The Japanese Diet Mystery Solved!

[Rinse & rePeat]

"From ordinary meals at home to fine dining at restaurants, the portion sizes of standard Japanese meals are far below their Western counterparts. There's no such thing as up-sizing, no such thing as free soft drink re-fills and you're unlikely to be served plates of food so large they cause you to waddle out the front door. This, in part, explains why the Japanese are so slim despite having a diet high in refined carbohydrates like white rice."

10 reasons why the Japanese have avoided the obesity crisis

Life in Japan is surprisingly conducive to being slim.

coach.nine.com.au

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

"Mexicans, despite their low average income, have a very high per capita consumption of meat, as do several other Latin American countries. Argentina has a per capita meat consumption of nearly a pound a day. There is a lot of theorizing about the role of meat in causing cancer, for example comparing Japan's low mortality from prostate cancer, and their low meat consumption, with the high prostate cancer mortality in the US, which has a higher meat consumption. But Argentina and Mexico's prostate cancer mortality ranks very favorably with Japan's.

If meat consumption in the US contributes to the very high cancer rate, it clearly isn't the quantity of meat consumed, but rather the quality of the meat." -Ray Peat

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

"The polar explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson was interested in the health effects of a diet based on meat, because of his observation that fresh meat prevented scurvy much more effectively than the fruits and vegetables carried by other polar explorers. He commented on the importance of culture and learning in shaping food preferences:

"In midwinter it occurred to me to philosophize that in our own and foreign lands taste for a mild cheese is somewhat plebeian; it is at least a semi-truth that connoisseurs like their cheeses progressively stronger. The grading applies to meats, as in England where it is common among nobility and gentry to like game and pheasant so high that the average Midwestern American or even Englishman of a lower class, would call them rotten.

"I knew of course that, while it is good form to eat decayed milk products and decayed game, it is very bad form to eat decayed fish. I knew also that the view of our populace that there are likely to be "ptomaines" in decaying fish and in the plebeian meats; but it struck me as an improbable extension of the class-consciousness that ptomaines would avoid the gentleman's food and attack that of a commoner.

"These thoughts led to a summarizing query; If it is almost a mark of social distinction to be able to eat strong cheeses with a straight face and smelly birds with relish, why is it necessarily a low taste to be fond of decaying fish? On that basis of philosophy, though with several qualms, I tried the rotten fish one day, and if memory serves, liked it better than my first taste of Camembert. During the next weeks I became fond of rotten fish."

Since Stefansson's observations nearly a century ago, most Americans have become accustomed to the taste of half-spoiled meat, as part of the process of adapting to an industrial-commercial food system. Tests done by food technologists have found that most Americans prefer the taste of synthetic strawberry flavor in ice cream to the taste of ice cream made with real strawberries. If it took Stefansson only a few weeks to become fond of rotten fish, it isn't surprising that the public would, over a period of many decades, learn to enjoy a diet of stale foods and imitation foods." -Ray Peat

 

[frannybananny]

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"

"From ordinary meals at home to fine dining at restaurants, the portion sizes of standard Japanese meals are far below their Western counterparts. There's no such thing as up-sizing, no such thing as free soft drink re-fills and you're unlikely to be served plates of food so large they cause you to waddle out the front door. This, in part, explains why the Japanese are so slim despite having a diet high in refined carbohydrates like white rice."

10 reasons why the Japanese have avoided the obesity crisis

Life in Japan is surprisingly conducive to being slim.

coach.nine.com.au

And unfortunately to support their seafood tastes the Japanese, throughout all time, have over fished the ocean including all illegal and endangered species like the Mink whale. They are killing our oceans. Their diet is not to be revered.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

And unfortunately to support their seafood tastes the Japanese, throughout all time, have over fished the ocean including all illegal and endangered species like the Mink whale. They are killing our oceans. Their diet is not to be revered.

The fact the Japanese “eats a little” makes me respect them more than gluttonous America.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

These are the countries that eat the most fish….

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“Japanese people eat about 3 ounces of fish daily, on average, while typical Americans eat fish perhaps twice a week. Nutritional studies show that the intake of omega-3 fatty acids from fish averages 1.3 grams per day in Japan, as compared to 0.2 grams per day in the United States.”


“The majority of Japanese consumers eat more meat than fish and seafood as revealed in a survey conducted in September 2020. While more than 60 percent of respondents stated to consume more meat dishes than seafood, less than 14 percent showed a tendency to consuming more seafood.”

Japanese Diet Rich In Fish May Hold Secret To Healthy Heart: Omega-3 Fatty Acids From Fish Appear To Prevent Clogged Arteries

If you're fishing for ways to reduce the risk of heart disease, you might start with the seafood-rich diet typically served up in Japan. The research, published in the Aug. 5, 2008, issue of Journal of the American College of Cardiology, suggests that protection comes from omega-3 fatty acids...

www.sciencedaily.com

 

[reaching]

And unfortunately to support their seafood tastes the Japanese, throughout all time, have over fished the ocean including all illegal and endangered species like the Mink whale. They are killing our oceans. Their diet is not to be revered.

