Ugggh........not again - read the one star reviews first, March 30, 2009
By AVT (Earth) - review is from: Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen
I lived in Japan for close to 10 years. In Tokyo. Mine is an unscientific observation.
The diet in this book is a stereotypical "Japanese diet", one that most naive Americans and others think the Japanese eat.
I lived with a number of Japanese female roommates. The way they eat in public (picky and delicate) is nothing like the way they eat at home (they could get in a contest with a vacuum cleaner and win). I saw three of them down a large bag of cookies in 3 minutes flat. It was gone by the time I got back from the bathroom.
Japanese women are very cognizant of the way they are seen in public, and will also go to extremes to lose weight and stay underweight. I used to think that the popularity of Comtrex, a type of milky looking mineral water from France, was due to health concerns. I found out that young Japanese women take it because it has laxative qualities. Other popular diet aids have been "nata de coco", a colorless, calorie-free jelly made from coconuts, and water pills. The water pill thing got so out of control that at some point there was an epidemic of gout among young Japanese females, and pharmacies quit selling these pills to them.
As for green tea as a diet aid - funny thing, the Japanese don't drink THAT much green tea (except at the office) and not one of them ever told me it was a diet aid. I was told very often by the Japanese, however, that oolong tea was the secret to weight loss. Oolong is a popular diet aid in Japan. Green tea went for a long time unmentioned.
Beer should be listed as a major food group in the standard Japanese diet, considering the level of consumption. Popular dishes are "curry rice" - a football sized pile of rice with curry sauce and little bits of meat; ramen - which is usually high fat and loaded with msg; "pizza toast" - a very thick slice of white bread with pizza sauce and some veggies; "Tonkatsu" or "chicken katsu" - deep fried and breaded (with panko) pork or chicken cutlet; "hamburger steak"; rice omlette - a thin egg omelet loaded with rice and topped with ketchup; spaghetti; and certainly the ubiquitous white rice three times a day. I was told by some school children there that the brown rice I preferred to eat was "for cattle". And if you think Japanese food is all low cal and based on aesthetics, just do an image search on okonomiyaki or "soba sandwich". How about "strawberry sandwich" for that matter?
A major cause of house fires in Japan is the well-used deep fat fryer, a standard article in most kitchens. This is used to deep fry shrimp, "croquettes", oysters, tonkatsu and tempura, among other items.
The Japanese diet changed with modernization and exposure to western culture, but not always in a bad way. Around the late 1800's to early 1900's, the average Japanese lived on little but rice and some pickled vegetables, and perhaps some fish if it could be gotten. Consequently, the life span was apparently not any better than the rest of the world - I once read an old Japanese fairy tale with a picture of two "elderly" people with long flowing white hair, and they were supposed to be in their 40's, according to the story.
Since the Japanese contact with the west, the amount of protein in the diet has gradually increased. This was in part due to agricultural reforms imposed by the US. The increase in protein in the diet over the years has not only lengthened the lifespan of the Japanese, but has made more than a few of the younger people much taller than their elders. So a slightly westernized diet has not been an entirely bad thing.
Still, the average Japanese diet tends to lack protein - the most obvious result is the tendency for Japanese nationals to have leg issues - if you have a chance to hang around Tokyo, you might want to spend some time "leg watching". Bowlegs, crooked legs, pigeon toes, knock knees and other issues with bone structure are very common in Japan, however, they don't seem to be as prominent in China or Korea (where more land animal protein is consumed). It has been stated that a mainstay of protein in the Japanese diet for many years has been natto (fermented soybeans) - not exactly a protein powerhouse.
The Weston Price foundation focuses on various cultural diets and protein and the problems issuing from having too little in the diet - bone structure and bone density being affected most of all.
The main difference in the Japanese diet (as well as the Chinese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese) compared to the American is the absence of the huge amounts of sugar that Americans consume. This really is the secret. Most Asian sweets, no matter if they are traditional or commercially made candy or cookies, have a low sugar content compared to their American counterparts. Asians in general do not have a sweet tooth. Often, they cannot stand the super sweet foods that Americans consume, and therein lies the main difference.
Many in Japan, once they reach middle age, suffer from "middle age spread", the women in particular can start looking square or "chunky". There was a Japanese comic strip called "Obatarian" (rough translation: Aunt-Zillah) which lampooned this type of Japanese middle aged woman. This may simply be due to increasing insulin resistance because of age. Beer drinking and an over consumption of carbohydrates doesn't help much here.
