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Ramen restaurant prevalence is associated with stroke mortality in Japan

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Re: Ramen restaurant prevalence is associated with stroke mortality in Japan

#21
post #17

Not surprising. In the China Study they also found a positive correlation between consumption of wheat flour and heart disease. (Some places in China eat mostly rice, others more wheat.) Any new guesses on the mechanism? Related: https://deniseminger.com/2010/09/02/the-china-study-wheat-an...

It's more likely the salt than the wheat. From the article:

| The traditional Japanese diet was thought to increase stroke risk because of the heavy use of seasonings such as miso, salt, and soy sauce.

Re: Ramen restaurant prevalence is associated with stroke mortality in Japan

#23
Weird they think ramen is the only food with regional variation. And lots of stressed salarymen in Tokyo eating ramen but Tokyo is down the bottom. It's really this north-western part of Honshu.

Total guess, but when I was in Hirosaki once (red area), I went to this little restaurant on advice of an innkeeper, and they gave me this plate of green leaf and other tempura. It was huge and oily and they expected me to eat it by myself. I remember thinking at the time...this can't be good for my health.

Re: Ramen restaurant prevalence is associated with stroke mortality in Japan

#25

Ramen is cheap, so there are more Ramen restaurants in poor areas, which have lower life expectancy? https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/01/31/low-socioeconom...

But is ramen cheap at ramen restaurants in Japan?

I ask because I spent $17 on ramen in a large American city earlier this month.

Re: Ramen restaurant prevalence is associated with stroke mortality in Japan

#26
post #25

Ramen is cheap, so there are more Ramen restaurants in poor areas, which have lower life expectancy? https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/01/31/low-socioeconom...

But is ramen cheap at ramen restaurants in Japan? I ask because I spent $17 on ramen in a large American city earlier this month.

Yes, they are cheap. Usually around 600-1200 yen or $6-12

many of them reduce labor costs by having a vending machine outside where you get a token that indicates your order.

https://livejapan.com/en/in-tokyo/in-pref-tokyo/in-asakusa/a...

The current ramen fad in America relies on super rich broth, basically liquid bacon.

There are many styles of ramen in Japan, ranging from super simple broths to the liquid bacon style.

Re: Ramen restaurant prevalence is associated with stroke mortality in Japan

#27
post #25

Ramen is cheap, so there are more Ramen restaurants in poor areas, which have lower life expectancy? https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/01/31/low-socioeconom...

But is ramen cheap at ramen restaurants in Japan? I ask because I spent $17 on ramen in a large American city earlier this month.

Yes. Ramen in western cities is preying on the local perception that ramen is 'trendy' and therefor worthy of being expensive.

In Japan, ramen is more akin to burgers in America where sure you can go to a 'fancy' place and get a $15 burger, or you can go to the diner down the street and get a burger for $3. Ramen is the same, with plenty of fancy places if you want that type of meal, but the majority are small, quick, almost "fast food" type places with cheap food.

Re: Ramen restaurant prevalence is associated with stroke mortality in Japan

#28
post #25

Ramen is cheap, so there are more Ramen restaurants in poor areas, which have lower life expectancy? https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/01/31/low-socioeconom...

But is ramen cheap at ramen restaurants in Japan? I ask because I spent $17 on ramen in a large American city earlier this month.

Noodles (soba, udon, ramen) are among the cheapest foods in Japan - commonly 8-10 USD.

Re: Ramen restaurant prevalence is associated with stroke mortality in Japan

#29
post #25

Ramen is cheap, so there are more Ramen restaurants in poor areas, which have lower life expectancy? https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/01/31/low-socioeconom...

But is ramen cheap at ramen restaurants in Japan? I ask because I spent $17 on ramen in a large American city earlier this month.

I can only speak from my experience: Yes, it's cheap, but it's not the cheapest around. It tends to be in the 500-1000Y range depending on toppings. But that range also describes a great variety of restaurants in Japan: soba, teishoku, convenience store prepared meals - all are in the same range.

Re: Ramen restaurant prevalence is associated with stroke mortality in Japan

#30
post #25

Ramen is cheap, so there are more Ramen restaurants in poor areas, which have lower life expectancy? https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/01/31/low-socioeconom...

But is ramen cheap at ramen restaurants in Japan? I ask because I spent $17 on ramen in a large American city earlier this month.

It's been 15 years since I lived in Japan, but IIRC it was on average among the cheapest foods there (as it is pretty much everywhere in Asia).

Low cost ingredients, easy/fast to make, possible to cook bulk "batch" in large pot etc.

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