Japanese diet interview?

[makkuroi]

Hello, I'm a senior in high school collecting information for a research project from any of you lovely people who have some spare time and are experts on Japanese food!

The topic is the health benefits of the traditional Japanese diet.

The survey/interview (whichever word you prefer) consists of 20 questions, and proper grammar would be appreciated, as this is for a school project.

I will gladly PM the questions to anyone who is interested, please respond!

And remember... I will be eternally grateful =]

Thank you!

[makkuroi]

All right, nobody seems to want to PM, but can anybody answer these for me?? They're not that bad, or pass it off to a parent or something...
=]

. Would you support the claim that the traditional Japanese diet is the world’s healthiest?
2. Which do you think weighs more heavily in this issue: the Japanese food itself, or the eating habits of the Japanese people?
3. Could you please identify for me the staple foods in the Japanese diet?
4. How does the food in American Japanese restaurants differ from traditional Japanese home-style cooking?
5. What are the typical elements of a Japanese breakfast?
6. What are the health impacts of a breakfast like this every day?
7. What are the typical elements of a Japanese lunch?
8. What are the health impacts of a lunch like this every day?
9. What are the typical elements of a Japanese dinner?
10. What are the health impacts of a dinner like this every day?
11. How often do most Japanese people snack throughout the day?
12. What are typical healthy and unhealthy Japanese snacks, and how much of them does the average Japanese person consume between meals?
13. What is the significance of the way Japanese meals are presented at the table?
14. How does the average Japanese person feel about eating and food?
15. What do you think is the most important lesson a typical American should learn to follow about Japanese eating habits?
16. How easy is traditional Japanese food to prepare in an American kitchen?
17. What do you think is the least healthy element of the Japanese diet?
18. Do you worry that increased Westernization in Japan is having a negative impact on the health of the nation?
19. If you had the power to change some things about the food eaten by a typical Japanese person, what would you change?
20. Is there any other information you think is interesting on this subject?

Thank you! =)

[kuromiXpink]

Originally Posted by makkuroi

All right, nobody seems to want to PM, but can anybody answer these for me?? They're not that bad, or pass it off to a parent or something...
=]

. Would you support the claim that the traditional Japanese diet is the world’s healthiest?
2. Which do you think weighs more heavily in this issue: the Japanese food itself, or the eating habits of the Japanese people?
3. Could you please identify for me the staple foods in the Japanese diet?
4. How does the food in American Japanese restaurants differ from traditional Japanese home-style cooking?
5. What are the typical elements of a Japanese breakfast?
6. What are the health impacts of a breakfast like this every day?
7. What are the typical elements of a Japanese lunch?
8. What are the health impacts of a lunch like this every day?
9. What are the typical elements of a Japanese dinner?
10. What are the health impacts of a dinner like this every day?
11. How often do most Japanese people snack throughout the day?
12. What are typical healthy and unhealthy Japanese snacks, and how much of them does the average Japanese person consume between meals?
13. What is the significance of the way Japanese meals are presented at the table?
14. How does the average Japanese person feel about eating and food?
15. What do you think is the most important lesson a typical American should learn to follow about Japanese eating habits?
16. How easy is traditional Japanese food to prepare in an American kitchen?
17. What do you think is the least healthy element of the Japanese diet?
18. Do you worry that increased Westernization in Japan is having a negative impact on the health of the nation?
19. If you had the power to change some things about the food eaten by a typical Japanese person, what would you change?
20. Is there any other information you think is interesting on this subject?

Thank you! =)

dont know if you still need this but here goes!

