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It's unclear to me how you arrive at the conclusion that the Japanese eat a far larger portion of grains than the standard american diet. I'd like to see some c

It's unclear to me how you arrive at the conclusion that the Japanese eat a far larger portion of grains than the standard american diet. I'd like to see some clear statistics on that. One thing I've read is that americans simply eat more calories, period, which would help account for your anecdotal observations. Furthermore, it may be that the Japanese diet has a number of healthy side effects that counteract their rice consumption: seaweed, high omega-3's in fish, natto (source of K2), etc... Country by country comparisons are famously problematic (see "Good Calories, Bad Calories") because there are so many variables to consider. Finally, I'm not suggesting "eliminate grains and eat more meat," rather "eliminate grains and eat more vegetables."

xiaoma 17y ago
I have read the statistics before-- in the 70's 70% of their calories came from rice alone, and even now, nearly half their calories come from rice and over 70% from carbohydrates in general. I've also lived with several Japanese people. A bowl of rice is eaten at almost every single meal, including breakfast. It is true that the diet has become westernized and meat and fat consumption have gone up in the past 40 years... but so have their rates of heart disease and diabetes. I don't have as much familiarity with HK diets, but they are also eat rice, noodles or dumplings at almost every meal, and eat less meat, and dairy than Americans. Having lived most my adult life in Taiwan, I can say with absolute certainty that from this side of the world, the US diet looks absurdly high in meat and junk food and severely lacking in whole grains, vegetables and fiber. Edit: It's also uncommon for people here to worry about adding more protein and more meat to their diets like people in English speaking countries do. It's not even on the radar.

xiaoma 17y ago

I have read the statistics before-- in the 70's 70% of their calories came from rice alone, and even now, nearly half their calories come from rice and over 70% from carbohydrates in general. I've also lived with several Japanese people. A bowl of rice is eaten at almost every single meal, including breakfast. It is true that the diet has become westernized and meat and fat consumption have gone up in the past 40 years... but so have their rates of heart disease and diabetes. I don't have as much familiarity with HK diets, but they are also eat rice, noodles or dumplings at almost every meal, and eat less meat, and dairy than Americans. Having lived most my adult life in Taiwan, I can say with absolute certainty that from this side of the world, the US diet looks absurdly high in meat and junk food and severely lacking in whole grains, vegetables and fiber. Edit: It's also uncommon for people here to worry about adding more protein and more meat to their diets like people in English speaking countries do. It's not even on the radar.