Trying to get Natto culture in Canada

[Ken McCracken]

I am trying to get a small box of Natto spores because of the heart health benefits, reversing hardening of the arteries. Where they regularly eat Natto in Japan apparenlty there is no heart disease. http://www.amazon.com/Vitamin-K2-Calcium-Paradox-Little-Known/dp/1118065727/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359137197&sr=1-1&keywords=k2+calcium

In the past I've ordered Natto Culture from GEM cultures which was fine but I'd like enough on hand to make 50 or more pounds over the coming couple years. The source I know about in the US won't ship directly to Canada and their seven or so "retail" outlets here don't seem to carry it. I've either checked by phone or searched their websites. The distributor of Mitoku products in Canada, KOYO, doesn't import it. 

http://www.culturesforhealth.com/mitoku-traditional-natto-spores.html

Its a small box containing 3 grams of spores. 

I was hoping that someone living in the States who also might like this or other products from Cultures for Health could order some for me and ship it to me once they received it. We could work out payment via paypal. 

Anyone able to help me out on that?

Ken

[Eva]

Ken,

To make your own natto,  all you need is just a small serve of ready to eat natto which you can buy in any asian supermarket, from a freezer section. Defrost it and add to your cooked soybeans as per recipe, there are plenty recipes on the net.

you do not need to have a starter like with kefir grains, and if there are some people that sell starters, they would be powdered strains of the bacteria, which in my opinion, it is better to use a small quantity  of natto itself, that's what is recommended anyway.

so look for asian supermarket, buy frozen small containers, usually they sell them in packs of 4, and use as a starter, you do not need to ask anyone to send you anything.

Eva

[Ken McCracken]

A few weeks ago I was passing the only Japanese food store I know of in the Toronto area, and I forgot to pick up some ready to serve Natto up so as to try Eva's method. I don't doubt it would work, especially if blendered after treating the blender with beer brewing type sanitisers like Idophor or Five Star Starsan.

However after a year of sporadically searching, I was able to find a source in the US willing to ship the actual concentrated culture to Canada. http://naturalimport.com     

As far as the "Natto Fail" thread which I just read, with the 3 year old Gem Cultures packet I had on hand, I used a picnic cooler with elevated hot water containers and a digital readout cooking probe to maintain the approximate 100 degrees F called for. After more than 48 hours the result was not optimal, but I still think beneficial and more or less edible. If you drown it in enough tamari, dijon mustard, and green onions, it tastes sort of OK.  

BTW  the author of the book I referred to was saying people were using black beans instead of soya successfully. 

As far as if Natto is beneficial, I think this link to a fairly long conference video will convince people:

http://www.orthomed.org/omt/ames.html

Ken

[Ken McCracken]

http://www.orthomed.org/omt/ames.html

The part about Natto is a little more than half way through the video. 

Ken

[Ken McCracken]

On Thursday, June 27, 2013 1:27:01 AM UTC-4, Ken McCracken wrote:

http://www.orthomed.org/omt/ames.html

The part about Natto is a little more than half way through the video. 

Sorry to be a sudden spammer...

I just rewatched the last half after a year or so. Since it is a bad handycam video, probably you need headphones or earbuds to hear what he is saying. 

 

Ken

[Sally KW]

Ken, Couldn't you buy the small starter kit then use a bit of the batch you would have on hand then to start subsequent batches?