The Japanese Diet - Healthy or Not?

The Japanese Diet – Healthy or Not?

I have been interested in the 高齢化problem in Japan, our aging society. Japanese people have the highest life expectancy in the world. It is aging faster than any country in history. The biggest problem is that the working age population is decreasing so fast, and the people aged between 15 and 64 will become fewer and fewer. Everybody is worried about how the too few young people will be able to support so many oldsters. There are many sides of this story to look at, but since my blog is about Japanese food, I will stick with my topic today and see if Japanese food has something to do with the longevity of the people. (Meredith Melnick, 2011)

I read excerpts from a book called Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother’s Tokyo Kitchen by Naomi Moriyama. (www.webmd.com) She talks about why Japanese people not only live longer but also stay healthier later into life than people from some other countries. And Japanese people have the number one lowest obesity rate in the world. That is only 3% overweight compared to 11% for French and 32% for Americans. They say that it isn’t all in the genes because when Japanese people eat a Western-style diet, they get fat quickly.

One reason Japanese people stay thin is because we “eat with our eyes.” When we eat Japanese food, we eat less because we enjoy the beauty of the many small dishes beautifully arranged in small portions. That is maybe one reason we eat about 25% fewer calories every day than the average American. Restaurants in the U.S. have humongous servings all on one or two plates. (If you have traveled to the U.S.A. you know there are many huge people walking around, and you can just imagine how many calories they packed away in a day’s time.)

Another point is all the rice we eat. Eating rice at most every meal fills up our bellies so we don’t get so hungry for junk food.

The next point is veggies. Japanese women answered in a survey that they most enjoyed preparing is various types of 煮物 simmered vegetables. Every Japanese meal has many kinds of vegetables, and we cook them in many healthy ways such as stir-fries and steaming.

Japanese have less heart disease than most other countries because we eat so much oily fish that has Omega 3. Although Japan has only 2% of the world’s population, we eat 10% of the world’s fish. That also means we eat less red meat.

Other healthy foods that we always eat in Japan are soy products such as tofu, natto, edamame, and miso. Recently there is a boom of another kind of fermented seasoning called shiokoji (the same koji that is used to make amazake + salt). Green tea is supposed to be very healthy because it has anti-oxidents.

There is a BIG BUT here, though (no pun intended.lol)! All the fish and veggies and soy served on beautiful dishes in small portions is THE TRADITIONAL WAY OF JAPANESE EATING. Unfortunately, the way we really eat has changed drastically. Japanese now eat much more meat, bread, and dairy products, and that means we also eat less rice and fish. According to World Health Organization, there has been a progressive increase in death from cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. (WHO Study Group 1990, pp50-53) It must be all the tonkatsu, tempura, yakisoba, ramen…and all those other delicious dishes that we have learned to love. The biggest problem, they say, is all the salt in the Japanese diet (tonkatsu, yakisoba, ramen…more tonkatsu). I was always told not to drown my sashimi in soy sauce because soy sauce is pure salt.

So it pretty much comes down to the choices we make about what we do eat and don’t eat. I don’t really want to get old and fat any sooner than I have to, but I sure do love tonkatsu.

Diet, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases, Report of a WHO Study Group, World Health Organization Technical Report Series 797, Geneva, 1990, p 50-53.

Japanese Longevity – How Long Will It Last? By Meredith Melnick, Sept 5, 2011, healthland.time.com/2011/09/05/Japanese-longevity---how-long-will-it-last/  

 Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother’s Tokyo Kitchen by Naomi Moriyama, 2005 http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/diets-of-world-japanese-diet.