Why are Japanese so slim?

I agree with Sammy above.

The food portions in Japan are seriously small. When I was working in Japan I lost a lot of weight without realising it, and I wasn't even eating Japanese meals all the time. Apart from traditional Japanese dishes being smallish, even their servings of Pastas and Steaks are half the size.

Furthermore, in Western diet we tend to have an entree, a main course and then a dessert to finish it off. I hardly ate entrees and desserts in Japan together with the main meal.

Funnily enough, perhaps eating plenty of rice and noodles but very little meat in Japan really fills one up so one wouldn't feel hungry even after a smallish sized meal.

Good point. By no means did I mean to suggest that all western diet advice promotes extreme fads such as Atkins.

There is definitely some good advice around, but also a lot of conflicting advice. I think there is a rise in popularity of Japanese cuisine in the west because people enjoy it as a healthy and tasty choice.

I think diet and exercise sum it up well. Since I met my wife and started eating Japanese style diet, I've lost 60 pounds and I am a lot more healthy. Eating a diet that is higher in fish, vegetables & rice and lower in meat and fat is just simply better for you than our typical American diet.
One thing I also noted on my two trips to Japan is that every one walks or rides a bike for relatively short trips (1 mile or less). In America, most of us take the car even if it's just a trip a 1/4 mile to the grocery store. We've gotten lazy, eat a diet too high in fat & meat and we are starting to pay the price.

You might find all the answers you are looking for in this book:
Japanese Women Don't Get Old Or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen
http://www.amazon.ca/Japanese-Women-Dont-Get-Old/dp/0385339976/sr=1-2/qid=1157732846/ref=sr_1_2/702-1953516-8157621?ie=UTF8&s=books

Why Japanese are slim are definitely not due a lack of consumption as many have suggested. Simply Japanese food do not contain too much fat in them, as oppose to American foods. We have so many fast food chains here. American foods contains a lot of saturated fat [the kind that directly store in your body instead of burning]
I believe the question is not why Japanese are so slim, but why are Americans so fat. We've become so numb to what is fat and what is slim that we're blind to how dangerous the way we're eating are.

It's a mixture of factors. Actually some Japanese food (tempura, yakisoba) is quite oily. Portions are much, much smaller in Japan than the US- this is a major factor. I couldn't believe the enormous piles of food people were eating at family restaurants in the US when I went- I've never seen anything like it.

Exercise is another factor. Drinking zero-calorie green tea instead of soda is another.

I think someone already said as much, but I believe part of why Japanese are more slim is because they get more daily exercise than most Americans. Everywhere you look here, there are people walking or riding bikes. I have never really seen that except in some major cities like NY or something.

You don't see that alot in the U.S. Most things are pretty spread out and far from each other therefore its much more convenient to take a car. I have lived in the "country" most of my life, sometimes having to drive at least 30 min or more to get to a store. But also, most people I know would drive their car to a local store even if it was just down the street! I think alot of it has to do with geography because Japan is simply not as vast as the U.S. but this is one reason why I think there's such a difference... And I agree about the food also.

But does anyone think that genetic factors of Japanese have anything to do with it also?

I see CF has already said what I did. I should pay more attention!

Basia said it best, it's a combination of everythning.
Every country seem to have portions of their own.
Another example is Europe, some countries of their portions are not exactly that huge either compared to some of the foods served in USA. In sort of way, huge protions are good for some of the tall larger size people we have over here in the USA and for teens who eats a lot anyways. I know my brother in law who is 6'5" will eat a double portion of everything and he is not fat.
Even me who was raised on traditional Japanese foods will stray and eat steaks and fast foods now and then.
Most of my younger Japanese relatives in Japan are bigger than what they used to be.
They are consuming more calories ; some eats pastry for breakfast instead of miso soup with rice, eggs, fish or a piece of toast with sweeter drinks. and compared to their usual small portions of two or three slices of beef/chicken/fish per a bowl of rice and vegetables for meals, they eat more meat etc and eat less rice. I always have to ask where my rice is when I'm eating with them. I like to eat everything with a bowl of rice as my grandparents did, not after the meal. They are also eating more sweets(and fats)..ice creams, cakes, cookies...etc more often than they should.
I tend to think when I see the people in Tokyo, they do at least 10K a day walking from station to station to wherever they are going and back. They also walk fast especially during rush hours or else they will miss the ride.
That's like jogging 6.2 miles everyday. Nagoya is similar.
That combined with traditional Japanese foods in modern time = thin Japanese girls.
I think chromosomes play part in it until it gets too loaded with wrong kind of foods or too much calories whether it's fat or carbo combination.

Hi, I recently read that book, Why Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat. I thought it was very informative and interesting. I think they released a UK and US version. The one I bought had a directory of Japanese food stores at the back, it is very good! ^_^

For anyone interested, I have also read a book called Japanese Secrets of Skin and Weight Control by Grace Maeda. It is also very informative, with great beauty tips. It is not as easily obtainable now since it is quite an old book.

I have been taking in all your advice and feel very healthy at the moment by cooking more Japanese style..

I think it is great how the Japanese stick to mostly natural and less processed foods.

It does seem like the Japanese are more active and do a lot of walking or cycling. I live in London, and people here tend to rely on cars or train/bus. I work in the city so do a fair bit of walking, but I also have taken up yoga and aerobics. I don't hear of many Japanese being "gym-bunnies" but they are still very slim. Are there any fitness trends in Japan, apart from walking/cycling?

Wow.. I walk every day but probably not half as much as that!!

The traditional Japanese breakfast is very healthy and filling (ie miso soup, rice, eggs, fish etc). How long do people usually spend on cooking their breakfast in Japan?

