The Japanese Diet Mystery Solved!

[Rinse & rePeat]

"When rats were fed a diet completely lacking tryptophan for a short period, or a diet containing only one fourth of the “normal” amount for a more prolonged period, the results were surprising: They kept the ability to reproduce up to the age of 36 months (versus 17 months for the rats on the usual diet), and both their average longevity and their maximum longevity increased significantly. They looked and acted like younger rats. (A methionine-poor diet also has dramatic longevity-increasing effects.)" -Ray Peat

So often diets are compared with the Japanese diet. Their slim build and longetivity is debated between two sides, is it the rice or is it the fish? Ray Peat's quote points to neither. Seems that their longetivity secret may be partly in the lack of tryptophan in their diet.

"I think potato starch is likely to cause some cumulative damage if it isn’t eaten with some fat. I don’t eat potatoes, both because of the starch and their allergenicity. As a cheap source of nourishment, they are far better than the beans and rice that are often recommended for cheap protein and calories." " -Ray Peat

Their is no debating that rice is a cheap staple used in hard life cultures and places where fruit is not a cheap commodity. In the 80's an orange in China would cost the better part of a month's wages. In those cases the Japanese are wise to balance their blood sugar with "a little" rice. In America there is no such thing as "a little" rice. It is a big side dish or the majority of a sushi roll, all laden with mayonnaise based sauces and soy products of three kinds, edamame, tofu and soy sauce. There is NOTHING healthy about a typical sushi restaurant visit, so quit fooling yourself America, you aren't eating Japanese food!

The Japanese are not gluttonous people either. The sushi chefs I have talked to will tell you, the true Japenese order very differently in sushi restaurants than Americans do. Rather than the American meal of several different rolls, some of which are even battered and deep fried, they don't order rolls at all. They order sashimi (without rice) or sushi pieces (with a little rice) and NEVER eat the PUFA laden mayo sauces, and appreciate that orange half at the end of the meal, sounds kinda "Peaty" huh? So stop with the great debates over whether it is the "fish" or the "rice", because it's the "little".

"Small meals help to increase the metabolic rate, single big meals increase fat storage." -Ray Peat

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

"According to the official history of the Kewpie Corporation, Nakahata wanted to introduce this rich sauce to his homeland to encourage young people to take in more nourishment, so that they could grow as strong and tall as their Western counterparts."
The irony ?

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

This is an interesting breakdown of differences in American Japanese and Authentic Japanese sushi.

"the average American sushi lover understands traditional sushi very poorly. This is a huge topic that's hard to address in a concise way, but you'd have to say a lot to even make an apples-to-apples comparison that a layman can follow.

* Rolls are usually very simple, and an afterthought, in Japanese sushi. The only good, consistent reason to make them at all is to use up the scraps that you create when cutting the fish for nigiri. So in the US, most people think of sushi as elaborate rolls, whereas in Japan, most people think of sushi as a topping on a rice ball.

* Even among US places that prize nigiri the same way the Japanese do, there are many more kinds of seafood available in Japan than there are in the US. And that holds true in spite of the fact that the best US sushi places source from all over the world, whereas Japanese places source mostly from the Tsukiji market and almost exclusively from Japanese waters.

* Salmon is a staple of US nigiri. Top Japanese places don't serve it at all.

* The Japanese focus a lot more on shellfish, particularly clams, than US places.

* Focus on quality, cooking method, seasoning, service temperature, packing tightness, and proportion of rice is much more careful and expert in Japan.

* The Japanese always use real grated wasabi root instead of powdered horseradish. Good US places use real wasabi, often only on more expensive courses or menu items.

* In Japan, you only dip sushi in soy sauce if the chef neglects to brush it on himself, and if he's any good, there's no way he'll make that omission. Good chefs in the US do this, too, but many people still dip because they don't realize the shoyu is for salinity rather than soy flavoring.

* US sushi lovers tend to think of "freshness" as the most important quality. A majority of Japanese sushi is cooked or cured or marinated in some way.

I'll go through the menu I had at the famous Sukiyabashi Jiro and note how easy it is to find each one in the US, and whether there was any preparation involved that renders freshness unimportant.

