How Healthy is Japanese Food?

[@SirEveryman]

Great lineup. Ian is relentless. Dishing out colossal yet classy performances left, right and centre. What a man.

[@DirtyRobot]

combini salads use nitrogen to preserve freshness. the additives you are reading on the packaging are for the dressing.

[@nicholasm3265]

Preservatives aren't (usually) bad for you.

[@libertsiagian7685]

@@nicholasm3265 bad publicity = bad product 👍

[@rompom3833]

14:42 That is correct! You are referring to one of the "blue zones" in the world that Dan Buettner claimed in 2005. Together with Sardinia (Italy); Nicoya (Costa Rica) and Icaria (Greece), Okinawa is claimed to be one of the places where you live the longest AND healthiest (meaning you dont spend the last of your 20 years in hospital care). The Venn diagram was developed to illustrate what factors contributed; Family - put ahead of other concerns Less smoking Omnivorous - with the majority of food consumed is derived from plants Constant moderate physical activity - an inseparable part of life Social engagement - people of all ages are socially active and integrated into their communities Legumes - commonly consumed Link to wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Zone

[@alexcarter8807]

If they follow the traditional Okinawa diet and lifestyle, yes. The younger people are living on Pocky and Pocari and .... well, I predict a tsunami of overweight, type II diabetic Asians incoming, sad to say.

[@marcodesanti9304]

I couldn't help but think about the other half of healthy living, the exercise... I think you could discuss that, how people love to run around the palace, the Tokyo marathon, all the cycling, the weird visors that older ladies wear. Maybe something about gyms and popularity of different sports, like baseball, I used to see a kid practising his swing with his dad down the street from me, very cute. Maybe it's something to do with the after school sports clubs culture that keeps everyone going into later life. Also the sports day they have, what is it?? Taiiku no hi??

[@MilkByCow]

My understanding of this topic is that traditional Japanese food (prior to Meiji Era) is healthy; seafood, vegetables and legumes cooked by simmering, stewing, steaming and grilling. Focus is on the ingredients so added seasoning is limited. On the other end, there's contemporary Japanese food which isn't as healthy. Red meat, pork, butter, cream, fast food (pretty much describing yoshoku here) and processed snacks.

[@IchigoNoShoujo]

During my semester abroad in Japan I lost 8kg without even trying. It was a combination of moving more (I had to walk uphill for 20 minutes every day), eating healthier (lots of fish and tofu), and smaller portion sizes. I had lots of sweets and ate out a lot too, but just having such a healthy every day routine made me lose weight in no time. :) I went back for traveling two years later and gained like 4 kg in 3 weeks. :') I had lots of curry, gyuudon, fried food, sweets, all the good stuff... so yes, depends on what you eat! :D

[@Codelinkz_]

Hi, thanks for another video :D The topic is very interesting

[@sophiecastle4674]

Loved this creative talk! And I've heard about the rice thing too, I think it was something along the lines of 'with every grain of rice you leave behind a fairy dies'..? I don't really remember properly either (and honestly it's probably not fairy per se but something like that) but you're definitely supposed to finish them all if you need to be polite. And while dinner might be a family thing one of the things that really surprised me the first time I went to Japan is how many salarymen eat out after work. I guess maybe because they get off so late or as a social thing although many of them do eat alone. I do think there's a culture of eating out a lot too since it's so insanely cheap (at least compared to Sweden), over here you couldn't afford to eat out all that much.

[@Kyorororo]

I think it's not the food but mostly the beverages. "never drink your calories" and all that. Soda and sweet tea is a lot more calorie heavy than boss coffee and barley tea in Japan.

[@Angultra]

True, most of the Japanese I know like unsweetened iced teas which are in every vending machine. Here all they have is Nestea, Brisk and sugary stuff.

[@silviastanziola659]

I've been buying konjac noodles here in Canada for a couple years now, they're awesome! But I have to go to Asian supermarkets for that, it hasn't been discovered by the regular chains yet. Super useful for anyone wanting to reduce carbs.

[@jeffreychongsathien]

17:00 The whole 'quantity first' mentality is particularly British, a hangover from WWII rationing.

[@Alexander-gq4lz]

Scandinavia as well has this as a norm. Cooking is way more common than eating out. Even as a student and having moved out and living on a budget, I still cook AT LEAST 6 days a week.