Where I am from people do not spend long to prepare their breakfast, maybe 2 slices of toast or a bowl of cereal at the most.

----------do you think any of it is bad for you? Like high salt content, MSG, white rice etc. I have also heard too much soya can suppress the thyroid so it can be bad for you.
by Cheryl 2006/9/2 -----------

Not at all. On average healthy body normal portion of soy isn't going to suppress the thyroid, and if you are going to use the soy sauce don't use the salt, white rice is good for you it's suited for human digestive system, you don't get gas or bloated like you do with whole grains especially wheat which can put xtra weight on you as well and also some people are allergic to wheat but I think I mentioned that already.
And you can get foods without MSG. Some US foods contain MSGs as well. So check the list on the label.
A lot of imported Japanese foods sold over seas contain MSGs but you can find ones without them. I generally have my foods shipped from Japan because of freshness and I'm picky about the type I want.

----How long do people usually spend on cooking their breakfast in Japan?---

No long really. It may be hard for people to imagine but only thing they may cook would be like an egg, toast, heat up water for tea etc.
It seems like a lot of foods (of what I mentioned) but they just eat a little in the morning, a bite or two and drink tea.
Some of their traditional breakfast such as miso soup has been prepared already from the night before including such as grilled salmon and tsukemono kept in the refridgerator. Not like ancient time where they probably spend more time preparing as did any where else.

For rice, majority of them use automatic rice cooker with timer for morning rice or they use the left over rice from the night before which is kept in the cooker with timer that suppose to keep the rice warm and fresh.
Many eat a piece of toast and tea or nothing at all and will probably pick something up at the train station, like a coffee.
Some mornings, I eat one fried or a cooked egg over steamed rice with a little soysauce and nori. It seems like a lot of food but again most of the time people just take a bite or two and don't pig out or eat everything on the table. They save that for dinner.
It's like a small cereal bowl size portion.
I'm not much of a breakfast person either but sometimes I will have breakfast like that.

We spend a considerable amount of time preparing breakfast. Nothing gets prepared the evening before. Miso soup is prepared in the morning. When we have fish, it is grilled in the morning. The rice is washed and cooked in the morning, as well.

I am not claiming to represent an average Japanese household of today, but I imagine that is similar to the traditional way of preparing and eating breakfast. I believe that more than half of all Japanese households have abandoned a Japanese style breakfast in favor of a Western style one.

A couple of people have said that brown rice causes bloating/ gas- this is not necessarily true- it depends what your digestive system is used to. If you introduce brown rice to your diet gradually there will be no side-effects- I eat it often and have no trouble.

Brown rice has far more fibre and nutrients than white rice, and although Japanese women are usually slim, many of them seem to suffer from constipation- they are always talking about it, and you see loads of advertisements for laxatives. White rice being low in fibre can contribute to constipation.

I agree with Basia about the brown rice. In Scandinavia we traditionally eat a lot of whole grain products, and I've never heard about bloating or gas problems. Also whole grain is suppose to keep you full for a longer time, because it gives out energy slower. So I just think that just because Japanese diet on the whole is healthy, doesn't mean everything Japanese is perfect for your body.

One thing I've been wondering about is that do Japanese people usually get enough calsium...? Because milk products don't seem to be that popular. But do they get a lot of calsium from some vegetables or something? At least gabbage has some calsium, right?

Their calcium comes from fish source and etc.
I take back the comments from Basia, I do disagree with Basia about white rice. White rice doesn't cause contipation if you understand what Japanese foods are consisted of and how they are fixed.
As for nutients, why would you be needing extra nutrients when you already are getting sufficient nutrients from other sources of foods?
I think I want to go to Uji's for breakfast fixed freshly in the morning.
What I was trying to say Uji was things like dashi could have been prepared the night before and be used to make miso soup in the morning. A lot of ingredients are prepared before hand in most households as far as I know and put together to be cooked in the morning. I'm surprised you cook your rice in the morning as well Uji being an American you are.

Actually my mother in law is doing all the work :) And I am not American.

Well, something is causing all those Japanese women to be constipated, and it is well known that a low fibre diet is a main cause of constipation. I have lived in Japan for 9 years and have a very good knowledge of what Japanese people eat, and very few people under about 60 years old eat only Japanese food these days- many young Japanese women would be eating a large amount of Western food as part of their daily food intake.

Point is- it is misleading to say brown rice causes bloating. It is nutritionally far superior to white rice. Not everybody likes it, that's fine, they can eat white rice and in order to prevent constipation they will have to get their fibre somewhere else.

-------------Point is- it is misleading to say brown rice causes bloating. It is nutritionally far superior to white rice. Not everybody likes it, that's fine, __________


Point is I never said brown rice in particular causes bloating and therefore it was not misleading on my part. If you do eat too much of brown rice though, yea you can get gas all night.
Living in Japan for 9 years suddenly makes you an expert on constipation? How many women have you spoke to on this?
I've lived there much longer than you have (born and raised as Japanese) and never heard anyone complained that white rice alone causes constipation as you stated and that statement you said was misleading on your part. Some people get constipation in Japan like people anywhere else in the world. Constipation often caused by not drinking enough water, not enough roughage, affect of alchohol, not getting enough exercise, illness, etc? As much as people walk around in Japan, I would suspect most people have bowel movement one way or other on regular basis.
Long flight can give you a 'funzumari' as well.
One thing I do notice where ever I go visit in Japan is that people don't drink water that often there. They may drink a little of other drinks but hardly ever any water. My relatives always have bottled waters ready for me when we visit.
Green tea after meals or anytime also helps keeps your digestive system in flow.