Fat People
I thought this evening I'd share a few thoughts on why people in Korea differ in size and health so noticably from people in North America. The reasons are in my opinion rather complex and fascinating:
1. More food variety: each meal has multiple dishes, and every meal includes at least one or two vegetable dishes. Interestingly, Koreans don't eat a low fat diet most of the time, and nor do they eat a low-carbohydrate diet. Most pork and beef dishes leave the fat on in layers! But variety is key.
2. More water: Korean food is very watery, compared to normal western food. Most meals include soups, stews, and so forth. Most notably, water is the accompanying drink for virtually every meal (other than alcohol). People don't really drink pop or juice or other sugary things during meals. These factors make for people who can feel full on fewer calories.
3. Communitarian eating habits: Meals are always shared, often without even individual plates. People will simply have at a main dish with their chopsticks/spoons. There is a certain social obligation not to be a glutton, as the dishes are proportioned to feed a certain number of people comfortably. As well, it is customary never to take the last bite of a dish.
4. Slower eating: Chopsticks are a factor, but again it is more the social nature of eating that increases the time between bites; eating more slowly is a well-documented way to lose weight, because it gives the body a chance to register the food and send the 'full' signal to the brain.
5. More walking: While traffic in Seoul is terrible, the number of people who own cars proportional the population is quite small. You can see this immediately, as most cars (aside from taxis) are luxury or semi-luxury models. The subways are incredibly convenient, and they allow people to get their walking in (to and from the subway stations) as well as cheap transportation. A round trip subway ride completely across town (40mins each way) will run you a mere three dollars. My own commute has me taking the bus daily, as well as walking for about 40 minutes altogether.
6. Accessible and free sport facilities: As if the difficult hiking mountains surrounding the city weren't enough, the trails are often lined with outdoor weight training centers, as well as badminton and tennis courts, all free and plentiful and well maintained by the city.
7. Healthy snacks: People don't eat power bars and sugary granola for snacks. They eat apples, grapes, dried seafood. and other healthy sorts of things... things that are on the whole natural, unprocessed, and less calorie-dense. I've piked up a liking for dried anchovies (eaten whole), they are inexpensive and very nutritious.
8. Time-tested food traditions: Most of the staples here have been staples for a very long time, and have been developed around low-income and often poverty-ridden histories. I wonder if America's (and Canada's) young age (and of course great wealth) contributes to its less healthy combination of food options.
9. Low milk product intake: Cheese is highly uncommon here when eating out, and outrageously expensive at the stores. Milk and yogurt are also relatively uncommon; one would not describe them as staple foods.
10. Skinny women: The culture seems to demand that women ought to be skinny to be considered good prospects for marriage. This runs deeper than the imagery from the media (though I'm sure it assists the demand), and I think has been around much longer than western pop influence.
11. "Stamina" in men: I hear this word from my bilingual students all the time, and it must translate into some Korean word that has a complex and deep meaning for the society. It may be one of those words that one must understand the language and culture to get a good sense of. But, from what I gather thus far, they mean 'stamina' to describe general physical endurance, hardiness, good health, good shape, and of course sexual stamina. Good stamina is revered, and there are more superstitions surrounding its connection to different foods and drinks than I could possibly mention. As well, the superficiality of courtship is nearly equal here; women are quite insistent that their men have toned bodies and good stamina. Unfortunately the two things that help me attract women - intelligence and humor, I think - don't go over here because most people don't understand enough english to let me unleash my relative skill with words. Here, I'm just a fat Canadian.
(On a side note, children's perceptions are yet unaltered: they gawk at me they way you might imagine children would gawk at you if you were wearing a giant multicoloured balloon hat for no apparent reason. The more outgoing-natured ones tend to point, say "hello!" and ask their parents questions about my hair and country of origin.)
Anyway, there you have it. The idea I was hoping to push was that it's not so much diets or particular food groups that work for making people healthy, but entire cultures. The culture in North America simply is not conducive to healthy people, on just about every level.
And to highlight the point, increasing western cultural influence here is making for some reassuringly plump children and teenagers. KFC's and 'World of Warcraft' are popular, as well as increasingly American-like lunches and snacks for the kids at schools. The generation gap here is very wide, and it shows in the clothing, complexion, computer games, tv shows, pop songs, restaurants, mobile technologies, and of course the waistlines.