[@Zante_on_google]

Last time I came to Japan it was for two weeks, and as a tourist I obviously went for those foods that aren't exactly shy of providing calories. The only reason I didn't put weight on was because we were waking about 10 to 15 km every day, and burning off those calories. Talking in general, though, most food that one would find in restaurants is high in calories, whatever cuisine you take them from: Italian, Japanese, French, Chinese, Lebanese, Greek, and so on. That's because what is usually known a "X food" (where X stands for any nationality) tends to be special dishes that are prepared for special occasions, and aren't daily fare for the locals, so to speak.

[@hcm9999]

It depends on what you mean by "Japanese food". It is perfectly possible to have an unhealthy diet in Japan, just like it is perfectly possible to have a healthy diet outside Japan. It all depends on what you eat. Traditional Japanese food is quite healthy since it is based on rice, fruits, vegetables and fish. But most foreigners will not eat traditional Japanese food, because they don't know or don't like it. Because most foreigners will insist on eating their own native food in Japan, "Japanese food" becomes expensive, tasteless, and quite possibly unhealthy.

[@Zaynice]

I would love to have traditional healthy food. One of the reasons I want to go

[@sweetarchangel6748]

Healthy isn't just about food - it's about exercise too. As long as it's it moderation - it's ok. But a lot of people do have trouble eating in moderation though, Also, Australian schools are out between 3pm - 3:30pm. Some atart at 8am, some start at 9am - depends if public, private, catholic and where your school is on the bus route.

[@gaijinpete]

I teach at Japanese Elementary, kids are done classes by 3:40 (earlier for grade 1 and 2) at my schools, and no afternoon snack. The older kids may stay for band, sports etc but not past 5pm usually

[@kelvincook4246]

I live in San Diego, California and it is very easy to find lot's of authentic Japanese food and drinks here and in other cities on the west coast of the U.S. There are Japanese markets, and even some of the large supper markets sell items like tofu, and other Japanese food. My wife is half Japanese and she goes shopping at the Japanese market all the time. Thanks for the interesting topic.

[@gigglehertz]

I was surprised that she said you can't hardly buy tofu in America. It's not as popular as in Japan for sure but you can definitely get it just about anywhere I've been. Maybe not in the tumbleweed states though.

[@eroane]

I bought some Konjac noodles and I top them with curry and it’s sooooooo goooooooooooddddddd…My go to work lunch during the Fall and Wintertimes❤❤❤❤❤

[@XSpImmaLion]

Comparison to my own country (Brazil), because I think if you are talking it's healthy, it always has to be healthy compared to what? Positive point: options. You can eat as unhealthy as you want in Japan, but if you wanna eat healthy you have the option to without having to pay double or triple the price. Here in Brazil, if you are getting take out or delivery, you will always pay double or triple the price for healthy stuff in comparison to fast junk food type of thing. Pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and fried snacks are always cheaper than a salad, gluten free options, protein only meals and whatnot. Always. The price difference is ridiculous sometimes. Probably because of low volume sales and the hype/trend tax. You don't have the option to go into a kombini, get a salad set, and eat just that. In fact, even single serving portions are absurdly priced. Few leaves of lettuce pre washed for a single meal, single person can often cost the price of two entire unwashed lettuces, and they are not easy to find. Also, combinis are just not an option here... you either go into a market to get stuff, or go to a restaurant, or order for delivery. For single guys like me who live by themselves and most of the times it's just not worth cooking for one, you get trapped into unhealthy food because it's the cheapest and more readily available. Negative point: Fruits. In Brazil you have a big variety of fruits for cheap in all markets. They are certainly not as well selected as in Japan, and most fruits I tasted there were sweeter and better, but in Brazil they are nowhere as expensive. Here there are also lots of places that offer freshly squeezed juice of all types, and stuff like fruit salad. Unfortunately not many close to where I live, but still. Everyday food is not bad in Brazil... the staple is rice, beans, a piece of meat, salad and something to complement - could be mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, something else. Not sure if I'm wrong, but I consider the kombini or market bento the staple food in Japan, even though at home meals tend to be more complete... rice, some piece of meat. From a perspective of something you can order or get fast everywhere I mean. Minus points for Brazil - the piece of meat is almost always red meat or chicken, and nowadays I think the most usual complement/side dish is fries, which isn't great. Also, it's waaay more food in comparison to a regular japanese meal. Minus points for Japan - bentos can have too much sugar at times, they lack fiber (due to lack of greens and fruits) and variety at times. Like, of course, you can get something closer to an ekiben, then it'll have plenty of variety there. But I'm thinking more like a meal a single guy could be eating everyday that is on a relatively similar price point. Breakfast and dinner isn't much of a thing for me personally, but I know in Brazil the staple for both is pretty heavy... more or less similar to americans. Breakfast is bread, milk, eggs... dinner for lots of families if basically the same volume as lunch. I kinda go lighter on both. The biggest thing I think influences Japan being healthier in a general sense is not the food... it's the culture, and how much more people just walk around. I think both in Brazil and the US, there are some people who will take the car to drive a couple of blocks instead of walking. Of course, here this also has to do with safety. But it translates to lots of people being very sedentary, while consuming on average one and a half or more times the japanese average. What some people perhaps don't get though, specially people who have never been in Japan, is that no way you'll get hungry in Japan. xD Even if you don't like japanese food. People still have these weird misconceptions as if Japan is still in the feudal era or something. You have to explain that yes, you can find and eat tons of types of bread, yes, you do have pasta restaurants, yes, you can splurge on a barbecue restaurant if you want and have the money for, yes, several restaurants have meal sets which you won't be able to eat it all... etc etc. Just that, if you don't wanna get fat and eat too much, that's also an option. The convenience aspect is important - it's convenient for you to adopt whatever style of eating you want.

