Why are Japanese so slim?

Everyone who has thought of using guidelines and so on given in this thread should stop reading it..
Get your arse out and begin to exercise.. cook some healthy food.. never come back to this thread, because you won't need to...
wish you luck...

Hi,

I live in Europe, when I see what the local restaurants serve to the foreigners, I think they are thieves. It means that what I assume enough to eat is not on the plate and usually the foreigners doesn't complain of that. Maybe we have the habit to eat more.
I never had some weight problems but since I have discovered that I enjoy eating vegetables, I have loose weight without even wanting it !

Japanese people are mostly slim because they are disciplined people. Thank to the help of the government. Hi to Masami & Eliza, as well as Michelle & Ruth.

I have been living in China and HongKong for a long time. And I have to agree that walking is one of the things that would help you lose weight. In HongKong, I used to walk a lot, at least a few hours everyday, while here in the U.S. I sometimes hardly go out

People who exercise regularly burn something like 400 calories more at rest than those who don't exercise. Consider the fat content in what you eat, it's such a normal part of American diets, that is wrong.

Well i live in U.S and we don't have people and schools that cook for for us like rice. or diets. It is mostly meat, meat.
If the U.S can change and people don't get over weight. That is what we are having troubles with here. I think it be cool if the U.S did the slim way of the Japanese. I do cook the way Japanese does.

One time I went to Japan, I didn't 'go' to the loo for about a week! Many people had warned me about the trouble with white rice, it DOES block you up! a lot! (do a google search, there's plenty of evidence) I'm not criticising japanese food at all, I love it, but I think the main reason japanese people are SO defensive is that maybe when you grow up eating larger quantities of the stuff, your body adapts to it more. When westerners go there, they experience problems.
That said, I'd heard many times that japanese people are famed for their digestion problems. I don't mean to be crude, but from what I've encountered, I think Japanese people would be surprised about how often western people "go" to the loo (like every day).
There are PLENTY of laxatives available in japan due to this problem. I had my birthday spoiled a bit this year (holidaying in Japan) from a terrible tummy ache, due to being bunged up! I didn't have the language skills to go into a chemist for some medicine, but next time I'll def take some with me!!
What I do find slightly irritating is how the japanese people all claim that their food is the healthiest, and everyone elses is swimming in fat/unhealthy/greasy etc. They must think we all eat burgers and fries every day! I for one do eat very healthily here in england. Yes, they are smaller than I am (I'm not that big) but they still do eat a lot. The dishes are smaller, but they all share their food and seem to share many plates between a few people. I prefer this, as it adds variety. When eating with my japanese family, I was always amazed at the amount they all put away whilst still remaining slim (they ate more than me). I think it's partly to do with WHAT they eat (fills you up with less cals) but also genetic factors. There are cake shops and macdonalds a-plenty all over japan, and they always seem to be full (always had to queue), so they certainly don't deny themselves treats, but they ALL excercise it off as the pace of life is so hectic!

What I mainly admired was how most of their food is cooked from fresh, where as here, we tend to rely a lot on processed foods with additives and who-knows-what?!

I'll def be trying to eat more Japanese food now, it's the way forward (though I'll be taking it easy on the white rice!)

just wanted to add that I think there's a phenominal amount of pressure on Japanese girls to look slim/pretty/well turned out. They ALL looked immaculate on my recent visit, (like ALL of them!). When in England, I always feel well dressed, but when in Japan, I felt like I looked like a tramp! It was most disheartening! They're definitely the most dedicated followers of fashion I've ever encountered!

Just an idea... I was reading a book on the Zone Diet as mum's trying to get me to do it, and it advocates a ratio of protein:carbohydate of 6:9 in your meals, with fat being about...2? Can't remember :P
But anyway, then I was thinking about Japan and I realised they eat white rice (carbohydate), fish/tofu (protein) and most things have some fat in them. And they eat them pretty equally... Maybe the diet works?
I know for sure a lot of the Japanese that come to my uni put on at-least a few kg when they come here.
Though admittedly in Japan you do walk a lot more, and eat less, but still...

