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Originally Posted by steven
I'm sure the increase in alcohol consumption hasn't helped... but I've decidedly become more unhealthy since I came here. I hardly ever drink any more and am still a bit heavier than I'd like to be and my cholestorol rose since last year. I'm starting to really not buy the whole "Japanese food is healthy" argument (I'm aware that there is a lot of unhealthy stuff... but it's not like I eat Tonkatsu and Yakiniku every day).
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If you didn`t grow up eating tons of rice every day... Then it`s most likely the rice. Rice isn`t really all that healthy - it`s just an efficient way of taking in calories. It converts very quickly to sugar in the body and adds on the weight.
I gained an incredible amount of weight after coming to Japan and couldn`t figure it out for the longest time... I don`t eat very much and hate fatty/oily food. Then I tried cutting rice out of my diet for a week - weight loss was pretty immediate.
However, I still weigh quite a lot more than I should as I`m sure you can imagine how easy it is to cut rice out of your diet in Japan...
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I can't even remember what it was... but my wife had heard about some new product and we went to check it out at the drug store... it was like a powder you put in a pill and drink or something (if I remember correctly it was like a glorified garlic pill). I remember it was like 6000 for a month's supply. Some of it just seems like a ripoff to me.
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For price, yes, I think it`s a ripoff too. But if you`re talking about the garlic and egg yolk ones, then apparently they do have incredibly benefits. Grandmother-in-law makes her own and swears by it. And having watched her make it and then gag it down in non-capsule form made me think that if you really do find it invaluable - a month`s supply for 5000 or 6000 would be worth it to not have to go through that.
A note about the weight thing - for Japanese people, apparently even being a little bit overweight has very dire health consequences. I guess that the Asian body just isn`t good at dealing with extra weight so usually doesn`t put it on, but when it does it`s VERY bad. I recall reading that a BMI of 25 in someone of Asian background (just borderline "overweight" on the regular BMI charts) is equivalent to a BMI of 35 in someone of northern European background when it comes to the health issues. So even a little bit of extra weight is a big deal.
Knowing this has allowed me to be a lot more forgiving of people being concerned about weight in Japan - 20 extra pounds isn`t just an irritation as it is to someone of European background, it`s literally cutting your life expectancy by a third.