What do other cultures have to teach us about food?

I have lived in Japan (I teach Japanese in the U.S) and find I can effortlessly lose weight there.

3 interesting Japanese "rules of thumb":

1.  eat 30 different ingredients each day.  (Talk about delighting the taste buds!  And, you get a variety of good food in!)

2. "hara hachi bu" = 'stomach 8 portions', meaning "eat until you feel 80% full."  So, don't stuff yourself, and give your body time to register feeling satisfied.

3.  Eat what is in season.  In Japan, food seasons seem to change every 2 weeks!  So, enjoy fresh food at its peak, and have something new to look forward to eating all the time.

Do you know of wise words from other cultures about eating healthfully?  Please share!

I grew up in Kazakhstan, so I don't have anything. Everything was cooked in tons of butter, whole milk, real mayo, tons of white bread, and tons of meat. :)

UD

I think the French culture has it right.  Read 'French Women Don't Get Fat' by Mireille Guiliano to see what I mean.  A few observations...

- Be very fussy about the quality of foods e.g. real butter, full-fat cheese, good red wine,

- Take a long time over meals

- Enjoy cakes and chocolates in very dainty portions

Apparently, in a word-association exercise done with Frenchwomen the word most commonly associated with 'chocolate cake' was 'celebration'.  In a matching survey done with American women the word was 'guilt'.  I think that says it all.

I like the German and Belgian idea of what constitutes breakfast food - when i was there I would eat a few slices of dark rye bread and some slices of cold meat or a bit of cheese - breakfast doesn't have to mean cereal and white toast with butter etc. Meat and cheese are good protein sources to set you up for the morning, and when eaten and enjoyed in small amounts it was all I needed to feel satisfied.

And small amounts of really good, rich french cake when enjoyed as a treat with a good strong cup of coffee after a meal with friends is lovely - something to be savoured and looked forward to. I am a big fan of good ingredients, real cooking and taking pleasure in eating something really really good (every now and then).

I must say, I really felt overwhelmed and shocked when I lived in America at the sheer saturation of adverts about food on TV, everywhere on bill boards, in magazines, everywhere I turned there were adverts for the new kind of greasy triple-whopper burgers or extreme new taco bell product etc. It was just all too much, all of the time.

The idea of a 'town' seems different in America too. What signified that I was in a town there would be if I could look around and see clusters of fast food chains lining the high streets and obligatory starbucks. Whereas in Europe there is fast food yes, but there are also markets selling fresh food, independently run cafes and eateries. In the place where I lived in the US, the only fresh fruit I could buy was the kind thats pre-cut up in way overly priced packaging in 7-11 stores. There was no where to get fresh fruit and vegetables on foot, I had to get a metro or a cab. There were HUNDREDS of fast food options, but nowhere to buy raw ingredients, unless I drove (thus getting no exercise!) 

I am not having a go at America I just think it is a country with alot of problems foodwise.

It seems to me to be a real nation of extremes - on the one hand there is its reputation of turning out top class athletes (always top in the oplympics, massive new free gyms for students to use on university campuses, huge amounts of money going into college sports etc.) but on the other hand there is this overwhelming push of fast food on its residents all of the time, and then to compensate there is a huge industry churning out strange chemical laden 'diet'/no-calorie/lite/fat-free foods - I personally found it all very strange.

sorry for the massive post - i guess this is a topic I feel strongly about!

I agree that the German/European way is great.  Heaviest meal at noon with a seista afterwards sounds pretty nice to me.  When I lived in Germany, my mom was accused of not feeding me because I was so thin, moved to North America and bah..hello living overweight!   I find that the quality of food is also much better in Europe, they don't skimp on quality to make something cheaper or last longer.

Ah yah, the "Why French Women Don't Get Fat" and "Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat" books are a good books to read when trying to re-program oneself against the unhealthy food messages in American culture.

When I lived in the Netherlands for a while, we also had sandwich type breakfasts.  It was very nice.

In the convenience stores in Japan, like 7-11, it was so easy to buy truly healthy food, such as pre-boxed "obento" lunches with chicken or fish, rice, vegetables, pickles.  In the U.S., they basically have hotdogs and some things to microwave, none of which is food of sustenance.

Dondons, I don't think you're bashing America (and I'm an American) because what you described is so true.

Sometimes even my co-workers remark on lunches I bring that actually resemble proper meals, including vegetables and not including chips/crisps.

Here's another problem:  In America, in most workplaces lunch break is too short to actually enjoy one's food.  I am a teacher, and I have about 25 minutes for lunch, and usually I am doing work while I'm eating.  Some office workers have an hour for lunch, but they usually go to a restaurant to eat, and restaurants can be a challenge when trying to eat healthfully everyday.

When I took students to China and visited a school there for a week's homestay, we had a 2 hour lunch break - students and families went home for lunch and had a proper meal, with extra time for studying, practicing piano, or taking a nap.

I find that learning about other cultures' approaches to food helps me understand the role of food in life and have a better relationship with food.

I never can understand hara hachi bu. How do I measure 80% full????! I understand 50% and 0% and 100% but 80% escapes me. =(

Overall,I think it's not the recipes or eating habits, but the actual quality of food, where I come from, 100% old style organic is what most people eat. It's actually cheaper for them to grow all organic food than buy tons of pesticides, genetically modified seeds and loads of growth hormones/antibiotics for cattle.

I had no idea what corn syrup and hydrogenated oils were, they're never used, even in pre-packaged or junk food and sodas.I remember the first time someone decided to import wonderbread. People were so incredibly suspicious of a bread that stays soft for weeks(not without a reason, I would say)  :)

The food culture is so incredibly different that it's even hard to give the details. For e.g. I only tried a burger for the first time in the states, it never occurred to me to get one before, even when I was starving. 

Also, people back home walk a lot. 2-3 hours of fast paced walk is a minimum routine for many people, even those who posess cars.

That's actually a major difference across cultures -- the amount of walking or bicycling during the daily routine.

I'd like to hear how much people here walk/bicycle in going about one's day (apart from setting aside special time for the activities for purposes of exercise, sport, etc.) 

I am an American and I lived in Japan for a year (teaching English). I lost about 30 pounds over that year and I didn't diet at ALL. I would say that I walked about 1.5-2 miles a day to and from train stations to get to work (usually a brisk walk as I was late most of the time). I ate whatever I wanted (ramen soup, chicken and rice, cheeseburgers, donuts, etc.) and drank beer, and the weight kept coming off. I am convinced that the ingredients were fresh and organic, so therefore better for my body. While I was there, the Japanese were boycotting American beef. They are very strict about their food standards and I think it has a lot to do with their long lives. (they also usually buy fresh ingredients everyday from the market to make their food-- not every 2 weeks)

Needless to say, when I came back to the US, I gained it all back plus some. Now I'm doing it the right way (counting calories and exercising), but it is harder in America to accomplish the level of food quality and freshness that they have in Japan.