Is it true that Japanese people are rushing to buy natto for epidemic prevention? Is there any epidemic prevention effect? What are the benefits of natto?

Faced with the raging COVID-19 epidemic, ordinary people, due to their lack of knowledge about it, are often prone to hearsay and snatch some daily necessities. The epidemic situation in Japan has been severe recently. There are reports that Japanese people are rushing to buy natto for epidemic prevention. Does natto really have an effect in epidemic prevention? What are the specific effects of natto?

Is it true that Japanese people are rushing to buy natto for epidemic prevention? Is there any epidemic prevention effect? What are the benefits of natto?

1. Japanese people rush to buy natto for epidemic prevention

Affected by the new coronavirus epidemic, after masks and toilet paper, natto has been out of stock or subject to purchase restrictions in many places in Japan. Since there has not been a single case of infection with the new coronavirus in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, which is famous for its natto production, many people believe that this is undoubtedly the effect of natto.

According to a report by Japan's Asahi TV on the 11th, due to the phenomenon of people rushing to buy natto, some supermarkets in Tokyo, Japan began to limit purchases last week, and each person can only buy one portion of natto. According to a large Japanese food manufacturer, the current shipment volume of natto has increased by 20% compared to the same period in 2019. Natto on many supermarket shelves has been quickly sold out, and many customers have said: "(Natto) is also a good ingredient to improve immunity."

In response to this, the Consumer Affairs Agency of Japan held a special press conference on March 10 and stated: "I hope everyone knows that for some things that claim to be effective in preventing the new coronavirus, there is currently no reasonable and objective evidence to prove their effectiveness."

What are the benefits of natto

2. What are the effects of natto?

Natto originated in ancient China and has been produced since the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 BC-220 AD). It is a soy product made by fermenting soybeans with Natto bacteria (Bacillus subtilis). It is sticky, has a smelly odor and a slightly sweet taste. It not only retains the nutritional value of soybeans, is rich in vitamin K2, and improves the digestion and absorption rate of protein, but more importantly, the fermentation process produces a variety of physiologically active substances, which have the health-care effects of dissolving fibrin in the body and other regulation of physiological functions.

Natto is rich in various nutrients. Eating it regularly can prevent intestinal diseases such as constipation and diarrhea, increase bone density, prevent osteoporosis, and it can also regulate blood pressure in both directions, dissolve old thrombotic plaques, regulate blood lipids, eliminate fatigue, and comprehensively improve the body's immunity. However, there has been no official statement regarding natto’s anti-epidemic efficacy, and there is currently no scientific evidence to support its anti-epidemic efficacy.