On eating well and dieting...

I grew up in Asia. You don't see alot of obese people in Asia. It's true in Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and beyond. That's quite a stark contrast, after I moved to United States. Probably one in 10 people (maybe higher percentage) I see on the street is obese. From time to time, I would wonder why there is so many more people who are obese in America than Asia.

My mother, a retired housewife, goes further than that. When she has nothing to do and lots of time to spare, she would go to the mall, sit by and watch obese people moving about. She said she finds it amusing watching them moving around with difficulty. I don't think she says it in a mean way, but she's genuinely fascinated by how obese people live their lives, with all the troubles and difficulties that come with it.

Albeit without conducting any scientific research, in the back of my mind, I know it has alot to do with food and diet (the food they eat, the way they eat). Japanese don't normally binge. While they're big on MSG (did you try their ramens?), their food use surprisingly little oil (except maybe teriyaki). They eat alot of raw ingredients (like sashimi). And they drink green tea.

Chinese food can be very greasy. And while home-style cooking doesn't use much MSG, you'll be loading yourself with the stuffs. You still don't see that many obese people, even in wealth part of the country like Hong Kong where they can afford all the proteins they want. Ah, but they don't normally binge-eat either, and they drink green tea.

Ditto with Korean food. Very greasy Korean BBQ, but you have small potions of a la carte type of condiments on the table. And they drink green tea too.

I don't think Asians are that big on exercise, at least not the older generations anyways. Maybe it's in their gene. I have fast metabolism. I can eat more than a 200-pound guy, and be ready to poo within an hour of a meal. I just don't retain.

So then, it's always interesting, reading about eating well, dieting, and what-have-you. I guess Americans can do much with the gene. Given that they have much bigger potions, and possibly slower metabolism, they have to eat less of the greasy and carb, and/or more of those that don't give them that much fat (eg. veggies). And they should start trying to drink green tea.

But judging from the same way that everyone's been complaining about, that Americans just don't save enough and spend too much, and that they know the problems in their gut but do nothing about their saving/spending habits, I have very little faith to believe that they are capable of changing their eating habits any time soon.