor-quality mass-market shoyu, Ohsawa appropriated the name "tamari," which was actually the name of a different product then unavailable in the West, a by-product of miso production. Shoyu is made with soy, wheat and salt; tamari usually does not contain wheat, and has a darker taste.

Old macrobiotic cookbooks specified "tamari," traditionally-produced shoyu was sold at natural food stores under the name "tamari," and "tamari" became the prestige, supposedly healthy version of soy sauce in the natural foods community.

Then at some point, I think in the 1980s, actual tamari was introduced into Western natural food channels, causing confusion, and the name tamari for traditional shoyu was dropped. For a long time now, each product has been sold under its proper Japanese name. But the prestige association of the word "tamari" carried over to actual tamari.

I stopped eating salt a long time ago, but used to find the flavor of traditional shoyu superior to that of (actual) tamari, which I did not care for. Braggs, like mass-market soy sauce, is an artificial imitation of the real thing, and I avoided it.

There have long been health claims made for traditionally-produced miso and shoyu; I don't know whether they are accurate.

Tamari is also often promoted as being "gluten free"

In Health
Jeff

JeffN wrote:Tamari is also often promoted as being "gluten free"

In Health
Jeff

According to this article, the long fermentation of traditional shoyu breaks down gluten to the point where the product meets gluten-free standards: https://www.celiac.com/articles.html/is-soy-sauce-gluten-free-r2531/

Right, that’s why I said, promoted as, not is, though I think most all tamaris are gluten free, I am not sure the above article applies to all soy sauce though.

The main issue is sodium and they are all high in sodium, even the low sodium versions.

In health
Jeff

Some of the comments in the article referenced and linked from the article I linked to indicate that some people suffering from celiac disease cannot tolerate "soy sauce" -- probably the chemically-produced kind -- and this may be related to factors other than gluten per se.

Someone with any sort of gluten sensitivity may want to do some more checking, and possibly avoid even traditionally produced shoyu, or proceed with caution.

Thank you for the info. I am currently doing a rice Marys Mini. I have recently been introduced to some Korean vegan rice dishes. I
really like eating simple rice and veggies. They use a lot of seaweek, chili paste and sauces and of course Kimchi. I am liking these spices and pickles with the simplicity of rice. I am aware of salt content in all of these Asian condiments. I don't want to cause myself health concerns by indulging too much. I have seen the McDougalls using Sreracha on almost "everything", as they put it. I know the salt content is high in that condiment also. I wondered why they would use so much of it, if the Mcdougall Diet calls for such low salt intake. Seems like they arn't concerned about their usage. Im thinking some of the above daily would be ok for me too?? Thanks for your reply.

Carol