Everyday Systems

Posted: **Fri Jun 25, 2010 9:47 pm**

I found this when I was cleaning my computer today. I have no idea who wrote it and no idea when or where it appeared. I thought it might be Mark Bittman in his blog for The New York Times, but I can't find it there. Sounds a little like Michael Pollan, too.

Weight Loss Tips From Around the World

Nearly two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Our rate of weight gain is escalating faster than anywhere else on earth, particularly in children. What's happening to us? The obesity epidemic in our country has only been a problem in the 50 years or so, when food has become both cheap and abundant - so the "genetics" of obesity can't explain much about this (genetic changes don't happen in a couple of generations!)

What are we doing wrong in America? We have more â€œdietâ€ foods in the US than anywhere else in the world, and weâ€™re among the top heaviest nations.

We can learn a lot from the eating habits of people in other countries. That's the topic of my Today Show segment (check back later for the video).

There are a lot of world-wide diet tips, but I've picked 4 countries to represent these trends:

Japan, France, Italy, and Greece. For comparison, the Japanese have an incidence of obesity of about 3% - that's 10 times less than in the USA, where we weight in around 30% of obesity among our adult population. Let's take a look at why this might be so. And, please post your ideas on this topic!!

Take a look at this info and see how different this can be from typical American eating. Healthy weight fundamentals in other countries include:

Portions are small and controlled
Reliance on fresh, unprocessed foods
Enjoying food as a social occasion, with friends and family
No foods are off limits â€“ no â€œgoodâ€ or â€œbadâ€ foods
No meal skipping
Very limited snacking
Activity of daily living â€“ a lot of walking!! (20 minute stroll = 1 mile = 100 calories
Interested in some specific tips from particular countries? Read on!

JAPAN
Broth-based soups -fill you up before a meal
Soy as major protein source - low in fat and calories (tofu, edamame)
Very limited use of red meat, used more as a garnish than â€œmain dishâ€.
Rice/veggie combinations replace protein â€“ not add to it
Variety of veggies for a colorful plate
Sushi â€“ lean protein (fish) or veggies with small amount of rice â€“ good nutrient balance

FRANCE
Food quality, not quantity is important
"Iindulgenceâ€ means small quantity of a special food, not more food
Fresh, flavorful foods in small portions
No meal skipping â€“ regular meal intervals
No snacking
All foods in moderation â€“ even dessert
No eating on the run â€“ relaxed eating as social event (ie, no cup holders!)

ITALY
Meals are social and a celebration of family and friends
Longer, leisurely meals are the norm â€“ more social, less food
Limited portions, even for pasta! (5 oz is normal in Italy - double that in the US!)
Red wine and olive oil reign - and natives consume the fruit as well (grapes and olives).
Abundant fresh tomatoes, garlics, herbs and spices provide fabulous flavor and satisfaction.
Wine is part of meal, or serves as dessert.
Flavorful aged cheeses â€“ like parmiagiano â€“ provide lots of flavor with a smaller serving size.

GREECE
Mediterranean focus on abundant fresh produce: tomatoes, onions, eggplant, spinach, artichokes are favorites
Olive oil is chief source of fat
Meat as â€œextenderâ€ â€“ not a big hunk â€“ rather, stuffed grape leaves â€“ with chopped lamb or beef and rice.
Use of tangy, intensely flavored feta cheese â€“ lots of flavor with a small amount (and fewer calories)
Chick peas and nuts are protein sources
Use of plain strained yogurt (concentrated flavor â€“ most water removed); eaten plain or as a base for sauces

Posted: **Sat Jun 26, 2010 7:33 am**

Thanks wos- there are lot of yummy ideas in there to get a person inspired!! Thanks for sharing.

Posted: **Sat Jun 26, 2010 2:54 pm**

I found the source of this -- it's Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom, who is a regular contributor to The Today Show and also iVillage.com.

Posted: **Mon Jun 28, 2010 12:56 pm**

In all the countries cited, the diets described are affordable - they are basically peasant diets. The misfortune for obese populations is the ingenuity of food manufacturers producing compellingly appetising poor food, designed to be eaten to excess.

Posted: **Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:56 pm**

Interesting to read about Greece, as I'm Greek. Its true that generally greeks tend to:

-eat meals at home, around the table
-have lunch as the main meal of the day
-have a much lighter dinner
-have an almost non-existent or anyway, very small, breakfast (not sure if this is good or bad)
-use olive oil as main source of fat
-use loads of veggies as main food in many meals e.g there are loads of veggie plus olive oil main dishes in Greek repertoire
-eat lots of pulses e.g. lentil soup at my home in Greece was a weekly must, or butter bean stews, or chick pea soup.

