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Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets

economist.com

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Re: Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets

#121

Post by chaosite »

marcyb5st wrote: post #105
euske wrote: post #47

What's not mentioned in the OP: - INSANE peer pressure. If you're skinny as a twig in the US, you're probably considered normal in Japan. If you're actually an obese person (again, in the US standard), people here wouldn't even look at you straight. This kind of environment put a huge pressure for one to stay in shape. - INSANE obsession for health. I hear that Americans are obsessed with health, but oh boy, have the…

As an Italian person (also our life expectancy is really good on average) this hits home. An anecdotal example: I now live in Switzerland and my current doctor was shocked when I ask to get some blood analysis without being sick. He believed that I lied to my insurance company and hid some pre-existing condition. In Italy, instead, it is pretty common that every couple of years you get a complete blood analysis just…

As an Israeli, are blood tests not a normal thing done everywhere? I did not realize that...

My family doctor asks for a battery of lab tests about once a year (or whenever I get around to scheduling a check-up), including glucose and cholesterol and liver functions and so on. This has been going on since I was twenty something.

Re: Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets

#122

Post by taurath »

ergocoder wrote: post #98
gos_abhi wrote: post #21

American people have reduced longevity by eating fast food

Not just fast food. The size of dish here is very large. I moved from Thailand and was surprised how big a Thai dish in US was. There is some sort of default expectation that a dish needs to be large. I'm sure that contributes to obesity to some degree.

That and all convenient food in the US doesn’t have much in terms of non-potato vegetables except as filler.

Re: Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets

#123

Post by lhjn »

marcyb5st wrote: post #105
euske wrote: post #47

What's not mentioned in the OP: - INSANE peer pressure. If you're skinny as a twig in the US, you're probably considered normal in Japan. If you're actually an obese person (again, in the US standard), people here wouldn't even look at you straight. This kind of environment put a huge pressure for one to stay in shape. - INSANE obsession for health. I hear that Americans are obsessed with health, but oh boy, have the…

As an Italian person (also our life expectancy is really good on average) this hits home. An anecdotal example: I now live in Switzerland and my current doctor was shocked when I ask to get some blood analysis without being sick. He believed that I lied to my insurance company and hid some pre-existing condition. In Italy, instead, it is pretty common that every couple of years you get a complete blood analysis just…

Anecdotal data - as a Sardinia native, we do eat seafood, but to be honest around me at least that's at most a once a week practice. My grandpas, which lived to 96, 98 and 101, didn't eat much fish either. Lots of veggies though. One of my grandfathers died young due to a heart condition. All of them were regularly checking their health and doing regular blood tests. I can confirm we don't see getting tested as being "obsessed with our health" but as a good (and for many, not very pleasurable) practice, part of the "preventing an illness is better than curing it" philosophy. Having cheap/free healthcare also helps.

Re: Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets

#124

Post by woutr_be »

sneak wrote: post #115
woutr_be wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve had those experiences in China, my friends would often comment on my weight. They never meant it in a offensive way, but it’s still hurtful.

Empathy isn't a cultural thing, it's a human thing. If people are doing things that are hurtful and they don't care to notice, they aren't your friends, they're just people you know.

I beg to differ. What is considered as normal in some cultures, can be considered offensive in other cultures. It's not because those people lack empathy.

Re: Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets

#125

Post by ReptileMan »

jay_kyburz wrote: post #106
ReptileMan wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And fries and soda are also fine if you are doing hard labor.

There is not enough labor in the day that can work off a soda.

300 ml of soda is 120 calories. An hour of proper swimming could burn a lot more. And the fast sugar actually helps in those situations.

Re: Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets

#126

Post by IndySun »

sneak wrote: post #115
woutr_be wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve had those experiences in China, my friends would often comment on my weight. They never meant it in a offensive way, but it’s still hurtful.

Empathy isn't a cultural thing, it's a human thing. If people are doing things that are hurtful and they don't care to notice, they aren't your friends, they're just people you know.

I thought about your human empathy v culture remark. It is true, empathy is a human trait, however, each culture and society have unique mores of their own. These idiosyncrasies will miss, or emphasize, various aspects of personality en masse, to some extent; evidently, there are different cultures. So maybe in this case, those belly pokers have been indoctrinated to be less empathetic towards what they see as overweight.

Re: Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets

#127

Post by snovv_crash »

_laiq wrote: post #85
agumonkey wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The more I try to read, the less I know, the more I believe the answer is: - eat few - eat varied - move more - be with others - sleep nice Basically, avoid modern lifestyle advice.

Modern lifestyle advice dictates people to eat more, to move less, to be alone and sleep less ?

If you watch TV, isn't that basically what all the ads tell you? Eat fast food, watch this show, play this game?

Re: Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets

#128

Post by sneak »

woutr_be wrote: post #124
sneak wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Empathy isn't a cultural thing, it's a human thing. If people are doing things that are hurtful and they don't care to notice, they aren't your friends, they're just people you know.

I beg to differ. What is considered as normal in some cultures, can be considered offensive in other cultures. It's not because those people lack empathy.

What matters is who is doing the considering. Each friendship between people is its own "culture" in that sense; I don't generally do things that my friend would consider offensive, if they are actually my friend.

It's nothing to do with the wider culture or ethnic environment, or what third parties may or may not be offended by: I don't do things that I know would hurt my friends.

Re: Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets

#129

Post by marcyb5st »

chaosite wrote: post #121
marcyb5st wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an Italian person (also our life expectancy is really good on average) this hits home. An anecdotal example: I now live in Switzerland and my current doctor was shocked when I ask to get some blood analysis without being sick. He believed that I lied to my insurance company and hid some pre-existing condition. In Italy, instead, it is pretty common that every couple of years you get a complete blood analysis just…

As an Israeli, are blood tests not a normal thing done everywhere? I did not realize that... My family doctor asks for a battery of lab tests about once a year (or whenever I get around to scheduling a check-up), including glucose and cholesterol and liver functions and so on. This has been going on since I was twenty something.

Not in my experience. I also lived in Sweden and UK. Blood tests are usually only a reactivate thing. You're sick you get blood tests. As prevention not as common I'm afraid.

Re: Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets

#130

Post by T-A »

ioseph wrote: post #4

Paywalled so didn't read TFA but: It's always surprised that the longevity in Japan is often attributed to diet. From my travels there my impression is of a diet that largely consists of rice and various meats and a high consumption of alcohol and cigarettes. Although there definitely seems to be far less sugar in everything. Culturally it seems that fitness in general is encouraged, combined with a very different at…

> I had several locals comment that I was a bit fat [my BMI is ~26]

"According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NIH), a BMI of 26 falls into the overweight range of 25 to 29."

https://www.livestrong.com/article/373940-what-does-a-bmi-of...

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