It has a lot to do with portion size in my opinion- servings at meals in Japan, both in homes and in restaurants, are quite a lot smaller then in the US in particular. Only small amounts of red meat are eaten and dairy is not eaten as much. People drink tea more than sodas and walk more. It is a combination of factors.

It all has to do with calories. Everyone thinks it has to do with portions although Japanese women have held the practice of stop eating after 3/4 full. Think about it a person can eat a bowl of rice, fish and miso soup and feel full versus someone who has roast pork,potato and vegetables and pudding after and still feel hungry. Which has the higher calorie content? The western dish. In the West people eat too much processed carbohydrates which is packed in calories and other high calorie foods. Japanese diet is not perfect but they are much healthier. Be careful with Japanese white rice. It is much higher in calories compared to Chinese style rice. Japanese eat rice in small amounts to offset the high calories complimented with vegetables and fish. White rice is ok in moderation but brown rice is the best and buck wheat noodles. Just remember anything processed(like white rice) is not good. It is ok to eat it in moderation though.

From my past experience, aside from the obvious 'japanese food is alot healthier than western food' factor, I personally think the reason why most japanese or even large part of people in the east asian countries are slimmer than the western counterparts is mainly because of the quality and quantity of portions eaten daily paired with the smaller sizes of servings during each meal.

Ive been living in UK now for almost three years, in which for the period I have noticed considerable changes in my diet as well as my appearance - sadly, Im much fatter than I was before. Btw, Im from Malaysia which where I came from most people are definitely alot thinner than the average person in the UK, worse America.

Reason why I say quality and quantity plays a significant factor is because in my home country, the quality of food is probably one of the best in which resulting to a satisfying feeling after each meal. Most of us Malaysians probably have about at least 6-8 meals a day (Yeah you heard that right, Im sure anyone of you from East Asia would agree as we have early breakfast, 11 am snack, lunch, 3-5 pm snack, dinner, supper and late supper) where the portions of these meals are definitely smaller than how it is here and can be considered as 'snack' portions instead of a whole meal, well maybe except for lunch which could get pretty heavy but whatever it is, no matter how big the servings were its definitely smaller than the portion here..

Anyway, my point is it is difficult to get good food in the UK at a minimal or good price as I could in my home country, which resulted in me cooking only once a day and because I am reluctant to eat junk or snacks here - expensive, low quality, greasy, not worth it, etc. The meal that I cook for myself at night I realised that I eat until I feel extremely full to satisfy myself where the portion could be considered to be 2-3 times more than what I normally eat for dinner in my home country. A study shows that eating small portions frequently increases your metabolism, hence the reason why even though I only eat alot at night and none at all in the morning and some snacks in afternoon, my weight has increased dramatically while Im in the UK because of the low quality of food with low quantity at bigger servings.

Regardless of which, considering how japanese food is both satisfying, comes in small quantities, eaten many times a day paired with the low-fat products in a daily diet, that's a sure formula to stay fit healthy and satisfied with food. And yes, not to mention people do love to walk and cycle around japan. Hence the reason why japanese (or many people in east asian countries) are alot thinner than the average westerner.

I've noticed that the Japanese people really enjoy meats with heavy amounts of fat in them. In fact... the more fat a meat has, the more expensive it is. Contrasting to American diets.. fat here is cheap, probably because it's been processed and there isn't a high demand for it.
Even though the Japanese really like fatty meats, they still are capable of being thin. Perhaps it's the type of fat they eat?

my Japanese mate of many, many, years is slim and so is his sister, but his other blood relatives are overweight. They all eat the same type of food, but the chubbies eat seconds and thirds! I am European and slim and my co- workers are also slim, yet they come from all over the world and our home-cooked lunches are all different. It is not the food, it is the amount and the type of food! We don't eat North-American fast food, soft drinks etc. In Europe I ate daily in restaurants and, like at home, the meals were a bit like the Japanese ones--much different food of course-- but, like in Japan a good number of small plates of this, and that and something else. The variety was very satisfying to the palate and perhaps prevented us to eat too much (we never had seconds anyway). In the USA meals are often one huge plate, with both way too many calories and not enough variety. We had a tiny cup of coffee in the afternoon but in the USA they have a huge soft drink or a 500 calories coffee with whipped cream etc. Many young Japanese women do not eat enough. . they aren't slim, they have anorexia.

