Why are people so Healthy in Japan?

Why are people so Healthy in Japan?

Why are people so Healthy in Japan?

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This is a sequel to my other video on the food environment in Japan titled “Why is it so easy to be thin in Japan?”
Having lived in America and now living in Japan, it’s interesting to see how very different these two food environments are. I’ve seen comments on another one of my videos about low carb saying something like “Oh sure, you can lose weight on low carb, which is why all the rice eating Japanese people are so thin, right?”
So with this video (and maybe the last one), I’m hoping to show that the diet over here is more complex than just “high carb”


0:00 - Intro: America \u0026 Japan
0:42 - People walk more in Japan
1:35 - Portion sizes are smaller
2:30 - America and Soda
2:40 - Rice vs. Wheat
3:50 - Fermented foods keeping the gut healthy
5:14 - Meat consumption is balanced with Fish consumption
5:54 - Muscle meat and organ meat balance
7:57 - Green Tea
8:43 - School Lunches in Japan

A pdf of the transcript with links to my sources can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/17282506

- - -

Big thanks to Greg from “Life Where I’m From” for letting me use some shots from his video “Tokyo by Train” ! - https://goo.gl/8EvfNU (They’re the professional shots near the start of people walking in Kamakura / around the train station)
-Make sure and check out his channel - it’s very interesting, especially if you’re interested in Japan: https://goo.gl/s1Xfvt
- - -
Featured Music:
Broke for Free - Playground Pigeon
Broke for Free - IF