1) Sole - served aged; not common in the US
2) Golden Cuttlefish - not hard to find squid in the US, but frustratingly hard to find it anywhere near this quality
3) Juvenile Buri (Inada) - this is the common "Yellowtail" you'll find in Japan, whereas "Hamachi" is the Yellowtail you'll find in the US
4) Lean Bluefin Tuna - aged up to 10 days depending on the size of the fish, much of which this cut spends marinating in soy sauce; most top places have bluefin tuna, but it's usually a "special" rather than a standard menu item; yellowfin or "ahi" tuna is the common US tuna, which the Japanese won't use due to its low fat content and inferior flavor
5) Mid-fatty Bluefin Tuna - again, aged up to 10 days
6) Fatty Bluefin Tuna - again, aged up to 10 days
7) Gizzard Shad - marinated a long time in vinegar; I never see this fish in the US even though it's as classic as tuna in Japan
8) Abalone - simmered in sake and water for hours, left to marinate in the broth, and steamed to bring it to temperature before serving; I rarely see this in the US, and when I do, it tends to only be served as sashimi
9) Japanese Horse Mackerel - this one is served raw, but you have to refrigerate it right after breaking it down to prevent deterioration; I never see it in the US
10) Japanese Tiger Prawn - served boiled; shrimp and prawns are common in the US, but not this species; they're enormous
11) Red Clam - served right out the shell, but I never seen them in the US
12) Halfbeak or Needlefish - I never see them in the US
13) Giant Clam - cooked over flame and steeped in broth; I never see it in the US
14) Bonito or Skipjack Tuna - smoked over burning straw with the skin lightly roasted, then frozen; most good US places have this
15) Mantis Shrimp - cooked and steeped in broth; I never see it in the US
16) Sea Urchin Roe - every good US place has it; always served fresh
17) Mactra Clam Adductor Muscles - I never see them in the US
18) Salmon Roe - easy to find in the US, but very hard to find it anywhere near this quality; usually frozen because salmon only spawn during a short period each year
19) Sea Eel (Anago) - Unagi (freshwater eel) is much more common in the US, but good places have saltwater eel as well; cooked by simmering in Japan; in the US it's much more common to grill it; the resulting difference in texture is enormous
20) Tamago (egg) - cooked; almost all respectable sushi places have it, but it's more omelette-like in the US vs. more cake-like in Japan"

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

"If you have a master chef preparing sushi then mayo ruins it, because a good sushi rice will be sticky and moist by itself. Where some people might add mayo to bad sushi rice to compensate for the lack of skill and quality of rice."

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Hmmm I wonder why the Japanese people live are slimmer than Americans ?

 

[nerfherder]

Sukiyabashi Jiro, nice. There aren't many places I'm jealous of someone eating at but that is one.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Sukiyabashi Jiro, nice. There aren't many places I'm jealous of someone eating at but that is one.

Oh you have been to the Sukiyabashi Jiro mentioned?

 

[ursidae]

Personally I try to model my diet after Kitavans of Papua New Guinea

Acne Vulgaris

Background In westernized societies, acne vulgaris is a nearly universal skin disease afflicting 79% to 95% of the adolescent population. In men and women older than 25 years, 40% to 54% have some degree of facial acne, and clinical facial acne persists into middle age in 12% of women and 3%...

jamanetwork.com

 

[Nomane Euger]

Personally I try to model my diet after Kitavans of Papua New Guinea

Acne Vulgaris

Background In westernized societies, acne vulgaris is a nearly universal skin disease afflicting 79% to 95% of the adolescent population. In men and women older than 25 years, 40% to 54% have some degree of facial acne, and clinical facial acne persists into middle age in 12% of women and 3%...

jamanetwork.com

View attachment 26259

why?

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Personally I try to model my diet after Kitavans of Papua New Guinea

Acne Vulgaris

Background In westernized societies, acne vulgaris is a nearly universal skin disease afflicting 79% to 95% of the adolescent population. In men and women older than 25 years, 40% to 54% have some degree of facial acne, and clinical facial acne persists into middle age in 12% of women and 3%...

jamanetwork.com

View attachment 26259

Lots of fish and sunshine goes along way to feed health! I have read that most of them smoke everyday so i wonder how they fare in the cancer department?

 

[ursidae]

why?

Lots of Veggies, High Fibre, glucose and some fructose, a bit of fish with the skins/brains/eyes included and lots of movement/sun seems to be the way to go for the high IGF-1 folk. I eat fish/lamb every day but for optimal results I’d probably have to lower intake to twice a week and replace the rest with collagen. Tubers/fruit coconut and lean fish is pretty peaty overall, just way lower on the androgen containing foods (eggs and dairy, beef fat).