1. i wouldnt say that it is the world's most healthiest diet but then its somewhere up there.
2. i think that its probably Japanese people's eating habits that wieght more in this issue because its really their choice if they choose a healthy meal of sashimi or shioyaki over greasy french fries.
3. the stable foods of a japanese diet consist of rice, miso soup, seafood, and no doubt sushi! (raw fish or seafood) i would say that that what makes raw seafood so healthy is that it is not cooked with oil making it greasy and all smoky whatsoever.
4. the difference really is that home meals have more variety and such and i would say that it is probably more healthy more then im never to sure (laughs). but then i always feels as if there is a stereotype in american-japanese restaurants becuz its always the same food over and over again! there's really i would say not that much variety in a Japanese restaurants menu. well...actually there is (laughs) but then its just that almost every japanese restaurants have the same thing! (unless u go to a cafe.. hehe)
5. there's really no typical br4eakfast in japan nowadays...skip it maybe and wait for lunch or just a quick bite of a toast. but then the more traditional way of eating breakfast is sitting down at home drinking soup and maybe a little rice...(porridge maybe?) maybe eggs and ham or maybe just omeleterice.

ahhh~ i have to go now...sorry! guess i'll continue with ur questions next time!

[jasonbvr]

1. Would you support the claim that the traditional Japanese diet is the world’s healthiest?
From what I have had, Japanese meals are relatively low in vegetables and fruits. Now the fact that they eat a lot of fish, that could have something to do with it since it is better than say eating a lot of red meat. Also it may have something to do with rice based diets because rice is very filling but lower in calories than potatoes. As you may know, the more energy (food) you put into your body will accelerate oxidation (aging, basically your body is rusting).

2. Which do you think weighs more heavily in this issue: the Japanese food itself, or the eating habits of the Japanese people?
I am assuming you are refering to the fact that Japanese hardly have time to eat. One habit that may have something to do with it is that snacks are relatively small. When I was in the US, I used to eat three meals and two snacks, but I was doing a lot of weight training. Here I eat two to three meals and rarely snack in between.

3. Could you please identify for me the staple foods in the Japanese diet?
Rice, fish, miso soup, tsukemono (pickled vegetables), and bread.

4. How does the food in American Japanese restaurants differ from traditional Japanese home-style cooking?
If you are talking about a hibachi grill, there is no such thing in Japan. I lived near Charlotte, NC and out of maybe 40 Japanese style restaurants there was only one that my Japanese friends said served real Japanese food. The sushi is completely different too in that in Japan they are less creative with the rolls.

5. What are the typical elements of a Japanese breakfast?
Rice, fish, and miso soup.

6. What are the health impacts of a breakfast like this every day?
Lower cholesterol and fat than say bacon and eggs, lower carbs than something like pancakes.

I'll get to the rest later. Have to meet someone for lunch. I'm thinking a kaiten sushi sounds good.

[Kanji_The_Wanderer]

Originally Posted by jasonbvr

As you may know, the more energy (food) you put into your body will accelerate oxidation (aging, basically your body is rusting).

I saw this, so I had to reply to it, I know this is out of topic but:

I really had no idea that the more you eat the faster your body gets older. Is this because the more you eat the more your body has to work to break up food? Since it is working, it is wearing out faster. That would seem to be common sense, but it never struck me before. (Wasn't told that in health class) >_<

Kind of a scary thought. That would be reason enough to make someone want to diet! I know it would work on me!

[gaijzilla]

12 & 17. I thought I'd get here, become healthier and lose weight by eating Japanese food. Then I discovered the bakeries, which are fatty and divine. Japanese baked goods are overall far more common and superior to what I'm used in the US.

17 & 20. High protein/low fiber diet. Ugh.

[jasonbvr]

Originally Posted by Kanji_The_Wanderer

I saw this, so I had to reply to it, I know this is out of topic but:

I really had no idea that the more you eat the faster your body gets older. Is this because the more you eat the more your body has to work to break up food? Since it is working, it is wearing out faster. That would seem to be common sense, but it never struck me before. (Wasn't told that in health class) >_<

Kind of a scary thought. That would be reason enough to make someone want to diet! I know it would work on me!