Love the mink whale sashimi.

Everything is relative.
I agree that the ridiculous fetishizing of the diet is something people shouldn't do.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Love the mink whale sashimi.

Everything is relative.
I agree that the ridiculous fetishizing of the diet is something people shouldn't do.

Eskimos have been eating whales as a major food source since forever, why is Japan bad for doing so too, and Japan isn’t even the ones killing the whale.

“The little, red, bloodless strips of flesh seem so innocuous. Layered, one on top of each other, with a little cress garnish on a spotless white plate, they are just a light snack. The most shocking thing is the price: at £10 a slice, they're expensive. But this Japanese dish, served up with soy sauce in the Tokuya restaurant in Osaka, is at the centre of one of the most extraordinary battles that has ever circled the globe. The right to eat this dish has sparked a power struggle that has pitched the world's richest nations one against another, catching in the cross-fire the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, Dominica in the Caribbean and landlocked Mongolia in deepest Asia. The pursuit of this dish has lead to the ramming and sinking of boats, the making and breaking of global treaties, the buying of poor nations with offers of aid, and mass consumer boycotts.The violent debate that surrounds this dish spans the rights of animals and indigenous people, our relentless destruction of nature, our ignorance of the oceans, cultural imperialism and the very nature of intelligence and consciousness.
The dish is whale, minke whale, a little strip of raw flesh from the belly of an animal protected from commercial hunting by a moratorium that has survived 15 years. The dish is just a few ounces from one of the 500 minke whales, each weighing about 8 tonnes, that the Japanese government killed last year in the pursuit, it said, of 'scientific research'. Once they are weighed and measured, their location noted, the whales are chopped up, shipped back to Japan, and sold on the open market.“


“The meat he serves comes from the last fin whale stocks available in Iceland, bought before the moratorium and then frozen. 'It is a very healthy meat, you won't get Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease from eating it,' Eysteinsson said. 'It tastes like beef, but much better, much more tender.”

Stop blubbering

Whales are supposed to be protected but that doesn't stop the Japanese killing and eating hundreds of them every year. But does the West's moral outrage over the pursuit of our gentle leviathans amount to anything more than hypocrisy and cultural bullying?

www.google.com

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“Many Asian countries, including Korea, Japan and China, experience disproportionately high rates of stomach cancer, possibly due to high rates of infection with Helicobacter pylori — also known as H. pylori — and the increased consumption of salted and smoked foods.”

Does Where You Live Impact Your Stomach Cancer Risk?

It's estimated that about 27,600 new cases of stomach cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2020: 16,980 in men and 10,620 in women.

www.roswellpark.org

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“Cancer is the leading cause of death among those of Japanese origin, but higher in native Japanese than Japanese Americans. There were 1,028,658 new cancer cases in Japan during 2020, which led to 420, 124 deaths. Cancer and diseases of the heart are among the leading reasons for Japanese fatalities.”

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“Other observational studies have identified a number of positive health outcomes associated with cocoa or chocolate consumption. In a Japanese study, risk of being found to have diabetes was reduced 35% among men who consumed “chocolate snack pieces” once per week or more compared with those who never or almost never ate chocolate (189). A similar but nonsignificant reduction in risk was observed for women (189). In another study, a J-shaped relationship was observed between dark chocolate consumption and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in Italian men and women (59). Individuals consuming a 20-g serving of dark chocolate daily had the lowest CRP concentrations. A 2009 study suggested a relationship between psychological health and chocolate preference in which elderly men preferring chocolate reported feeling less lonely and depressed and happier than men preferring other types of candy (251).”

Cocoa and Chocolate in Human Health and Disease

Cocoa contains more phenolic antioxidants than most foods. Flavonoids, including catechin, epicatechin, and procyanidins predominate in antioxidant activity. The tricyclic structure of the flavonoids determines antioxidant effects that scavenge reactive ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Seven diet-sabotaging Japanese foods to avoid…or seek out

Coming from a land where deep-fried Mars bars and donner kebabs are viable dinner choices, and hangovers are washed away with a fry-up from the local greasy spoon, I am more than reasonably well acquainted with high-calorie foods. It may surprise some people to learn that Japan has plenty of...

japantoday.com

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“Where are we going wrong?

I also feel that people in Australia like to eat a lot more sushi than people in Japan do. And it’s often eaten with mayonnaise or a sweet sauce. To me, that’s a westernised version of sushi and not the way we would usually have it in Japan.

The fact is Japanese rice (that’s used for sushi) has one of the highest sugar contents of all rice and is quite unhealthy when compared to other types, like basmati rice. But in Japan, we typically eat lots of little tiny dishes consisting of [some rice], a lot of seaweed and vegetables, and some meat but not a lot of it.”

