Eat Like The Japanese
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Eat Like The Japanese

Eat Like The Japanese

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While the French paradox — a nation of cigarette smokers, cheese eaters and wine drinkers who are actually healthier than most other developed populations — seems to make little sense on the surface, very few people are surprised to hear that the Japanese are among the healthiest in the world.

Japanese people enjoy one of the longest average life spans in the world — 86 years for women and 79 for men versus 80 and 75 respective years for Americans — with far lower rates of obesity and chronic diseases like osteoporosis, heart disease and some types of cancer.

Part of that success is a product of lifestyle. Japanese people tend to exercise more than we do, and part of it is due to diet. Not only do the Japanese eat healthier than North Americans do, their diet is made up of low-fat, high-carb and protein-rich foods that are loaded with all sorts of nutrients and antioxidants that our diets don’t come close to matching — but they also eat less. The ancient Japanese proverb hara hachi bunme says it best: “Stop eating when you are 80% full.” So, while our society glorifies terms like “supersized” and “all you can eat,” in Japan, foods are eaten slowly and in smaller quantities. In order to eat like the Japanese, you'll have to understand that meals are appreciated as much for their excellent taste as they are for their beautiful presentation. Not surprisingly, the Japanese eat about three-quarters of the calories per day that Americans do.

Lifestyle changes aside, there are a few basic tips you can follow to help you eat like the Japanese. It isn't particularly difficult and it will help change your diet for the better.

Eat more fish

Most people incorrectly assume that rice is the most common staple in Japanese cuisine. In fact, fish is featured much more prominently on the Japanese plate, so much so that the average Japanese person consumes more than 154 pounds annually (or about a half pound a day). If you want to eat like the Japanese, you better learn to like fish. The Japanese are so fish-mad that they collectively consume 12% of the world’s fish, but account for only 2% of the global population.

The health benefits derived from eating fish isn’t news to most of us. Fresh, cured, smoked, or salted, fish are loaded with vitamin A and omega-3 fatty acids that help to protect against various types of cancer.

Change the types of protein you eat

While we’re on the subject of meat, we tend to forget that meat is not the only source of protein out there. While modern Japanese people have started to incorporate more beef into their diets, traditional diets still focus on plant-based proteins, particularly tofu, which is low in saturated fat and rich in calcium.

More tips on how you can eat like the Japanese…