BUT unfortunately in greece too the snacking habit is increasingly dramatically (as everywhere, really), as is the sedentary lifestyle, as is the consumption of unhealthy, prepackaged meals (still at much lower rate to other countries). And unsurprisingly the obesity rates are increasing.

Posted: **Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:14 pm**

Graham wrote:In all the countries cited, the diets described are affordable - they are basically peasant diets. The misfortune for obese populations is the ingenuity of food manufacturers producing compellingly appetising poor food, designed to be eaten to excess.

A few years ago there was an article in some magazine that stated if you wanted to be slim and healthy, you should eat like a Greek villager or a Japanese peasant. The Southern Italian diet is called la cucina povera. This way of eating tended to be based on starches -- grains, starchy vegetables and legumes -- because they were abundant, cheap and kept well. It was supplemented with vegetables and fruits in season as well as generally smaller amounts of meat, fish and dairy (fermented things more than fresh milk).

There's a passage in Dr. Daphne Miller's book The Jungle Effect in which she's talking with a Tarahumara Indian woman about their consumption of meat:

Maria said she was raised on the tres hermanas, or "three sisters" -- corn, beans, and squash -- supplemented by eggs, chicken, chiles and gathered herbs, nuts, berries, wild greens, cactus, seeds, and a variety of fruits, including oranges, tomatoes, and avocados. Occasionally she would have wild game or fish. As she spoke, I looked out the window at the high sierra landscape, with scrubby pines and shalely earth, and I was amazed that all the foods that she described could be grown in such a harsh environment.

I asked Maria about the goats, pigs, and cows that I saw grazing around the ranchos. She "tsked," shaking her head. These animals are slaughtered only on special occasions, such as a wedding, a harvest celebration, a communal work day, or Semana Santa (Easter Week). After all, livestock are a savings account and a protection against starvation; once you eat them, their value is lost. Better to use the animals to fertilize the fields and improve their yield of corn, squash and beans and better to eat the eggs rather than the chicken.

This sentiment was common most places in the world. Plus, if you lived in the city, meat was expensive. Until recently, if you butchered a large animal, it had to be eaten because there was no means to refrigerate and keep it -- and it was too valuable to waste. Chicken, most fish and small game could be consumed more frequently because they could be eaten quickly.

Posted: **Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:05 pm**

Several times here I've mentioned an article that I read in Prevention magazine about 15 years ago. It was packed away with some other stuff -- and I just found it this morning.

The article was "How in the World to Stay Slim" and appeared in the September 1995 issue of Prevention. It looked at the eating habits of people in China, Myanmar (Burma), Korea, Sweden, the Netherlands, England, France, Italy, Mexico and Japan. They came to six differences between the people of those countries and Americans:

1. They move more. In the developing world, people can't afford the labor-saving devices we have. In more affluent countries, people still get more exercise than Americans get. "The big reason: Old World towns and cities are, well, old. They predate Henry Ford by centuries. Streets are narrow and thus encourage walking and biking. Walking is built into the lifestyle to a greater extent. You can see that when you visit Europe and Asia; not only is the public transportation built better, but there's more infrastructure support for people to bike or walk. The streets are so narrow that having a car is almost a hindrance."

2. Snack time isn't all the time. Foreigners tell us that in their countries, either they don't snack or they limit their noshing to certain appointed times, like the British midafternoon tea."

3. There's less focus on fatty foods. Europeans and Asians alike commented on how expensive food is in their countries, relative to the United States -- especially fat-packed meats and processed foods. These types of foods aren't as big a part of the diet as they are in the US.

4. Their portions are smaller. Our international sources told us that servings are smaller in their countries, especially meat portions.

5. Grains star on their plates. While we make meat or cheese the centerpiece of our meals, other cuisines mandate that the largest serving on the plate be a filling grain or starch -- for example, it's rice in Asia, potatoes in Sweden, bread in Europe or corn flour in Mexico.

6. Dessert's not their religion. They're more likely to enjoy fruit for dessert or skip it entirely. Even the famous rich pastries of Europe are usually reserved for special occasions.

At the very end, they did state that while the rest of the world is slimmer than the US, the trend probably wasn't going to last. "As societies get richer, people become more sedentary. They eat more calories, more meat, and more American-style fast food. American fast food combined with a sedentary lifestyle is making the citizens of the world fat."

Everyday Systems

Weight Loss Tips from Around the World

Weight Loss Tips from Around the World