Japanese Diets

[digitS']

How to Eat like the Japanese "This diet, rich in fish and pickled vegetables, may be responsible for Japan's incredible longevity"

Had to look up the name "sashimi," don't care for too much pickled anything so don't plan on including that . Was once told that Komatsuna grows as a volunteer throughout Japan. Haven't been a visitor there to know but it would be an acceptable volunteer in my garden but DW prefers bok choy for stir fry.

I remember @hoodat saying that there were "spaghetti parties" during the '50's. I remember those too ! Recently, DW gave some zucchini to an elderly neighbor. She asked what it was after mistaking them for cucumbers. Yet she knows crookneck summer squash ..! Made me wonder when zucchini showed up in the American gardens.

I'm all for more veggies in my diet! More veggies in the kitchen! More veggies in the garden! ... I think dietary changes could start with a simple meal away from home and then go a route through a seed catalog, arriving in the garden, and finally - on the dinner table !

http://www.kitazawaseed.com/all_seeds.html

Steve

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i think zucchini was something you would see a lot in areas with Italians nearby. my mom grew up in Saugus, MA and i remember her talking about how her area was considered Little Italy since there were a lot of Italian families in the neighborhood. Prince Pasta is from the Boston area & i always remember driving by Prince's Pizzaria on Route 1. it helps explain why zucchini has been a family favorite & my mom makes a lot of Italian recipes. (no Italians in our family at this time)

http://retroroadmap.com/spot/monday-was-prince-spaghetti-house-day/

ok, so i deviated from the Japanese Diets theme you started. but i've been curious about getting a bento box & packing a lunch like they do so i can keep myself in check (i watch waaay to much Anime & Asian TV shows). figuring that maybe their diet is something to admire & maybe help loose some weight. i'd love to have a hot pot sometime& we've tried some other recipes but nothing i consider close to Japanese other than stir fry with rice.

after seeing something yesterday about the top 5 countries that have the healthiest diets i was expecting Japanese cuisine to be on that list-instead i saw Singapore-still not bad when it comes to something different on the plate! i love Thai food when i can get it! Japanese is finally coming to the area but i'm not impressed since my area is not known for having any culture other than fast foods. when the Mexican restaurant in the area that was actually run by a Mexican family went out of business they put in Buffalo Wild Wings-blah & now they put in a Taco Bell. (need smiley face running to bathroom here). there's a Japanese Steakhouse that should be opening up soon that is supposed to be more upscale than the one across town that i think has just closed-too small to really accommodate any interest from the locals & the new one is in the big strip mall that just opened this year.

 

[Larisa]

The Japanese diet? I believe in it, of course, but from afar.

Fortunately, I am not the owner of the sushi bar and I do not have to convince customers to eat raw fish for health benefits.
Japan in 60 years of XX century came in first place in the world in the number of stomach cancer.
And then the public health system has helped - population surveys with the annual fibrogastroscopy. Identified in the early stages of stomach cancer has become successfully treated, and deaths from the disease in Japan has decreased twice.
I think the reason of longevity - is the climate (the rarefied mountain air) and inner peace. It is not for all Japanese. The Japanese, who live in cities and work 12-14 hours a day, will never receive the status of "long-liver." With any diet.
This is similar to our people of the Caucasus. They do not eat seafood. They eat a lot of fatty meat, cilantro, vegetables. They drink a lot of wine and smoke.
Centenarians Caucasus - this is 42% of the world's population who have reached 100 years or more. It is known that the phenomenon of longevity in the Caucasus, not everywhere, but only a few of its districts. It's just three small district located in the mountains. Longevity - This mountain air with sea salts, a uniform alternation of work and rest. For small trouble, they are quiet, and to large - philosophically.

 

[Nyboy]

What I love about where I live is you can find restaurants serving food from all over the world. I am always surprised when someone never eaten escarole. Growing up in Italian neighborhood was served all the time.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

The Japanese diet? I believe in it, of course, but from afar.

Japan in 60 years of XX century came in first place in the world in the number of stomach cancer.
And then the public health system has helped - population surveys with the annual fibrogastroscopy. Identified in the early stages of stomach cancer has become successfully treated, and deaths from the disease in Japan has decreased twice.

Actually the diet is PART of why they had so much stomach (and oral) cancer. They think it tends to come from eating so much smoked and grilled fish (charcoal grilled sardines and rice is a pretty standard Japanese breakfast)

I tend to take "healthy" things from other diets on a piece by piece basis. Some of them just taste too nasty to me to incorporate into my diet (if the cost of being alive 100 years is to spend every day of that miserable, I'm not sure it is worth it.) I accept that Kombucha and Pur-Eh tea are great for you, but they still taste like they have been respectively fermented (which it has) and gotten moldy (which again it has). I know that bitter melon is great for purging the body of toxins, but the fact it tastes like a green pepper marinated in medical grade quinine means it is never going to be something I am going to make a regular part of my diet.

 

[Nyboy]

A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down in the most delightful way ! Works for kombucha too.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Doesn't work for me (and I don't just mean that in the sense of needing to sub a packet of stevia for the spoonful of sugar). Fact is, I just don't really like the taste of fermented drinks. It's the same reason I don't drink alcohol, I never developed a taste for it (I'll COOK with wine and beer, but I don't actually drink them as a beverage.) Kombucha just tastes too beery for me.

 

[Nyboy]

Have you tried the flavored drinks whole foods carry

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Yep, still can taste it. I really don't see why this is a problem. It's not like people NEED kombucha to stay alive.

Speaking of Whole foods, I was very excited to find the one at union square carried the Ginger Oasis flavor of Honest Tea (that one is really hard to find). which, as a totally unsweetened one, is one of the few I can drink without guilt. Of course, this happiness had to be tempered given 1. The extra backache I got hauling the glass bottles around on my back all day as I continued my travels through the city and 2. The fact that, given what happened when I actually drank one, I think I may have re-developed my allergy to rooiboos.

 

[Nyboy]

The White Plains store is a 2 miles from my house, I hate the parking garage they have. I usually go to the Whole Foods in Port Chester.