[@eroane]

I adore Fuji apples a lot!!❤❤❤❤ My favorite apple!! I need to get back to home cooking Japanese home foods for myself.. I took a trip to Indiana and went to a International grocery store that sold all sorts of Japanese snacks and drinks which I bough huge bags of Calbee chips and some candy and milk tees and apple tea bottles which I am a HUGE TEA FAN❤❤❤❤❤ I am also vegetarian and looking for Japanese vegetarian recipes❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉 THANKS GUYS!! LOVE YOUR CHANNEL AND VIDEOS❤❤❤❤

[@gigglehertz]

You mentioned okara, but do Japanese people actually eat tempeh? I prefer it to tofu but I've yet to come across any mention of it at least on KZbin.

[@darriendastar3941]

Fascinating discussion - thank you. I'm highly allergic to soy sauce so virtually all of Japan is off-limits to me - which probably explains why I'm a bit addicted to watching videos of people eating Japanese food!

[@gigglehertz]

OMG I couldn't imagine being allergic to soy sauce. :(

[@twodimensionsjhr]

I heard long ago in Japan, certain regions of Japan wouldn't eat red meat because of Buddhism which shunted their height while some areas still ate red meat and were much taller like 1.70m and higher (182cm). So when it came to war, the region that ate more protein had an advantage.

[@sae5378]

I personally haven’t gained a lot of weight but many of my fellow exchange students have. I think Japan is generally more healthy but because I was originally eating so healthy back in Finland, Japanese home cooking and snack-culture seems unhealthy. For example frying food for home cooked meals really shocked me. I’ve always only associated frying with fast food.

[@Kokorisu]

I think that moving abroad also often helps to lose weight in an odd way, even if after moving there you initially overeat yummy things. I moved from Spain to the UK for work purposes and I just lost some weight over my usual habits not being instantly available around me, or by necessity having to develop some different habits.

[@ernst-udopeters1637]

Konnjaku is Devil's tongue, basically a potato type or as they said; a yam. I tried it with wasabi but it has very little flavour, not very satisfying at all. In a curry it's not to bad. You can get it as a noodle from Shirataki. Tofu is a much better alternative but at least here in Quebec the Chinese and Vietnamese versions are much better value and taste than the Japanese counterparts.

[@davidotto7519]

I feel like we can't ignore the following: being skinny is also greatly related to genetics and not equal to being healthy. So the obesity data itself is not a reliable proof that japanese food is healthy, since it just considers the person's weight.

[@alexcarter8807]

There's actually a lot of "skinny diabetes" in Japan sorry to say

[@roberttony001]

Traditionally people exercised a lot more for their food. So walk to the market, carry the raw ingredients back and cook them and of course walking to pretty much to where ever they wanted to go. The laziness diet, where you use sloth to combat gluttony. You must walk to get your raw ingredients and carry them home to cook and eat them or sit down and chill out and go somewhat hungry, until of course hunger forces you to exercise.

[@hachimaki]

"it's ice cold outside right now, I think it's something like 7°c" *me* 7°c?? Ice cold?! Hahahahahahaha

[@tony91200211]

I actually gained 10 pounds in one week when I went I mean I lost it in a week when I got back, but still it was crazy! It's just the food over there is just so fucking good and cheap.