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Content

0.599 -> When it comes to health, weight of course is not everything, but since there are so
4.85 -> many health complications from being overweight or obese, it’s safe to say that Japan with
9.59 -> an obesity rate of 3.5% is generally healthier than America with an obesity rate of 30%.
16.48 -> Japan isn’t perfect, it has found itself on the 2012 top 50 list for cancer rates,
22.12 -> but it comes in near the bottom of the list at rank #48 while America is at rank #6.
27.54 -> I’m contrasting Japan with America simply because these are the two countries I’ve
32.369 -> lived in.
33.409 -> Last time, I argued that convenient access to reasonably healthy food in Japan helps
38.28 -> people stay thin.
39.94 -> But what else contributes to health?
42.519 -> In my last video, a lot of comments pointed out that in Tokyo you end up walking everywhere,
47.089 -> which is true and should help people stay lean.
49.879 -> Also, walking while eating is generally frowned upon, so more walking means less snacking.
56.109 -> Public transportation is impressively convenient and reliable - if you’re traveling around
60.6 -> Tokyo, your destination is almost always within a 20 minute walk from that area’s train, subway
65.59 -> or bus station.
66.89 -> However, this is just Tokyo.
69.219 -> Such a population dense part of Japan with highly organized public transportation unsurprisingly
73.979 -> has the lowest rate of car ownership in Japan.
77.14 -> What’s interesting is that average body mass index doesn’t change too drastically
81.77 -> prefecture to prefecture, and higher car ownership doesn’t particularly correlate to higher
87.539 -> body mass index.
89.659 -> That said, more walking surely helps people stay leaner and healthier, but it’s just
93.78 -> one piece of a bigger puzzle.
95.909 -> Next, the portion sizes in Japan are definitely smaller.
99.549 -> Here’s what some typical lunches look like.
111.609 -> When I first came to live in Japan in 2010, I remember always being a little disappointed
116.13 -> with the size of the meals.
118.179 -> Of course bigger portions and even all you can eat places are available, but Since food
122.549 -> is more expensive here, I had to just get used to eating less food.
126.54 -> In 2014, people spent on average about 13.5% of their income on food, which is more than
132.99 -> twice what people in America spent.
137.2 -> In 2013, 3682 calories were consumed per person per day in America, but it was only 2726 calories
144.33 -> per day in Japan.
146.35 -> So Japanese people typically spend more money for less calories.
150.48 -> Although, cheap calories from the sugar in soda is probably a factor here as Americans
155.54 -> consumed more than 5 times the amount of soda Japan did in 2011.
159.72 -> Next, the type of food being eaten over here is of course different.
164.17 -> You may have noticed in the clips I just showed that everything comes with rice.
168.04 -> The Japanese diet is by no means low carb, but while Japan and America eat about the
172.79 -> same amount of the two grains Wheat and Rice combined, Japan eats about half as much wheat
178.5 -> as America.
179.87 -> Cutting out wheat or gluten is usually suspected to be only a fad, but gluten, found in wheat
185.6 -> and not rice, has been shown to have some unique properties.
189.68 -> This 2012 Brazilian rodent study for example, found that putting just 4.5% wheat gluten
195.15 -> in the diet increases body fat, inflammation, and insulin resistance.
200.83 -> Work by Dr. Alessio Fasano and his team has shown that the gliadin protein of gluten,
205.4 -> through the stimulation of a protein called Zonulin, opens up the spaces between the epithelial
210.12 -> cells in your gut.
211.96 -> This allows gliadin fragments to leak through the gut into the bloodstream, provoking an
216.13 -> immune response and inflammation.
218.36 -> However, since the reaction to gluten differs person to person and the science is relatively
223.19 -> new and complex, it’s hard to say by what degree wheat is worse than rice or how much
228.12 -> wheat is too much.
230.82 -> Next is the regular consumption of fermented foods in Japan.
233.94 -> Élie Metchnikoff, winner of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Medicine, was the first to propose
238.93 -> the theory that lactic acid bacteria are beneficial to human health.
243.62 -> He suggested that "oral administration of cultures of fermentative bacteria would implant
248.46 -> the beneficial bacteria in the intestinal tract."
252.26 -> As research on the gut microbiome develops, the health effects of certain gut microbes
256.25 -> and bacteria are becoming clearer.
258.45 -> A transplant of the microbes from one overweight woman to another woman caused the receiving
263.22 -> woman to become obese, and it’s been found that transplanting microbes from a confident
267.86 -> mouse to an anxious mouse will make that anxious mouse more confident.
271.89 -> It’s estimated that there are 500 to 1000 species of bacteria just in your gut, and
277.461 -> it’s important to take care of the right species of these bacteria.
281.07 -> There’s even research showing that certain microbes produce certain neurotransmitters.
285.76 -> And, fermented foods are supposed to support the microbes that we do want to have.
291.58 -> Plenty of fermented foods have been part of the Japanese diet for a very long time.
295.5 -> There’s Natto, soy sauce, miso, fermented fish and tsukemono which is pickled vegetables.
301.54 -> Kimuchi, a fermented food traditionally from Korea, is also widely available in Japan.
307.65 -> Fermented foods like these are very easy to find at the supermarket, and it’s common
311.15 -> to get a side of Japanese pickles with your meal.
314.45 -> The next point is balanced meat consumption.
316.76 -> In 2017, total meat consumption in the U.S. per capita was 98.4 kg where 51.4kg of meat
323.37 -> per capita were consumed in Japan.