Regarding breast cancer - the one factor the media has (deliberately?) overlooked is that birth control pills have never been legal in Japan - Dr. Lee's book, What Your Doctor Isn't Telling You About Breast Cancer, cites artificial hormones as the culprit behind most breast and prostate cancers.
Also, Japanese don't eat as much soy as the soy industry would like you to believe. The whole soy as health food mess was cooked up based on faulty information - Japanese on the average consume about 2 tbs of soy sauce per day as their main source of soy. They may eat tofu once in a while, though it is considered the "poor man's meat" and has a generally low status. Edamame (boiled soy beans) are usually consumed as a bar snack with copious amounts of beer.
In addition, radioactive iodine is also a culprit in breast and other cancers - the Japanese higher consumption of raw fish and seafood guards against any intrusion by Iodine 131. Seaweed, it has been found, needs certain enzymes to be digestible - these enzymes are usually found in the systems of those who consume raw seafood (i.e. Japanese). So if you've adopted seaweed into your diet, it may not be beneficial without the help of some sashimi to go with it.
If you are worried about breast cancer, you'd probably be better off ditching the bc pills and / or fake estrogen menopause hormones.
The concentration of super-elderly people in Japan tends to center in Okinawa, which has a somewhat different diet - bitter melon being a part of it. Bitter melon keeps blood sugar levels steady, which adds to the longevity factor. The small village in central Japan that had a great deal of active elderly was noted to be a place where people consumed vegetables (grown fresh in their gardens) and did not consume much or any rice.
If you are a major consumer of fast food and have a sugar jones, any diet that emphasizes low sugar, lean protein and fresh vegetables will probably be a major improvement and you will no doubt see an improvement in your health from the change.
This book, however, is riding on the coat tails of the French Women Don't Get Fat diet, which is nothing but another low sugar, low cal option based on more myth. Anyone can get fat on traditional Japanese food - sumo wrestlers eat a traditional, though hefty, Japanese diet - they don't get that way from consuming burgers and twinkies.
As an update to this review - the main success I've had with diets so far has been with The Leptin Diet (not really a "diet"). YouTube has a video titled The Five Rules of the Leptin Diet, if you don't want to spend the time reading "Mastering Leptin".
I had some success on Somersizing, (aka food separation).
One thing Somersizing has in common with the Leptin diet is the spacing of meals - 3x a day, 5 hours lag time before the next meal. This is the standard in most countries. It may be the real reason (outside of lower sugar consumption) why the "French", or "Mediterranean" or "fill-in-the-country" diet works. Timing. This is how we used to eat in the US.
Americans have been lulled into the idea for the past 25 years or so that eating 5x a day will increase metabolism. According to proponents of the Leptin diet, eating that often will result in weight gain.
The following is not meant as medical advice, however this is what is working for me. Check with your medical practitioner / adviser.
1) The InherentHealth site has a genetic test which will show what types of food suit an individual - some people have a problem with carbs and some do not. I am in the former category, according to the test (something I have known based on experience).
The test will also show if one will benefit from high or low intensity exercise (higher in my case). This test was promoted by Dr. Daniel Amen of the Amen Clinics.
I used to go on long walks (8 miles day, 5 days / week, for several months, no result except exhaustion) and once I switched to the advice from the genetic profile (higher intensity exercise, 20 minutes on an elliptical 4x a week at a faster pace than walking) people began to notice, even after one week, that I was losing weight.
Barry Sears, in an essay Understanding the Zone, states: "Not everyone is genetically the same. About 25% of the U.S. population is genetically lucky because they have a low insulin response to carbohydrates. These people will never become fat, and they will always do well on any high-carbohydrate diet whether it be pasta, Snickers, or Twinkies. Unfortunately, the other 75% of the U.S. population aren't so lucky. As they increase the amount of fat-free carbohydrates in their diet, they increase the production of insulin. Next time you look at a bagel, ask yourself do you feel lucky. You have a 25% chance that you might be."
For those that are carb sensitive, I suggest reading "Life Without Bread" - it explains in detail the side effects of over consumption of carbs, including acid reflux.
