I’m not talking about the “typical” junk food (like KFC or McDonalds), instead it’s more on certain aspects of Japanese cuisine being carb heavy or features fried items such as: ramen, agepan, karage, tempura, gyudon, tonkatsu, yakitori, etc. I mean, can ramen or gyudon bowls still be deemed “fast food” even though they appear ‘healthier’ than American fast food.
As someone who’s studied and regularly thought about nutrition for years, I definitely see junk food being a significant problem in East Asia, just as with other parts of the world.
Bread in East Asia also tends to be sweet, and this is coming form someone who grew up in the US.
I think I see it fried less in Japanese cuisine, though agedashidofu is certainly one of the more famous ones. Especially this time of year (hot), silken tofu with a splash of soy sauce and toasted sesame oil is quite common. It’s also in some miso soups and dishes like mabodofu (mapo tofu) and not all recipes (if any?) have it fried… though that’s not to say those are super healthy foods, either.
Good points. I’ve heard borderline horror-stories from expats trying to find Euro-style or authentic whole-grain bread in Japan, in particular.
And yeah, here in the States it seems a lot more common to deep-fry tofu, which is health-wise arguably a much worse way to consume it than it’s usually made in EA. Actually one of the reasons I love air-fryers is that they offer something of a healthier compromise, with much less oil typically required.
Bread isn’t really a staple in Japan, even in it’s white form. It’s not something that you just have in the house all the time. They won’t make a sandwich at home, they may purchase and use it for toast but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Japanese person eat more than one slice at breakfast before. Even the bread at most stores is sold as 4-6 slices only rather than a full loaf. https://mel.jfconline.com.au/cdn/shop/files/37170.png?v=1748918723&width=900
This is just plain wrong. A lot of Japanese have a slice of toast at home for breakfast. They make sandwiches for the kids or themselves as well.
https://www.cross-m.co.jp/report/trend-eye/20260325breakfast More people eating bread for breakfast than rice (~60% v ~40%)
Kinda, but there are multiple reasons for this. Japanese shop way more frequently, have less storage space, have housing without always-on central AC, and they don’t necessarily need more.
There are plenty of stores that sell loaves with 10-12 slices, though, or whole baguettes, etc. I mean regular grocery stores, not fancy ones.
To be clear, A staple food is something that provides a significant portion of the calories (or other nutrients) in an overall diet.
A single slice of bread for breakfast, which while popular as you point out, simply doesn’t come up to that level. From your own link only 60% of respondents even eat breakfast every day, and 20% don’t eat it at all.
The whole statement I made was that bread just isn’t consumed in the quantities or for the purposes that we have it for in North America, so that’s why trying to find things like Whole Wheat bread is so difficult.
https://thebrotbox.com/blogs/news/how-much-bread-americans-really-eat?srsltid=AfmBOorJ1fKntXLJgCZ0gaAk5lXocnTJUow9wy7AY7g0fFlXZUS3dh5v
Americans eat on average 37 to 53 pounds of bread per year, or around 50-80 loaves. Around two slices of bread per person per day. Extrapolating from the Japanese situation, their average is probably closer to 1/3rd of that value.
Carbs generally are not a dietary problem. It’s excess sugar and excess calories that are getting most people (at least in the west) fat, more than carbs. Yes, excessive carbs can contribute to excessive calories, like eating fries with every meal is definitely going to get you there, though your body needs carbs far more than it needs sugar!
Hence why when most people cut out even just sugar filled drinks and desserts, they can often exercise past how many carbs they eat.
Carbs are sugars. Just more complex than simple sugars. That’s why carb-rich diets can still be terrible on health over time, regularly messing with glycemic load and constituting ‘empty calories.’ So, even worse than a pre-diabetic source, as I mentioned.
I’d recommend you do a modern nutrition course to catch up on this stuff, because science & nutrition is way past the simple idea of calories-in / calories-out. The fact is that the FORM of the calories matter hugely, with processed foods in general being pretty bad on health, long-term. These are what the studies collectively say.