JohnnyEnzyme

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.

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.

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.

• Noodles are usually made from the starchy part of the grain, and are therefore low in fibre, vitamins & minerals, plus high in salt.
• White rice is similar, just less processed. Both of those are glycemic aggregators, and I understand diabetes is sadly common in white-rice eating cultures.
• Tofu has that healthy reputation, but not only is it a processed food retaining a lot less of just about everything desirable in soy beans, it also tends to be fried, with high-salt, high-fat, high-sugar sauces added for flavor.
• Most bread everywhere is a lot like the noodles problem.

Never heard of 'em, but bonne chance…?

Uh… BEL because of Tintin et al.
FRA because of BD, and just being a Francophile in general.