Not only that Japanese women are well known for being fit, but on average, their lifespan is 84 and a half years. So, what helps them live longest without gaining weight at the same time?
Naomi Moriyama is the author of “Japanese Women Don’t Get Old or Fat”, a book that leads you in the kitchen of her Japanese mother who reveals the secret to a healthy and long life. According to the author of this book, Japanese cuisine includes lots of foods that help in weight loss. Some of the top ingredients for long and healthy life are seaweed, fish, soy, fruits, green tea, vegetables, and rice.
These foods possess anti-aging properties and help losing weight in a healthy way. The traditional Japanese cooked meals consists of soup, bowl of rice, grilled fish, cooked vegetables, fruits, and green tea. Japanese make up 2% of the world population, but they consume around 10% of all fish in the world.
The author Moriyama, explains that Japanese parents teach their children since small ages to appreciate every bite and to eat slowly. They never serve huge portions, or completely fill the bowl, and they serve different foods separately.
As Moriyama says, the Japanese cuisine is consisted of briefly grilled or cooked food, as well as of food cooked by steaming. It is a rather easy cuisine that involves slow preparation of the meals. One of the main differences in the eating habits between Eastern and Western people is eating rice with almost every meal, instead of bread. For Japanese, the breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Usually it includes rice cooked by steaming, tofu, soup, seaweed, young garlic, green tea, and a piece of fish or omelet.
Japanese rarely eat sweet desserts, but when they do, they eat small portions. As every person, Japanese women like ice cream, chocolates, cakes, and cookies, but they have better understanding of the negative consequences that these sweet desserts can have on the overall health. In the concluding part of her book, Moriyama explains that exercise is part of Japanese daily routine, so they built a whole culture of walking, biking, and hiking to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Via Healthy Life Star