[@Bakapooru]

The food is generally healthy, but the quantity matters too. You can eat only veggies and low calorie food, but it's not low calorie if you eat a ton of it.

[@hidebike7127]

Great video even for english learners in japan

[@twodimensionsjhr]

I don't think you guys would like the keto diet haha. I've been on keto for a while and lost a lot of weight (35lbs). I combine it with intermittent fasting. Typically it is 65%Fat, 30% Prot, 5% carb. I've tried low fat diets before and it was much harder for me to lose weight. I do also workout (strength training) 5 days a week. Nutrition and Exercise is a good combination if you want to lose, maintain or gain weight. Yes, some people want to gain weight and have a hard time doing it; it's just how you go about gaining the weight.

[@twodimensionsjhr]

Japanese food in generally is good in moderation like other foods. For me, I feel like it can be high in carbs with all the noodle dishes but there are good choices for low carb and high protein meals too. For myself to maintain and stay healthy, I have to be active. If I'm not, I tend to pile on the weight.

[@zuioachtundneunzig1954]

great episode... where would you go to eat healthy if you don't have a kitchen ? I'm living at a 寮 and for the first month I mostly ate fast food and kimchi. I'm a bit overwhelmed

[@the0other]

I feel like your best bet are family restaurants serving set dishes? Those are the "a lot of small portions" kinda thing, so that might help =w=

[@Mwoods2272]

Set meals are expensive in restaurants. 1000 yen or more but conbini food, fast food and beef bowls are around 500 yen. A lot of people can't spend 3000 yen for meals for one day.

[@the0other]

@@Mwoods2272 true that, but you can find sets vor 800-900 ¥ as well- I'd say they're about as expensive as good restaurant food, but obviously, it's more expensive than conbini food :) We're talking about health, not price, right? ;)

[@dolgstranggumblry1100]

5:59 what is the japanese word for eating alone? ochimeshi?

[@tempesttube]

Bocchi Bocchimeshi

[@justinjeffries9248]

One of my favorite shows :)

[@TheHutjemoos]

Just back from Family Mart #lunchtime 🙀

[@eroane]

😊 I have to visit both Osaka and Kyoto…^_____^

[@uglyshader1611]

so i remember yall talking about Chiitan in one of your videos. . . . please tell me you have seen this kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGXJh5ecadWBe8U lol anyhow thanks for the content and keep up the good work

[@anniehoangcreates]

love the new transitions!!

[@silvrsurfer]

watching this whil eating a big mac hehehe :)

[@seekthuth2817]

I'd like an episode talking about your experiences with insects and pests.

[@krissietalks]

Shizuka’s voice is so freaking soothing lol

[@LordRubino]

To be honest i really think that a lot of popular Japanese dishes like Okonomiyaki, Wagyu beef and others are extremely unhealthy for the super high amount of sugar and fat. I'm quite surprised that peoples are mad about that because i find them super heavy and, especially the beef, extremely nauseating! And another thing: 4:46 I totally disagree to that guy comment about Japan be the country where the family sit together at table because is the country that value that aspect of the family life most compared to the "rest of the world"! What the hell man? I think he might be british where most of the family don't even have a table at home because they prefer consume their food on the sofa while watching the tv!

[@krudler406]

the world needs more Shizuka!

[@Stephaniebeav]

Okinawa healthy.... no, not really. They have healthy food items, but there is also a lot of Pork and Americanized restaurants.

[@zam023]

-Go to conbini -Buy junk food -blame it on conbini... Seriously Jake? you choose to buy the junk food when there are other healthier option in the conbini. Don't blame the conbini for the decision you made.

[@GalaxyJonez]

He even said ".. I ate soo much chocolate..." Well no shit he gained so much in 2 months x) felt kinda off-topic from 'how healthy Japanese food is'

[@ericbanister4907]

Eat a lot and become a sumo

[@dimithom29]

I would find it very hard to focus if Shizuka were sitting so close to me. I envy Ian here.

[@LloydSeven]

Each time I have gone to Japan, and this is an odd thing, my fingernails and toenails grew much faster. Strange I know but it was something I noticed.

[@Kokorisu]

Did you eat a lot of salmon sushi? Some foods definitely make your nails and hair grow quicker, salmon being one of them.

[@LloydSeven]

@@Kokorisu Yes, thanks. That would explain it.

[@신상우-k4l]

deadly healthy.. nuclear food

[@xToxicFusselx]

Wow it's really hard to understand anything at times, they're all talking over eachother....also those girls voices....too bad, would be a good video otherwise.