Yeah, processing and using energy breaks down your cells over time. The research is based on mice kept on a near starvation diet. But you really wouldn't have any energy to do anything on a diet like that, so you would probably live a better life if you were eating the right amount of calories to do the things you want to do.

[Kanji_The_Wanderer]

Originally Posted by jasonbvr

Yeah, processing and using energy breaks down your cells over time. The research is based on mice kept on a near starvation diet. But you really wouldn't have any energy to do anything on a diet like that, so you would probably live a better life if you were eating the right amount of calories to do the things you want to do.

Yeah I know, there's no getting around it. If you don't eat you starve and have no strength to do anything, but if you do, you work your body faster. lol Well, it makes sense, since you said it is better to just consume the right amount of calories. The Japanese are fine examples of that, they live to be over 100. If that's not amazing, then I don't know what is. Thanx for sharing the knowledge

[jasonbvr]

7. What are the typical elements of a Japanese lunch?
Differs from person to person but I can tell you what the kids eat at school. School lunch for junior high kids is a 900 calorie meal. It will either be a rice day or a bread day so you will always be getting plenty of carbs. Except maybe once or twice a year for special days when we don't drink milk, we get a little carton of whole milk. Unless you look very carefully for it, most milk in Japan is whole milk and not the reduced fat milk like 1 or 2% milk. Then you will have something like a main entree of curry, spaghetti, ma-bo dofu, fried pork or some fish. Lastly is the horrible excuse of a salad we get sometimes. It will be a soggy and just not apetizing. Or you might get lucky and have a peice of fruit instead.

8. What are the health impacts of a lunch like this every day?
Eating the junior high lunch will help the kids get enough calories to do all the active stuff they need to do, but for lazy kids and the teachers you really shouldn't eat the whole meal (especially the carbs) because you will put on weight.

9. What are the typical elements of a Japanese dinner?
About the same as lunch, think carbs in the form of rice, noodles or bread. That usually forms the base.

10. What are the health impacts of a dinner like this every day?
Pass

11. How often do most Japanese people snack throughout the day?
Depends person to person but as I noted before the size of the snack is likely to be smaller.

12. What are typical healthy and unhealthy Japanese snacks, and how much of them does the average Japanese person consume between meals?
Healthy, maybe onigiri. Unhealthy, chips, fried conbini food, salty yakitori, processed meats, etcetera.

13. What is the significance of the way Japanese meals are presented at the table?
None that I know of but it seems they reverse it with the main entree in the back and other things up front.

14. How does the average Japanese person feel about eating and food?
They're usually hungry so eating is a great feeling. I don't really get the gist of this question.

15. What do you think is the most important lesson a typical American should learn to follow about Japanese eating habits?
I don't know. All these questions have been about traditional Japanese food, but I should mention that Japanese eat just as much junk food as Americans. Maybe in smaller portions, that is the real key. Like they love McDonalds and beer just as much as most Americans, but there is an idea of not eating, spending, or using anything in excess. Because that would be moutainai-yo (wasteful).

16. How easy is traditional Japanese food to prepare in an American kitchen?
Depends on where you are in the US. Some places it will be easier to find the right ingredients.

17. What do you think is the least healthy element of the Japanese diet?
I would rather them trim the fat off my meat, but to them not eating the fat is once again wasteful. I am not too fond of the high prices for fresh fruits. Oh yeah, I rarely ever see a Japanese person drinking just water. It is always like tea, soda, coffee or a sports drink.

18. Do you worry that increased Westernization in Japan is having a negative impact on the health of the nation?
No. And you have to realize that no one is really Westernizing Japan in the sense that it has been happening in other countries. Japanese Westernized themselves a long time ago. The thing is, Japanese have a way of taking things from the outside and making them their own.

19. If you had the power to change some things about the food eaten by a typical Japanese person, what would you change?
Fiber. There is nothing wrong with whole wheat bread and brown rice.

20. Is there any other information you think is interesting on this subject?
I hate natto.