Great thread-lots of good angles. One point I haven't seen mentioned: I've heard that Asians(east Asians?) have longer intenstines, so food gets more throughly digested, fat broken down more, etc.
Living in Japan, I concur that they do eat a lot of junk here these days and drink LOTS of beer. Not too many are obese and the ones that are still seem to have more muscle tone to their fat (sumo guys are prime examples).
As the fat Japanese overseas will attest, your lifestyle and diet are still the biggest factors, but I also think body type (within race as well) is is to be considered a little.

I arrived from Japan a week ago. I was there for 3 weeks and travelled around the country.
I must say that while they are in a general way thin they are not, in my opinion, very thin like many people say. There are some extremely thin people, obviously, but I also saw some rather fat people. The truth is very thin and very fat people exist everywhere, not just in Japan. On average they seemed to be thin but in a normal, healthy way. One thing is true though, the Japanese are smaller of build than most westerners, but a small bone structure isn't synonym of thinness. In fact studies have shown that many Asian populations have higher proportion of body fat compared to Caucasians of the same age, gender and BMI. This is why the BMI values used to assess Asians are different than the ones used to assess Caucasians.

Anyone who's interested can read about it here: http://www.hpb.gov.sg/hpb/default.asp?TEMPORARY_DOCUMENT=1769&TEMPORARY_TEMPLATE=2

The thing about being thin or not is that, for regular people (people who aren't doctors or specialists), it's all a matter of perspective. A fat person is more likely to find the Japanese very thin than a person who is also thin. People from the US and the UK often say I'm skinny but very few people from my own country would say the same, and the truth is according to my doctor and my nutritionist I couldn't be in a better shape. It seems medically speaking I'm not that skinny afterall. What I'm trying to say is that even if the Japanese appear to be "so slim" they are, on average,the way we all should be, not too thin nor fat (according to following article the average Japanese woman has a BMI of 20). At least for now that is.
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/archive/news/2002/09/20020916p2g00m0dm999000c.html

Another thing I noticed while there is that they eat a lot! I've always heard the Japanese eat small portions but for me that couldn't be further from the truth. I think they eat way too much! Everytime I had a meal there, be it a traditional Japanese meal with many small dishes or something along the lines of donburi I always finished the meal feeling like my stomach was going to burst. A few times I actually felt like throwing up, not that the food wasn't good (it was delicious) it was just way too much. And if anybody's thinking I musn't eat much on a daily basis, think again. I'm well known among my family and friends for eating a lot and eating all the time. I should also add that my boyfriend was there with me and he too thought that was too much food.

So how do they manage to be thin if they eat so much, one might ask? Well the truth is that despite eating so much food I lost 1.5Kg (3.3lbs) during the 3 weeks I was there. It's not a lot but considering all the food I ate (plus the many matcha frappuccinos I drank at Starbucks) I was expecting to put on some weight, not lose some. I believe it was because of all that sight seeing. I would get up early in the morning and walk around all day long, a few times I even rode a bicycle.
Do the Japanese walk a lot? I can't answer that question. I was there for only 3 weeks and that's not enough time to find out something like that. Perhaps someone who lives there can answer the question.
One thing I can tell, Japanese food besides being delicious is in a general way very healthy and they don't seem to consume giant sized portions of meat on a daily basis.

Another thing I'd like to add is that Western diet advice might tells us to avoid white rice and noodles like the plague but healthy eating advices don't. Diets aren't a good thing. Why? Because they're diets and as such they have a time limit after which the person will, more often than not, go back to her/his usual (bad) eating habits. A person needs to learn how to eat correctly in a healthy and diverse way. This way of eating is for life and it doesn't tell anybody to avoid rice and noodles. Rice and noodles are mostly made up of carbohydrates and carbohydrates are the fuel (energy) our body needs to work properly. About 50% of the food we eat daily should be made up of carbohydrates. In order to achieve that amount one needs to eat things such as rice and noodles. Just avoid drowning them in sauces full of fat. The typical white rice the Japanese eat so much is cooked in plain water.For many reasons (that have more to do with a variety of diseases than with obesity) brown rice is preferable to white rice but white rice is not a devilish food.

bb wrote:

I've heard that Asians(east Asians?) have longer intenstines, so food gets more throughly digested, fat broken down more, etc.

