One big reason Americans are broke and overweight

Which Taiwanese, though? :slight_smile:

What was the result?

Just like anywhere else, there’s quite a range of dietary habits here. There are Taiwanese people who live on noodles and lu rou fan and bubble tea, and they do get badly out-of-shape (especially when they hit middle age). Then there are those who eat mostly meat and veg and have a more traditional attitude to sweets (ie., they don’t eat them), and they don’t get fat.

There definitely is a lot of individual variance in the way different people react to “fattening” food. It’s not genetic, though. At least not entirely. A big part of it is to do with childhood habits, because that’s when you develop your adult complement of fat cells. Kids who were brought up on breakfast cereal, peanut butter and jelly, and Coke tend to hold onto flab more readily as adults.

Even for those who were unlucky, obesity is still controllable. It just takes a bit more effort to adapt to better dietary habits. This is very hard for Americans to do because there is nobody alive today who even remembers what a healthy diet looks like. The culture has been so thoroughly saturated with USDA drivel about low-fat grain-based diets that it’s almost impossible for them to reject it and eat proper food. In contrast, the American views on “healthy eating” are unfathomable to a Chinese person because they contradict everyday experience.

1 Like

The thing in Taiwan is that people always put several dishes on the table and you just ‘pick’ away, the faster you pick and eat the more food you get + a few bowls of rice.

Taiwanese (esp. kids) have been getting fatter in tandem with the rise of fast-food, convenience stores, and soft drinks.

3 Likes

After four years in the US, I gained weight and went all the way up to 95 kilos. I was seriously stressed with getting a second degree, and I wasn’t exercising much (but still exercising one or two times every week), but I’m convinced it was the food more than anything. Very high carb meals and lots of sweets. When I came to Taiwan, it was hard to lose the weight, but I definitely didn’t gain more.

It’s the food. I know I’m just repeating what’s already been stated here, but it was really eye-opening to have experienced it firsthand.

3 Likes

I have an acquaintance in the US who ballooned (for a want of a better word) after going there . He says it’s the beer but it’s probably the food (portions ) as well.

1 Like

Bubble tea!

It’s just keeping track, don’t gulp beer when eating triple portions, eat and drink in moderation not going over your calorie limit and try to get it off with exercise.

Many Taiwanese have a ‘rice’ belly, eating too much rice and drinking alcohol, don’t exercise.

I usually spend 2-3 months in the U.S. each year, and my weight starts going up the moment I step off the plane, and then starts dropping immediately when I return to Taiwan.

2 Likes

Taiwanese kids also barely have any time or energy to play sports/get exercise in general…

That’s the ‘puff-up’ effect.

Except for the ones that play basket ball and badminton.

A lot of girls and women also still have a fear of building muscle and looking “bigger” so some are kind of exercise-phobic. So lots of women are “skinny fat” or just kind of flabby and shapeless. Working out and having a toned or even curvaceous body is slowly becoming more trendy, but super thin with chopstick legs is still #1 in terms of local beauty ideals.

2 Likes

Definitely the food.
And besides the portions that are huge it’s what is inside the food. A Piece of bread let’s say in Italy has probably half the sugar and fat that the same piece of bread would have in the US, and not even considering all the additives and preservatives they add to it.
When I was in the US, I ate pretty much the same diet as I had back in Italy, and portions too but I kept gaining and gaining weight, I think that was probably the fattest I ever been.

That totally depends on the kind of bread you eat, a Belgian sugar bread has loads of sugar, a Brioche has loads of eggs and fat. Plain bread has … flour, salt, yeast, water, not even sugar.
But yes, industrial bread has everything a bread doesn’t really need.

1 Like

Nah i’m Talking about normal white bread.

Who eats normal white bread?

Normal people.

1 Like

It’s hard to find bread here that doesn’t have added sugar (in addition to the naturally produced sugar during baking).

1 Like

Most people I assume. That’s what’s usually most sold in bread stores

Weird. I never touch the stuff.