How To Do Just About Everything
By Traqqer
How to Eat Healthy using an Asian Diet
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Have you ever wondered why asians tend to be skinny as compared to people from most other nationalities? Is it the genes or the diet? More likely, it appears to be the diet. Evidence has shown that with the Western penetration of fast food restaurants into China, they are noticing significant increases in obesity in China. As a result, we can largely rule out genes. So, what about the asian diet has been the factor(s) that have tended to cause them to be skinnier? It has to do with rice, salt, and less meat.
Figure 1
The first step in copying an asian diet is to grow to love rice. Specifially, grow to love white sticky rice, not the long grain unsticky or the brown kind. The white sticky rice is a stable in Asian diets and tends to be the filler, kind of like bread or pasta in the Caucasian diet, but with fewer calories. Sticky rice is also more easily digestible than the unsticky kinds. It's both satisfying and light-feeling at the same time.
Figure 2
To go with the relatively bland rice, you need something to counter-balance it. Usually, salt has been the key. I know that doctors say not to have too much salt due to heart problems later on, but that's usually for folks who are not in a good condition to begin with. Excessive salt, just like anything, is not good, but we have to view it in the light of the good points. Salt will provide a deterent against fatty-type foods including potato chips, beef, etc. If I had to choose between fat and salt, I'd choose salt, hands down! To counter balance the white rice, usually what the asian diet requires are salty pickled-type vegetables, salty fish, salty steamed or fried tofu, etc. But it's not just salt, there needs to be other flavors as well including certain spices, garlic, red pepper, etc. Usually spicyness goes hand-in-hand with saltiness. The combination of these and white rice will create a satisfying experience such that it will defray cravings you have for other things.
Figure 3
The third step is to cut out fatty foods. By this, I mainly mean eating less muscle meat such as beef, chicken, pork, etc., but mainly, I mean beef and pork. Chicken, turkey, are not as fatty. And yes fish is a meat, but eat as much of that as you want. Basically, the goal is to reduce your intake of animal fat. One way to do this is my mixing small portions (very small) with lots of salty vegetables, spices, etc. to create satisfying dishes like they have in Chinese and Korean restaurants (not so much Japanese).
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