Sure. Otherwise intelligent Japanese people will also tell you with a straight face that they have different palates, which explains why they have difficulties pronouncing English correctly. Oh, and Japanese snow is different too.

Andromeda:

I agree that the portions of traditional Japanese food are huge! I can never eat a full meal at Japanese restaurants because it is too much! The portions of western food, though, I think is smaller- like when I go out for pizza or something.

I've found that while overall the Japanese are smaller, it's more by location than anything. Just like people in New York or LA are smaller (both from being fashion-concious and walking a lot in the city), people in Tokyo and Osaka are much smaller than people in the country.

One interesting thing, though, is that I think Japanese people expect people to be smaller. By Western calculations I am at my ideal weight (5'5'', 125lbs). But when I had my ideal weight calculated at my gym here, it was 118. Still in the healthy range, but smaller than the western number. And I think body compsition has a lot to do wit it- a Japanese girl of my height and weight looks very different than I do because of our body types!


Otherwise intelligent Japanese people will also tell you with a straight face that they have different palates, which explains why they have difficulties pronouncing English correctly. Oh, and Japanese snow is different too

And Japan is amazing because it has four seasons, unlike everywhere else ;)

Just on an interesting sidenote, green tea might have something to do with it *other* than just being something to drink without sugar and milk in it.
Checkout http://www.vitaminstohealth.com/green-tea-weight-loss.html

Just on an interesting sidenote, green tea might have something to do with it *other* than just being something to drink without sugar and milk in it.
Checkout http://www.vitaminstohealth.com/green-tea-weight-loss.html

I wonder about that... I love green tea and I drink about 1.5L everyday. I must say it never made me lose any weight.

I've found that while overall the Japanese are smaller, it's more by location than anything. Just like people in New York or LA are smaller (both from being fashion-concious and walking a lot in the city), people in Tokyo and Osaka are much smaller than people in the country.

That's definitely true. Even in Kanazawa, where people seemed to be almost as fashion-conscious as people in Tokyo, they were considerably meatier. They weren't fat, they just had more meat, if you know what I mean.
However, most Japanese do have a smaller bone structure than most westerners. I mean, I'm pretty small boned yet I still manage to have a wider back and a slightly larger ribcage than most Japanese girls.

One interesting thing, though, is that I think Japanese people expect people to be smaller. By Western calculations I am at my ideal weight (5'5'', 125lbs). But when I had my ideal weight calculated at my gym here, it was 118. Still in the healthy range, but smaller than the western number. And I think body compsition has a lot to do wit it- a Japanese girl of my height and weight looks very different than I do because of our body types!

If you read the articles I mentioned in my previous post you'll know that Japanese women are pretty obsessed with being thin (you probably don't need to read the article to know that). Their ideal image is that of someone thinner than what would be desirable so it's no surprise they perceive your ideal weight as being lower than your ideal weight in the west. Then again, in many western countries (where there's a huge amount of overweight people) they now see people who have an ideal weight for their height has being too skinny.
There's also another possibility. As is mentioned in that 2005 article "many Asian populations have higher proportion of body fat compared to Caucasians of the same age, gender and BMI". What this means is that a 20 year old Japanese female with a BMI of 20 will have more body fat than a 20 year old Caucasian female with a BMI of 20. The Caucasian female will be and look thinner (but not necessarily smaller) than the Japanese female.The normal weight BMI for Caucasians ranges from 18.5 to 24.9, but for Asians it ranges from 18.5 to 23.5. If the Japanese person who calculated your ideal weight is aware of these new BMI values she/he might have come up with a lower ideal weight because she/he used a smaller BMI range.
One can only wonder why they changed all of the BMI ranges, with the exception of the lower end of the normal weight range. If they have indeed more body fat than Caucasians it would only make sense to lower that value from 18.5 to 17, the same way they lowered it from 24.9 to 23.5. My personal opinion is that they didn't do it in order to avoid giving people (mostly women) an excuse to lose more weight.