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Saffron as an Antidepressant (2018)

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Re: Saffron as an Antidepressant (2018)

#81

Post by dasyatidprime »

cowmoo728 wrote: post #46
can16358p wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you, but a quick note for potential readers: most of the soy sauce from your grocery store has extreme amounts of salt in it, beware.

Most American grocery store soy sauce is also not authentic soy sauce. Soy sauce has to be aged from soy, salt, wheat, and a fermentation starter. American grocery store soy sauce is typically salt water with flavor additives. Ingredients for a cheap American soy sauce: soybean, corn, water, sugar, sodium benzoate, salt, caramel color, monosodium glutamate, citric acid, potassium sorbate.

As a big counterexample, Kikkoman is popular enough in the USA to carry in mainstream grocery stores, and is a legitimate soy sauce. I go to the Korean market here when I can for soy sauce (in which case I often get Sempio 501 or 701), but when I don't have time for a separate trip for some reason, I get Kikkoman from the big-box store and it's perfectly reasonable. The level of salt is still relevant, though.

If you start getting into different kinds of legit soy sauce then you'll find more subtle differences of course, and depending on what you're cooking, they may be relevant. I don't cook at home with enough precision for the difference between “primary” soy sauces to matter much, but if you start learning an actual cuisine, that's different.

(No affiliation.)

Re: Saffron as an Antidepressant (2018)

#82

Post by Talanes »

dasyatidprime wrote: post #81
cowmoo728 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most American grocery store soy sauce is also not authentic soy sauce. Soy sauce has to be aged from soy, salt, wheat, and a fermentation starter. American grocery store soy sauce is typically salt water with flavor additives. Ingredients for a cheap American soy sauce: soybean, corn, water, sugar, sodium benzoate, salt, caramel color, monosodium glutamate, citric acid, potassium sorbate.

As a big counterexample, Kikkoman is popular enough in the USA to carry in mainstream grocery stores, and is a legitimate soy sauce. I go to the Korean market here when I can for soy sauce (in which case I often get Sempio 501 or 701), but when I don't have time for a separate trip for some reason, I get Kikkoman from the big-box store and it's perfectly reasonable. The level of salt is still relevant, though. If you…

I haven't been actually keeping track, but I can't recall a time I was in a store with only one brand of soy sauce and it wasn't Kikkoman. Maybe just because I'm in California though?

Re: Saffron as an Antidepressant (2018)

#83

Post by Talanes »

tartoran wrote: post #28
chromaton wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the 70's it was yogurt.

Yogurt is still going strong, isn't it?

So strong that it's a little odd to think about it as having once been trendy. For the three decades I've spent on this planet it's just always been there.

Re: Saffron as an Antidepressant (2018)

#84

Post by yumraj »

tartoran wrote: post #28
chromaton wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the 70's it was yogurt.

Yogurt is still going strong, isn't it?

Yeah, but now it has been made into a dessert with lots and lots of sugar that it’s unclear if it’s good or bad for faith in the sugared forms.

Re: Saffron as an Antidepressant (2018)

#86

Post by blacksmith_tb »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #35
brahadeesh wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not unique to Persian cooking, but there is wisdom in most cultural foods. I have been cooking a lot during the pandemic and every month I discover a new fermented food that has "recently" been found to be a superfood - kombucha, kefir, kimchi, soy sauce, mole sauce, sourdough etc. That is not to talk about other ingredients like turmeric, chiles, lentils and other stuff that add nutritional value. EDIT: I wante…

I still want to try Japanese Natto but can't find it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natt%C5%8D Supposed to taste quite bad for Westerners.

I think most people who haven't tried it before wouldn't object to the taste of natto as much as its texture, it's got a very unusual kind of slimy+sticky quality that lets you pull long strings of slime between the soybeans. But people usually eat it with rice, and if you mix it up it's not quite as odd. I don't mind it, but I rarely eat it...

Re: Saffron as an Antidepressant (2018)

#87

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

andy_ppp wrote: post #64
ummonk wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having tried stinky tofu and been unable to stand it, I stay away from anything similar. I rely on aged cheese to get my bacteria byproducts (esp. Vitamin K2).

Stinky tofu in Taiwan smelt as though someone had burried their colostomy bag (adding maybe rubbish and some milk to curdle it) for a couple of months and opened it at the dinner table. Fetid doesn’t even cover it. I’m amazed you ate it. Natto by comparison is just a bit like gross cheese.

Thanks for the great description. Now I have to look up “stinky tofu” since I’ve never heard of it.

Re: Saffron as an Antidepressant (2018)

#88

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

trainsplanes wrote: post #70
andy_ppp wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stinky tofu in Taiwan smelt as though someone had burried their colostomy bag (adding maybe rubbish and some milk to curdle it) for a couple of months and opened it at the dinner table. Fetid doesn’t even cover it. I’m amazed you ate it. Natto by comparison is just a bit like gross cheese.

Stinky tofu smells a little funky, but once you take a bite, it’s juicy and savory. Taiwanese stuff definitely stinks more, but the mainland Chinese varieties don’t really stink at all and retain a savory taste. Natto literally has the smell and slimy, sticky texture of, well, semen. It’s easy to wonder whether someone left a bunch of used tissues out or if they simply forgot to toss out their used natto package.

> semen

Interestingly, natto is one of the few foods high in a substance called spermadine. Look it up. Supposedly contributes to longevity and supplements exist.

Re: Saffron as an Antidepressant (2018)

#89

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

weaksauce wrote: post #55
ummonk wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having tried stinky tofu and been unable to stand it, I stay away from anything similar. I rely on aged cheese to get my bacteria byproducts (esp. Vitamin K2).

good god was stinky tofu awful when i tried it. smelled like sock and tasted worse. I almost want to see if my tastes have changed enough over the years to appreciate it now but back then it was simply awful.

How do you know when it’s gone rancid?

Re: Saffron as an Antidepressant (2018)

#90

Post by yongjik »

brahadeesh wrote: post #18
codelord wrote: post #10

I feel like people in the west need to become more familiar with Persian cooking. Every year I learn that one more ingredient that we commonly use in Persian cooking is good for your health. So based on this definitive evidence I'm gonna conclude everything we eat is good for you. To get you ahead here are some other things to try: 1. Sabzi Khordan: Elevate your breakfast with Sabzi Khordan, a mixed of herbs that are…

It's not unique to Persian cooking, but there is wisdom in most cultural foods. I have been cooking a lot during the pandemic and every month I discover a new fermented food that has "recently" been found to be a superfood - kombucha, kefir, kimchi, soy sauce, mole sauce, sourdough etc. That is not to talk about other ingredients like turmeric, chiles, lentils and other stuff that add nutritional value. EDIT: I wante…

IMHO, they may be healthier than eating only white bread, but "recently been found to be superfood" is a euphemism for "this food now has enough consumers in your country to bootstrap a self-sustaining PR cycle."

Did you know kimchi is supposed to boost your immune system and protect you against COVID? Now you know - go buy some! (And please pay no attention to the high rate of colon cancers in Korea, which may or may not be related, who knows.)

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