327.45 -> American people per capita ate only 7 kilograms of seafood in 2015, while Japanese people
332.41 -> ate 27.3 kilograms of fish and fish products in 2014.
337.65 -> If the meat everyone was eating was antibiotic free grass fed meat, high meat consumption
342.35 -> might not be a bad thing, but in any case we can agree that a higher fish intake is
347.5 -> generally good for you.
348.71 -> And I don’t think it would surprise you to hear that it’s really easy to get fish
352.8 -> wherever you are in Japan.
355.22 -> But there’s another kind of balance that might be a factor - it’s the muscle meat
359.23 -> to organ meat ratio.
361.48 -> Organ meats have not usually been much of a component of the American diet.
365.01 -> During World War 2, people were encouraged to eat organ meats as part of the food rationing
369.43 -> effort.
370.43 -> Articles like this one in this 1943 issue of Time Magazine sold organ meats as highly
374.919 -> nutritious and explained how to cook them.
377.73 -> The effort had some success in changing people’s views on organ meats, but the effect, didn’t
382.99 -> last much longer than the war itself.
385.81 -> This is unfortunate because, as the time magazine issue shows, organ meats are rich in certain
390.59 -> vitamins that muscle meat is not.
392.72 -> And, glycine, an amino acid found in skin, cartilage and connective tissue has several
398.26 -> important health benefits- from being an anti-inflammatory to improving skin elasticity, improving insulin
404.57 -> response, and it has been shown to ameliorate oxidative stress and lower blood pressure.
410.26 -> This study found that you could get a 30% increase in lifespan in rodents by restricting
415.31 -> methionine, an amino acid found in muscle meat, or you could get a 30% increase in lifespan
420.919 -> by supplementing glycine.
423.31 -> Glycine supplementation also reduced fasting blood sugar, fasting insulin and even triglycerides.
428.56 -> So it looks like the potential negative effects from eating too much muscle meat can be counteracted
434.169 -> by simply consuming more of things like skin, cartilage, connective tissue, and bone broth.
440.389 -> Now in America you can surely find organ meats at some supermarkets, but in my 20 years in
445.23 -> America, organ meats were rarely on the menu, though chicken skin is easy enough to find.
450.55 -> Over in Japan, organ meats aren’t eaten every day of course, but they are more common.
455.169 -> You can find them at the supermarket, or at Barbeque places and HorumonYaki places specialize
460.669 -> in organ meats, you can also get them on skewers at Yakitori
469.05 -> places.
471.59 -> Pork is a big part of Okinawan cuisine and they don’t waste much of the animal
477.96 -> Another thing is green tea consumption.
480.62 -> Green tea has been found to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-cancer effects as well
486.07 -> as blood sugar lowering effects thanks to the catechins in it.
489.37 -> Though, I’m betting green tea being healthy isn’t new information to you.
493.99 -> Back when I lived in the states, the reason drinking it didn’t become a habit was that
497.6 -> it was simply annoying to have to buy it at the supermarket and then come home and make
501.37 -> it.
502.37 -> Here, pretty much any restaurant serves it, sometimes for free, and you can always buy
506.05 -> it from one of the many many vending machines prevalent throughout the country.
510.12 -> What might be an even bigger benefit from regularly drinking green tea and other teas
514.3 -> is that it keeps people from drinking sugary sodas.
516.959 -> Here, I rarely see people here drinking soda with their meal, but I see people drinking
521.159 -> tea all the time.
523.529 -> One last point is the food being served to young children.
526.93 -> In Japan, school meals are planned out by a nutritionist, cooked mostly from scratch
530.67 -> from local ingredients, then served in the classroom by the students and eating manners
535.089 -> are taught by the teacher.
536.759 -> The only drink allowed is milk, so students can’t be drinking juice or other sweet drinks.
541.959 -> The meals aren’t always perfect, but they’re a lot better than what I remember getting
545.3 -> from the cafeteria in grade school in the states.
550.139 -> There’s plenty more things about Japan I haven’t mentioned here, some that I even
555.93 -> expect would be bigger determinants of health like consumption of Processed Foods, Sugar
561.019 -> and processed corn, seed and soy oils.
563.7 -> In short, it seems that people in Japan eat a lot more food rather than food like products.
571.009 -> Japan’s food culture has contributed a lot to health over here, and I expect a lot more
576.49 -> could be learned from looking at other countries’ food environments.
582.74 -> This video was sponsored by Audible... which is something I use almost every day.
586.72 -> I've gotten a lot comments before asking about my research process.
590.73 -> And, honestly most of it is just reading all the time and taking notes.
594.839 -> Most of my reading is actually listening to non-fiction books on Audible.
598.889 -> I usually set the playback speed to twice as fast and when I come across a bit that
602.649 -> sounds important, I use the bookmark function to leave a note so I can come back to that
606.529 -> point later.
608.08 -> Of course Audible isn't just for non-fiction, they have an unmatched selection of all kinds
612.1 -> of audiobooks, original audio shows, news, comedy, and more.
616.32 -> I particularly enjoyed the book "Missing Microbes" by Dr. Martin Blaser.
620.929 -> The book really came in handy while working on my last video on the Microbiome, and it
624.459 -> was just a really interesting and enjoyable listen about the repercussions of using antibiotics
629.5 -> too much.
630.819 -> If you'd like to check it out, go to
634.899 -> www.audible.com/whativelearned or text ‘whativelearned’ to 500-500 to get an exclusive 30 day free
640.929 -> trial and one free book

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WiUQtOhfIc