Anonymous wrote:Regardless of whether the the cultural associations are accurate or not, it is worth noting how wonderful it feels to eat a really clean diet focused on vegetables and fish. It's really easy to fall into a trap of convenience food - I will definitely admit to it - but I do love it when I refocus on the good stuff. It's like working out - hard to get started, and can be inconvenient in our rushed lives, but then feels awesome!

I have started eating dinner leftovers for breakfast a few times a week. It seems strange, but I really like a hot breakfast - yogurt doesn't always do it for me - and heating up last night's salmon and asparagus in the toaster oven is healthier and tastier than a bowl of oatmeal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I eat smoked salmon and avocado for breakfast. I eat it on bread but now that you mention it, it would be so much more healthy to eat it with rice. Unfortunately I don't have time to make rice in the morning and I don't like reheated rice.

smoked salmon is not something you should eat daily -- its carcinogen profile is similar to bacon and hot dogs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gosh people are so nasty here. Sorry about that, OP. I think it’s a useful insight because a lot of us forget what the real baseline for food consumption should be!

+1

Maybe I’m just weak, but it takes an enormous effort to eat healthy in the US. Everything is designed to manipulate us into asking poor, impulsive decisions.

Anonymous wrote:I am Japanese and LOVE to be treated to traditional cuisine.

BUT.

This is not how the majority of Japanese eat today. Everywhere in industrialized nations, people are tending towards the US model of fatty and sugary convenience foods, because they have busy lives and don't have the time to cook lengthy meals.

Do you know how long it takes to make a traditional Japanese meal? Or a traditional meal in many other countries? It takes hours. All the vegetables have to be peeled, prepared, slow-cooked just so, the broth is flavored and takes its own time to make, the fish is traditionally charcoaled-grilled (need to prepare the charcoal so it heats at the right temp), etc...

Such cuisines around the world harken back to when kitchens lacked all modern conveniences and women and girls stayed home and where near enough to the house that something could simmer all day. Women went to the market every day for fresh vegetables. Indeed, my grandmother would go every day, so she could make and eat fresh food daily. No eating wilted produce 5 days after the weekend grocery shopping!

We all try to eat as healthy as we can in the short time we want to dedicate to cooking, but it can't be the Ryokan spread all the time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do Japanese people in Japan drink with their breakfast? Just curious, do they do coffee and juice?

I grew up in Japan. I used to drink cold barley tea (mugicha) a lot when I was a kid.

Anonymous wrote:I am Japanese and LOVE to be treated to traditional cuisine.

BUT.

This is not how the majority of Japanese eat today. Everywhere in industrialized nations, people are tending towards the US model of fatty and sugary convenience foods, because they have busy lives and don't have the time to cook lengthy meals.

Do you know how long it takes to make a traditional Japanese meal? Or a traditional meal in many other countries? It takes hours. All the vegetables have to be peeled, prepared, slow-cooked just so, the broth is flavored and takes its own time to make, the fish is traditionally charcoaled-grilled (need to prepare the charcoal so it heats at the right temp), etc...

Such cuisines around the world harken back to when kitchens lacked all modern conveniences and women and girls stayed home and where near enough to the house that something could simmer all day. Women went to the market every day for fresh vegetables. Indeed, my grandmother would go every day, so she could make and eat fresh food daily. No eating wilted produce 5 days after the weekend grocery shopping!

We all try to eat as healthy as we can in the short time we want to dedicate to cooking, but it can't be the Ryokan spread all the time.

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of whether the the cultural associations are accurate or not, it is worth noting how wonderful it feels to eat a really clean diet focused on vegetables and fish. It's really easy to fall into a trap of convenience food - I will definitely admit to it - but I do love it when I refocus on the good stuff. It's like working out - hard to get started, and can be inconvenient in our rushed lives, but then feels awesome!

I have started eating dinner leftovers for breakfast a few times a week. It seems strange, but I really like a hot breakfast - yogurt doesn't always do it for me - and heating up last night's salmon and asparagus in the toaster oven is healthier and tastier than a bowl of oatmeal.

Anonymous wrote:Rice makes many people’s blood sugar spike much higher than many other carbohydrates.

Anonymous wrote:Traveling through Japan and eating at a Ryokan for 2 meals - dinner and breakfast - and you really recognize how our food in the west is poison. For breakfast, the traditional Japanese course was basically all vegetables of some sort, plus one tiny bit of fish, and a little bit of rice. Dinner was fish, nearly all vegetables and one course of beef that was probably less than 3 ounces. No wonder Japanese people love forever and with relatively good health. And here I'm thinking about the breakfast we'd consume back home, which would be something like pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage, refined cereals, and so much other sugar laced foods full of carbs and fat. I almost felt like my body was detoxing after two weeks on a traditional Japanese diet. So much lighter feeling.