 

[Nomane Euger]

Lots of Veggies, High Fibre, glucose and some fructose, a bit of fish with the skins/brains/eyes included and lots of movement/sun seems to be the way to go for the high IGF-1 folk. I eat fish/lamb every day but for optimal results I’d probably have to lower intake to twice a week and replace the rest with collagen. Tubers/fruit coconut and lean fish is pretty peaty overall, just way lower on the androgen containing foods (eggs and dairy, beef fat).

Do you get worsening of any of your symptoms if you eat more beef fat dairy eggs?

 

[ursidae]

Do you get worsening of any of your symptoms if you eat more beef fat dairy eggs?

About 200 g goat dairy and 1 egg yolk a day and this is what happens

 

[Nomane Euger]

About 200 mg goat dairy and 1 egg yolk a day and this is what happens

Sad ***t,do you get that independently of the quality?do you get same reaction wen you eat beef and eat 0 dairy or eggs?same reaction from organs such as liver kidneys brain?

 

[Sweet Meat]

Lots of Veggies, High Fibre, glucose and some fructose, a bit of fish with the skins/brains/eyes included and lots of movement/sun seems to be the way to go for the high IGF-1 folk. I eat fish/lamb every day but for optimal results I’d probably have to lower intake to twice a week and replace the rest with collagen. Tubers/fruit coconut and lean fish is pretty peaty overall, just way lower on the androgen containing foods (eggs and dairy, beef fat).

what type of vegetables?


do you have any advice on preparing whole fish? i can cook most things but i've only ever cooked fillets and don't know how to prepare the heads etc in a way that wouldn't make it difficult to eat

i'd love to master fish cooking japanese style, they make it look like magic

 

[ursidae]

Sad ***t,do you get that independently of the quality?do you get same reaction wen you eat beef and eat 0 dairy or eggs?same reaction from organs such as liver kidneys brain?

Using highest quality
Beef I just don’t digest it that well, sometimes it gives me perioral acne (Women have lower stomach acid this is why they go for dairy chicken and fish). But if all is going well with digestion and it’s high quality meat it only makes my face a bit red and inflamed but overall no cystic events. Yolks exacerbate the problem but I can have them from time to time if I’m on a low androgen diet (fish). Dairy, I always react. The combination of dairy egg yolks and beef is just murderous for my skin. I’ll probably have to go on spironolactone to eat such a diet
Edit: I react to liver. Kidneys and brain are fine

 

[ursidae]

what type of vegetables?


do you have any advice on preparing whole fish? i can cook most things but i've only ever cooked fillets and don't know how to prepare the heads etc in a way that wouldn't make it difficult to eat

i'd love to master fish cooking japanese style, they make it look like magic

lower oxalate, non goitrogenic, organic produce
I eat mostly fruit-like vegetables - zucchini, cucumber, tomato, and culinary herbs like parsley, dill and basil. lettuce is the only leaf that appeals and is low oxalate
Bok choy (haven’t tried) is high calcium and low oxalate
Honestly it would be better to ask someone else about the fish. OP makes cooking threads. I’m lazy with preparation. when I get a whole fish I just steam it and melt cocoa butter all over it. The heads, I eat medium and small fish so they’re never easy to eat. if it’s a larger head I just cut the cartilage with a knife. If it’s a small fish you can easily eat the entire head if it’s been cooked long enough

 

[ursidae]

Lots of fish and sunshine goes along way to feed health! I have read that most of them smoke everyday so i wonder how they fare in the cancer department?

Didn’t know about that, maybe it’s a more recent thing among them?

 

[nerfherder]

Oh you have been to the Sukiyabashi Jiro mentioned?

No. In general I don't have any desire to go to good restaurants these days, but that is an exception. I would love to go there. So I am jealous that you went. That is so cool.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

No. In general I don't have any desire to go to good restaurants these days, but that is an exception. I would love to go there. So I am jealous that you went. That is so cool.

I did not go either. I put all that in quotes getting it from someone else who was there. I am jealous too, I think! Authentic Japanese food is some crazy stuff. I have had few samples, back in the day when i was into the mayo laden Americanized sushi, from sushi chefs who had come directly from Japan, and I wasn't too fond of it. Being in the Navy, my son was stationed in Japan for a year, living in a high rise condo above a ramen house. He said the same, the sushi and Japanese dishes, are unlike anything in our America Japanese restaurants. I think their food, eating head to toe, is just too cringeworthy for an abundace of authentic restaurants to makevany money attracting a big crowd. Americans love all that batter dipped and fried stuff topped with mayo.