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Apparently, amazake is one of those ancient, non-dairy, non-alcoholic, good-for-you beverages (it’s a prebiotic) that, if you know — you know. I was kinda in the know. I used to buy the Grainaissance brand often (RIP) when I was first interested in whole-food diets. It was the easiest one to find in grocery stores, no matter if I was visiting a friend in Chicago, my parents in Vermont or a relative in Florida. It seemed to be everywhere. I thought of it like a treat. Grainaissance amazake was smooth and thicker than oat or rice milk. I used it as a sweetener in desserts sometimes or drank it like a milkshake occasionally. I never considered having it every day because in my mind, that would lead to weight gain or excess mucus, which can happen with other types of milky drinks. I was wrong. Studies show that it can even aid in weight loss.
This summer, I went to a gathering for my local co-op, where a brand had a booth with samples of their handcrafted amazake, made nearby. A bunch of us marveled at the wonderful flavors and how light and refreshing this new beverage brand was. Zoë, the owner, listened as we reminisced about our amazake experiences. I mentioned that I used to buy the koji starter to make amazake a few times, but that company had also disappeared. She loved that I used to make millet amazake and told me she’d like to gift me some of her koji because she made a ton of it with an imported Aspergillus oryzae. That’s a fancy name for a beneficial little spore you could call a fungus or mold. It can be used for various purposes, such as making miso, soy sauce, sake, and amazake. I happily accepted, thinking I’d have a little fun with it. I started with the millet, then all kinds of rice.
In the first two weeks, I noticed that when I drank amazake after a bike ride, long walk or something exhausting, I perked back up almost immediately. It wasn’t like a coffee jolt, but more like a rapid recovery, where the fatigue fell away and I just felt strong and alert, not sluggish like I had been weeks before, each time I did a workout. By the fourth week, I was biking uphill against the wind one day, and marveled at how easy it was to pedal. I have a regular old-fashioned bike, and it felt like someone had suddenly given me an electric booster. I had not been weight training or had any other reason for the new strength and ease, other than daily amazake. Even carrying my bike up and down the stairs to my apartment was easier. Sure enough, there were studies on the anti-fatigue effects.
I’d already noticed that my belly was flatter, but by that fourth week, I realized how much flatter. My body was looking sleek and lean. The skin between my breasts and belly button stopped looking droopy and returned to its normal flat appearance. The belly area looked like a time machine sent my midsection over from the 1990s. No small feat for someone past midlife.
I never miss a meal, but I’d had fewer sweet cravings. Still, I like my desserts. My gut was feeling better than it had in ages — clear, light, and gas-free — even when I basically overindulged on fish and chips, bean-filled burritos, or other enjoyable meals. I looked and found several studies that confirmed I wasn’t an anomaly or making things up. Amazake does seem to reduce inflammation in the gut and improve overall health there, as well as improve skin.
As someone who grew up with the worst case of severe eczema that any doctor had ever seen, watching my skin age has been particularly painful. I changed my diet 30 years ago to transform my skin and health, but age has now caught up with me, and the lines have multiplied at an alarming rate. So, for me, the biggest and best benefit of daily amazake drinking was watching some of those lines effortlessly retreat. The “smoker’s” lines were much softer, my neck looked far less crepey, my eyelids looked smooth, and my arms, which were getting full of lines and sag, were starting to look like they used to. That was huge.
I got very excited and looked up all of the available amazake options. Knowing that to see how far the skin results could go, I needed to keep drinking it for four months straight. There were more sources than I expected. I discovered another Los Angeles-based company, The Amazake Co., and visited them at a farmers' market. I loved their fruity flavors, but even better, they sell their koji online, as do several other companies such as Kohsei Foods.
I've noticed differences in my overall health and comfort, from my hair feeling thicker to not being bothered by hot weather as I was before. I’m convinced that I will now be drinking amazake forever, and I'm glad that new companies are springing up that make it. With this many benefits, it’s far better than an apple a day!
If you have any questions or concerns, always talk to your doctor before trying something new.
Have YOU ever tried amazake? Would you like to? Let us know in the comments below.
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