1. More food variety: each meal has multiple dishes, and every meal includes at least one or two vegetable dishes. Interestingly, Koreans don't eat a low fat diet most of the time, and nor do they eat a low-carbohydrate diet. Most pork and beef dishes leave the fat on in layers! But variety is key.
2. More water: Korean food is very watery, compared to normal western food. Most meals include soups, stews, and so forth. Most notably, water is the accompanying drink for virtually every meal (other than alcohol). People don't really drink pop or juice or other sugary things during meals. These factors make for people who can feel full on fewer calories.
3. Communitarian eating habits: Meals are always shared, often without even individual plates. People will simply have at a main dish with their chopsticks/spoons. There is a certain social obligation not to be a glutton, as the dishes are proportioned to feed a certain number of people comfortably. As well, it is customary never to take the last bite of a dish.
4. Slower eating: Chopsticks are a factor, but again it is more the social nature of eating that increases the time between bites; eating more slowly is a well-documented way to lose weight, because it gives the body a chance to register the food and send the 'full' signal to the brain.
5. More walking: While traffic in Seoul is terrible, the number of people who own cars proportional the population is quite small. You can see this immediately, as most cars (aside from taxis) are luxury or semi-luxury models. The subways are incredibly convenient, and they allow people to get their walking in (to and from the subway stations) as well as cheap transportation. A round trip subway ride completely across town (40mins each way) will run you a mere three dollars. My own commute has me taking the bus daily, as well as walking for about 40 minutes altogether.
6. Accessible and free sport facilities: As if the difficult hiking mountains surrounding the city weren't enough, the trails are often lined with outdoor weight training centers, as well as badminton and tennis courts, all free and plentiful and well maintained by the city.
7. Healthy snacks: People don't eat power bars and sugary granola for snacks. They eat apples, grapes, dried seafood. and other healthy sorts of things... things that are on the whole natural, unprocessed, and less calorie-dense. I've piked up a liking for dried anchovies (eaten whole), they are inexpensive and very nutritious.
8. Time-tested food traditions: Most of the staples here have been staples for a very long time, and have been developed around low-income and often poverty-ridden histories. I wonder if America's (and Canada's) young age (and of course great wealth) contributes to its less healthy combination of food options.
9. Low milk product intake: Cheese is highly uncommon here when eating out, and outrageously expensive at the stores. Milk and yogurt are also relatively uncommon; one would not describe them as staple foods.
10. Skinny women: The culture seems to demand that women ought to be skinny to be considered good prospects for marriage. This runs deeper than the imagery from the media (though I'm sure it assists the demand), and I think has been around much longer than western pop influence.
11. "Stamina" in men: I hear this word from my bilingual students all the time, and it must translate into some Korean word that has a complex and deep meaning for the society. It may be one of those words that one must understand the language and culture to get a good sense of. But, from what I gather thus far, they mean 'stamina' to describe general physical endurance, hardiness, good health, good shape, and of course sexual stamina. Good stamina is revered, and there are more superstitions surrounding its connection to different foods and drinks than I could possibly mention. As well, the superficiality of courtship is nearly equal here; women are quite insistent that their men have toned bodies and good stamina. Unfortunately the two things that help me attract women - intelligence and humor, I think - don't go over here because most people don't understand enough english to let me unleash my relative skill with words. Here, I'm just a fat Canadian.
(On a side note, children's perceptions are yet unaltered: they gawk at me they way you might imagine children would gawk at you if you were wearing a giant multicoloured balloon hat for no apparent reason. The more outgoing-natured ones tend to point, say "hello!" and ask their parents questions about my hair and country of origin.)
Anyway, there you have it. The idea I was hoping to push was that it's not so much diets or particular food groups that work for making people healthy, but entire cultures. The culture in North America simply is not conducive to healthy people, on just about every level.
And to highlight the point, increasing western cultural influence here is making for some reassuringly plump children and teenagers. KFC's and 'World of Warcraft' are popular, as well as increasingly American-like lunches and snacks for the kids at schools. The generation gap here is very wide, and it shows in the clothing, complexion, computer games, tv shows, pop songs, restaurants, mobile technologies, and of course the waistlines.
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