What do Taiwanese people do to stay skinny?

Ummm… you seem to be factually challenged about this. Americans eat a lot more sugar than Taiwanese. Sugar, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup is added to most processed foods in the USA . The breads in Taiwan aren’t as sweet as back home. Even sweet pastries are not as sweet.

Local snacks definitely lack the massive amounts of sweetener present in America candy. The local Ice cream is less sweet, even bubble tea at 100% sugar in Taiwan is less sweet than 100% sugar bubble tea sold in the Chinatown back home.

So in general , Americans eat far more sugar than Taiwanese. How any one can claim that Taiwanese eat more sugar than Americans is beyond all belief.

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I had a white friend visit me a few years ago when she was teaching English in Thailand and when we got bubble tea, I told her that she could adjust her sugar and ice levels. She was as confused as I was during my statistics exams through college. She opted for 100% everything and I told her, you’ll just taste sugar and nothing else. She acknowledged, got the drink and went on to say “Wow! This is so much better than in the states!”

I was amazed. I sipped away at my 30% sugar and 50% ice thinking…what’s the correct way of drinking bubble tea? Haha.

Eh? But a McD combo is about 120 ntd, a hot pot 200 ntd. Unless you mean proper burgers which, yes, at a nice place may be over 200 ntd -like at Burger Lab, with tea instead of soda, and a salad plus sweet potato fries.

Hot pot is also heavy in calorie sif people have rice or nodles with it, aside from the mountain of veggies and sauce.

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There’s some bubble tea places outside Chinatown that caters more to an American taste that I’ve visited. I usually don’t go back to those because the amount of sweetener used makes the drinks unbearably sweet. But they seem to do good business, so the Americans who go there must like that level of sweetness.

Yes, a proper burger from a burger shop. I have gone all out at the burger shopping getting the double patty, fries and drink. Which is about 350-400NT for where I go, but it doesn’t really make me feel too great after finishing that meal.

High in calorie intake is exactly what I need after a long day on the bike though. I’m actually curious whether burgers, fries and a drink calories compared to hot pot. I believe hotpot is more food, but with all those veggies instead of fries, can’t be too close of a comparison. Nonetheless, I feel a little better when finishing my hot pot as opposed to the burgers and fries.

I left the states just as bubble tea was getting bigger and bigger where every other town center would have a bubble tea place. I still remember trying out all the places and still preferred the one place in a Cantonese populated Chinatown where the shop was Taiwanese owned.

Hidden sugar is common in many countries these days. Which country is the worst is a good question.

Do Taiwanese perhaps consume less sugar and more artificial sweetener than Americans?


Btw what’s the status of trans fat in Taiwan? The US is moving towards a ban.

2015–2018 phaseout

In 2009, at the age of 97, University of Illinois professor Fred Kummerow, a trans fat researcher who had campaigned for decades for a federal ban on the substance, filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking elimination of artificial trans fats from the U.S. food supply.[172] The FDA did not act on his petition for four years, and in 2013 Kummerow filed a lawsuit against the FDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, seeking to compel the FDA to respond to his petition and “to ban partially hydrogenated oils unless a complete administrative review finds new evidence for their safety.”[172] Kummerow 's petition stated that “Artificial trans fat is a poisonous and deleterious substance, and the FDA has acknowledged the danger.”[173]

Three months after the suit was filed,[172] on June 16, 2015, the FDA moved to eliminate artificial trans fats from the U.S. food supply, giving manufacturers a deadline of three years.[174] The FDA specifically ruled that trans fat was not generally recognized as safe and “could no longer be added to food after June 18, 2018, unless a manufacturer could present convincing scientific evidence that a particular use was safe.”[175][176][177] Kummerow stated: “Science won out.”[178]

The ban is believed to prevent about 90,000 premature deaths annually.[175] The FDA estimates the ban will cost the food industry $6.2 billion over 20 years as the industry reformulates products and substitutes new ingredients for trans fat. The benefits are estimated at $140 billion over 20 years mainly from lower health care spending. Food companies can petition the FDA for approval of specific uses of partially hydrogenated oils if the companies submit data proving the oils’ use is safe.[179]

Kummerow recently died at 102.

I remember seeing some items with trans fat on them in Taiwan. I can’t remember where I was or what I was buying because I normally only looking at amount of sugar on drink labeling.

I usually feel bloated and can’t eat a thing the rest of the day if I have hot pot. I do not have burgers often, but my coworkers like Burger lab and I do not mind because you can choose fish or beef or chicken and can have fresh salad, and we do not go that often.

The only meal near my workplace that makes my tummy happy is Japanese bento, with grilled fish or beef. Practically no veggies, just a handful, very little rice, but the food is still scrumptious. Bit more expensive than the rest -180 ntd or 220 ntd- but more than worth it. Grilled over deep fried, what a huge difference.

Realy, all that fat Taiwanese eat in deep fried stuff -gi pai, yu pai, etc- can’t be good. Yet, the sugar still remains the greatest killer and fattening of beings.

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I didn’t say Taiwanese eat no sugar. I said they eat less sugar than Americans.

Compare the sweetness of products in the two countries. Even in Canada and Europe, I’ve sampled sweets and snacks and there is a difference in the sugar levels. American candy brands in Europe and the UK have adjusted their sugar levels to local tastes.

When I say sugar, I should be saying sugar and sweetener since American companies use high fructose corn syrup way more than real sugar. And that in itself is probably a major contributor to American fatness.

Totally agree with all you said Icon.

Yes Taiwanese are dying like flies to cancer. The national obsession with deep fried food, plastics/contaminants in food and the ever present 2 stroke haze from scooters the main culprits.

And yesssss skinny fat is a thing! Ever examined the average Taiwanese persons arm? It will be skinny, but almost zero muscle on there, what is there is fat.

The reality is Taiwanese spend 95% of their time sitting or standing. The opportunities for regular outdoor activities are just so limited.

I do a 25% fruit 75% veg mix. Makes me sleep like a baby and gives me so much energy the next day.

Glass containers are the best, so easy to clean.

The other day I ordered a sticky rice ball from a breakfast shop. The rice ball, wrapped in clear plastic, which was then put in a translucent plastic bag then put in one of those fugly red/white plastic bags to carry.

That early in the morning and I’m definitely still half awake so I didn’t notice. When I sat down at my desk and unwrapped everything, I thought, why…

It’s hidden in any food, not only pastries and snacks, bread. They add sugar here to almost everything. Not the huge amounts, but still it adds up.

At first, i didn’t like the green juice, but now I can’t drink pasteurized juice. i did find a fellow who sells some kale near shida for a good price compared to NiceGreen prices. Today, i’ve got carrot, apple, celery, cucumber, ginger juice.

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I don’t dispute that, but even “hidden sugar” in Taiwan doesn’t equal the amount of sugar and sweeteners that a lot of Americans eat.

This one (circa 2012) estimates about 100 pounds of sugar (45kg) per year are eaten by the average American. So some would eat less and some would eat more.

100% Agree, had hot pot lunch, still not hungry


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Just the thought of hot pot has that effect on me :sweat_smile:

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It’s pretty bad when the first ingredient is a type of sugar, the first sub-ingredient of the next one is also a type of sugar, and so is the first sub-ingredient of the third. It’s like there’s a secret contest between the food companies to see just how much fucking sugar they can cram into something! :face_vomiting:

Yet another reason to GTFO(ver to Taiwan).

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I’m pretty sure Taiwanese are the fattest in East Asia.

EDIT: It appears the fattest in the whole of Asia.

Hotpot gives me instant diarrhea.

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