Can someone explain the Asian diet?

[Majik8ball]

Hello, first off let me say that I LOVE Asian food. (Teryaki chicken, chow mein, spring rolls, sushi, pad thai, ect) Unfortunately, most of it has very high calories, fat, and above all sodium; So I eat it sparingly. I recently went to China and Japan on holiday and was surprised to see that there were literally NO overweight people in these countries. My first assumption was that the locals cook with no soy sauce and use brown rice ect, but I was wrong. I ate noodles with a friend who moved to Tokyo several months earlier, and he told me that this was the best place to get "authentic" Japanese noodles. The noodles I ate were drowned in so much soy sauce I literally had to drain some of the sauce into my empty soup bowl because it was so overpowering, But he ate every bite then slurped the soy sauce left over like milk from a cereal bowl! So my question is how do Asian people consume so much salt and fat yet none of them gain weight?

Note: not sure if this is the place to ask this question, but it is the only place I could think of.

[Simonzi]

They don't eat dairy. When was the last time you saw an asian dish with cheeze in it? Never. So, the lack of dairy balances things out.

[KingHorse]

Asian food cooked in the US by and for US citizens isn't the same as the food you get there. Same for any type of 'ethnic' food. You're getting the American impression of that food, not the real deal.

[Samwize1131]

Simple answer they spend all there time running from Godzilla how could they get fat?

[Licarius]

Its also got to do with their meal rations.... Asians tend to have smaller meals more often meaning an increased metabolism.

[Majik8ball]

They don't eat dairy. When was the last time you saw an asian dish with cheeze in it? Never. So, the lack of dairy balances things out.

Yes, but nonfat yogurt is one of the healthiest foods in the world. so all dairy isn't bad.

---------- Post added 2011-10-09 at 08:55 PM ----------

Asian food cooked in the US by and for US citizens isn't the same as the food you get there. Same for any type of 'ethnic' food. You're getting the American impression of that food, not the real deal.

But the food I had in Japan was easily 2x saltier than the US variety....

[Gerion]

American portion sizes are insanely large compared to some places.

[Veyne]

Asian food cooked in the US by and for US citizens isn't the same as the food you get there. Same for any type of 'ethnic' food. You're getting the American impression of that food, not the real deal.

You didn't read the post at all, did you? You probably shouldn't respond to a post if you didn't actually read it.

[Spicymustard]

The key is that they actually don't. Their main staple is white rice, which is not very dense calorically. I lived in Japan myself for a few years, I'd hazard that 50% of their calories comes from rice. White has no negative consequence to weight gain compared to brown rice, though it is missing some fiber and nutrients. Second, they eat a lot more vegetables than we do, this really brings down their total calories per/lb. Third, they are very sparing, on very dense foods, such as meats and oils, they eat very little to no dairy products of any kind (which are incredibly dense in calories), they tend to eat more fish, but in total they consume way less animal products . They also for the most part don't like overly sweet things. Have you tried the donuts at Mr. Donuts or sweets in a bakery, they tasted like plain bread to me, but they would say they taste very sweet. Their main beverage is water and green tea, on the whole almost none of their calories come from drinks. Older people I spoke to, had absolutely no desire to eat junk food of any kind. The cities and youth are slowly westernizing, the further you go into the country the better in shape people get.

[Drekker17]

1. Genetics, I'm only 1/4 Vietnamese, and I eat anything and don't gain weight.
2. Asians don't eat giant meals they eat smaller meals throughout the days. Unlike Americans who generally eat big meals and think starving themselves will make them skinny.
3. They eat more variety of foods and eat the foods mixed together, basically this prevent everything from being absorbed.
4. They don't eat that much high calorie and fatty foods, but do love salt...however fish sauce is usually the most common salter (that dish you got was very likely more fish sauce than soy sauce), and it is considered healthier than other types. Salt doesn't typically make people fat though.

When I heard you thought you'd see people eating brown rice, I literally LOL'd. Brown rice was pretty much invented because of health freaks in US.

No Soy Sauce...lol

[KingHorse]

But the food I had in Japan was easily 2x saltier than the US variety....

Salt is unhealthy in excess, but it doesn't make you fat. That was your original question.

You didn't read the post at all, did you? You probably shouldn't respond to a post if you didn't actually read it.

He asked how Asian people consumed so much salt and fat and didn't gain weight. I answered that question: American "Asian food" isn't made the same way as the country of origin, ours is made with much more oil, butter, etc that would make it more fatty and horrible for you.

Did you read the post at all? I answered the question. If you misunderstood the question or my answer, ask for clarification and I can hold your hand and walk you through it. But your post is pretty amusing.

[Llunai]

Asian food cooked in the US by and for US citizens isn't the same as the food you get there. Same for any type of 'ethnic' food. You're getting the American impression of that food, not the real deal.

This.

What you eat when you are out for Chinese is not what the Chinese eat, with occasional exceptions.

[handsdown]

From using salted chicken broth to saute my veggies, to using hot sauce and taco sauce in my homemade dips/marinades, and using soy sauce (only soy product I allow in my diet) on some of my steamed or boiled greens - I probably consume almost, if not double the reccomended amount of salt a day easy. My blood pressure? 90/60 which is considered to be "borderline low blood pressure". Mind you, I do exercise regularly and salt does get lost through sweat.

As far as the cheese thing goes: you all know what (most cheese) is made from of course ... cows milk. The majority of countries consume milk from goats, and not cows. I'd say very few countries consume cheese in their diet.

[Remnas]

Not food related, but I remember reading that most jobs in Japan require calisthenics during the day.

[vizzle]

I'm living in the Philippines, lived here for 10 years.

Rice rice rice rice rice rice rice rice rice.

[Bobdanjoe]

A core thing you'll notice with Asian cuisine is that meat adds flavor, and is not the core of the dish. Whereas our American versions reverse that (and make it like all our other meals) and make meat the center of the dish, with veggies as the side flavor.

I know you've eaten authentic food, but you NEED to realize that in general, it's very different - and over the long term, that makes a difference. Our local "Chinese" restaurant is actually ran by a Vietnamese family, you'd be surprised how many "Chinese" restaurants are run by families of other origins, that know the majority of fat Americans just want their American-Chinese food, covered in fat/oil/meat.

What's awesome though, is if you ask they make authentic Vietnamese food, and it's the best stuff I've ever eaten. To your point again, first off...salt has no calories. So why you keep bringing up salt? I don't know. You also have to consider Asian genetics. They, IN GENERAL, don't get fat, but at the same time you don't see too many huge Asian bodybuilders. This is the trade-off, genetically, FOR THE MOST PART, they can't get fat, but they can't get huge. Ripped, yes, huge, generally not without a lot of "supplements." So don't forget genetics always play a huge role, and a lot of people seem to count them out.

[Sitala]

"Did you read the post at all? I answered the question. If you misunderstood the question or my answer, ask for clarification and I can hold your hand and walk you through it. But your post is pretty amusing."

Actually if you read his question again he said he went to China and Japan and his question refers to food he ate there. He is not talking about American Asian food.

[Trispec]

It's generally a more poor country than America too, take that into consideration.

[bigsandwich732]

Chinese guy here. My mom always made dishes with alot of vegetables growing up. We hardly ever ate alot of dairy products (cheese, eggs). We rarely used soy sauce, but we did use alot of hot mustard and this hot bean stuff.

And what someone else said is correct. Most American meals center around the meat, but when my mom fixed a plate it would only be like 20% of the meat and the other 80% was rice/vegetables.

[Deleted]

It's generally a more poor country than America too, take that into consideration.

Not Japan mind you.