Not just sushi and tempura: Here's how to eat the healthy Japanese foods I grew up with

Japanese food advocate, nutrition coach and former chef, Yoshiko Takeuchi, wants to promote traditional Japanese foods and flavours that can benefit your health.

www.sbs.com.au

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“Sushi is THE flagship dish of Washoku in the global market (although it is not necessarily in Japan) and it may look healthier than most dishes in Western cuisine, but it’s hype on healthiness has been challenged already. Now it is more commonly known that it’s in fact more of an upscale version of junk food.”

“Japanese people do live long – 85 years on average – which is the 3rd longest in the world ranking. They live around 5 years longer than people in the U.S, which ranks at 45th place.

But their success in elongating life is not due to eating Japanese food everyday per se, but rather thanks to the education they’ve received on food and dietary practices. Japanese people have been trained in school to figure out the optimal combination of foods to help themselves maintain health.

Eating sushi everyday won’t add years to your life; you’ll actually end up with less. Eating healthily requires understanding the philosophy of Washoku – even just the mere basics of it – and that’s what this article will be about.“

Is Japanese food (Washoku) really healthy?

Japanese food is associated with health but food itself is not what supports a healthy life-style. It's the philosophy of Japanese cuisine that ensures a healthy diet.

www.metro-classic-japanese.net

 

[Atman]

I always have to cringe when people in the West are ordering their overpriced sushi with farmed salmon from Norway garnished with some mayonnaise sauce.
If they only knew that the healthiest part of it is actually the sugared rice.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I always have to cringe when people in the West are ordering their overpriced sushi with farmed salmon from Norway garnished with some mayonnaise sauce.
If they only knew that the healthiest part of it is actually the sugared rice.

That is a disgusting sushi combo! I use to think Japanese food was healthy, but knowing more about “Peaty” stuff, I cannot find anything healthy to eat in a Japanese restaurant now.

 

[reaching]

“Where are we going wrong?

I also feel that people in Australia like to eat a lot more sushi than people in Japan do. And it’s often eaten with mayonnaise or a sweet sauce. To me, that’s a westernised version of sushi and not the way we would usually have it in Japan.

The fact is Japanese rice (that’s used for sushi) has one of the highest sugar contents of all rice and is quite unhealthy when compared to other types, like basmati rice. But in Japan, we typically eat lots of little tiny dishes consisting of [some rice], a lot of seaweed and vegetables, and some meat but not a lot of it.”

Not just sushi and tempura: Here's how to eat the healthy Japanese foods I grew up with

Japanese food advocate, nutrition coach and former chef, Yoshiko Takeuchi, wants to promote traditional Japanese foods and flavours that can benefit your health.

www.sbs.com.au

I would wager people eat way more sushi here in Japan. Supermarket sell it and it's pretty dang good. Even convenience store sushi isnt bad at all.
Countless cheap sushi train place in major cities and still plenty of them out in the boonies.
But you are correct that it's way different than western sushi.
There has been a kind of trend recently of western style rolls at some places here but even those are just essentially a california roll with more fish on top, not crazy sauces. butt some weird stuff too like... hamburger topped with cheese sushi or corn-mayo sushi haha

I really don't know about this a lot of seaweed thing people always say. I guess it is relatively more than other cultures but to me it's not a lot. Just a little here and there in miso or the occasional side dish.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

I would wager people eat way more sushi here in Japan. Supermarket sell it and it's pretty dang good. Even convenience store sushi isnt bad at all.
Countless cheap sushi train place in major cities and still plenty of them out in the boonies.
But you are correct that it's way different than western sushi.
There has been a kind of trend recently of western style rolls at some places here but even those are just essentially a california roll with more fish on top, not crazy sauces. butt some weird stuff too like... hamburger topped with cheese sushi or corn-mayo sushi haha

I really don't know about this a lot of seaweed thing people always say. I guess it is relatively more than other cultures but to me it's not a lot. Just a little here and there in miso or the occasional side dish.

We have sushi everywhere in American too, supermarkets and such. So many sushi chefs have told me about their disgust making sushi rolls dumbed down with mayo sauces of every sort. Many have told me that they always recognize traditional Japanese people by what they consistently order and it isn’t rolls. They order sashimi. It has taken a couple of decades, but I guess, like everywhere else, Japan has succumbed to our Western ways with fast food and unhealthy sushi. I have to admit it is delicious, especially with that MSG laden Kewpie mayo.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“Speaking to 7Life for National Sushi Day on June 18, Kwak explains how sushi and sashimi should always be eaten in “one bite”.

Another error he sees diners make is not eating any pickled ginger with sushi or sashimi.

“Balance is the key,” the chef says.

“You need pickled ginger to clean your palate.

“[But] you should never eat pickled ginger with sushi or sashimi at the same time - it needs to be eaten separately.’”


“He warns you need to avoid to “overfilling” your sushi rolls with ingredients.

“This is a common mistake people make when preparing sushi at home,” he says.

“Use less rice, take your time, and roll.’”

Australia’s top chef dishes out the dos and don’ts of eating sushi - and the ingredients to avoid

Have you been eating sushi wrong? A chef of Australia’s two-hatted Japanese restaurant has offered his etiquette tips.

www.google.com