2) I've had all the classic symptoms of hypothyroid, for years, even though usual tests for it (TSH) came up normal. Check the site StopTheThyroidMadness and its symptom list. I have never felt better since I started taking dessicated thyroid for this problem. Caution: This might not be for everyone, but if it fits your situation based on symptoms, you must consult with a physician before starting on thyroid meds. Get thyroid antibody tests (there are two different ones, get both). I've recently tested positive for Hashimoto's disease, which is the most common thyroid disorder - it's an autoimmune problem.
3) Stay hydrated with spring water.
4) Build muscle. Three times a week at a gym should be enough for most people. If you don't like gyms, or don't have the room for weights, get some resistance bands and a dvd on how to use them. Try the PowerPlate (see the Mercola site for info) if you have issues that make it difficult to lift weights. Some children with Cerebral Palsy have been using PowerPlate machines to build muscle with great results. Get Teresa Tapp's book - she's got a 15 minute workout that seems to work for even the very unfit. In fact, Tapp's is the best workout I've ever tried, and influences blood sugar and hormone balancing in very little time. It gets quick results as well for inch loss.
5) Quit alcohol and drugs if you have an addiction. Those will interfere with everything you're trying to accomplish.
6) Get off the sugar and refined carbs. Avoid "diet" drinks.
7) If you have a thyroid issue, iodine can in some cases make it worse.
I can, however, recommend this book to people with thyroid issues because the dishes tend to be relatively gluten free. As stated before, it does not reflect how Japanese women really eat.
For further "evidence" on eating habits in Asia, you might search for the (somewhat sophmoric) blog post "Hong Kong girls that eat so much but don't get fat" on HongKongMassacre dot com. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
The Reality of the Tokyo Kitchens, April 20, 2006
By Dr Yamaguchi (Yokohama, Japan) This review is from: Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen
In reading the reviews, K.M. Harris and T. Tanaka (Japanese residents) have got it (mostly) right. This is not the reality of the modern Japanese diet, it is a look at traditional dietary habits. I disagree with reviewer Harris that Japanese genetics are the whole story - there is an increase in body fat and weight gain as reported by T. Tanaka and an increase in chronic diseases. These changes are in line with dramatic changes to the Japanese diet in a short period of time so it is indeed quite evident that nutrition can influence genes.
For a more useful overview of the changing Japanese diet and the differences between Western diets and that of Japan, see the excellent new book by Logan - The Brain Diet. This book is based on the realities of the Japanese diet and includes more practical ways to take advantage of the best components of the Japanese diet for health promotion.
All Japanese Women Painted with the Same Brush?, December 27, 2005
By T. Tanaka (Tokyo) This review is from: Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen
Finally had some time to read this book and I must say I was disappointed.
To follow-up on the points made by reviewer "Carol", Japanese women who are in her (Naomi's) age group and younger (20-49) have had an incredible drop in Body Mass Index (BMI) over the last 30 years while men and older Japanese women have seen significant and dangerous increases in BMI - its definately not the 'mini' obesity crisis described by Naomi. The majority of Japan's women, those aged 20-49, are helping to keep the statistics low.
Whats more is that the increased weight among Japanese men and older women is not always captured by the BMI because when weight gain occurs in the Japanese, it tends to accumulate in the abdominal region and not the legs and arms. This is the worst place to gain weight as it is more closely tied to the rapid increases in chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes in Japan. The Japanese waist circumference is increasing rapidly and adults who are not technically even overweight according to the BMI, let alone obese, are showing increased waist circumference. This may become the biggest challenge to Japan's longevity crown.
The decline in the BMI among young and early-middle-age Japanese women is most noticable in metro areas such as Tokyo and appears not to be related at all to Government educational efforts on the risks of obesity. It appears to be related to social pressure.
As stated from the medical journal Obesity Reviews (Yoshiike,et al. Twenty-year changes in the prevalence of overweight in Japanese adults. 2002;3:183-190)
"The desire of young (Japanese) women to be thin and their use of extreme diets which, in some cases, can lead to anorectic eating disorders, may explain the decreasing trends in BMI in younger women. This phenomenon could be much influenced by social circumstances, so it is significant that the most pronounced falls in BMI and the lowest prevalences of overweight occured in young women in the metropolitan areas".
A more recent study by the same researchers shows that drops in BMI are occurring in even young girls age 10-14. (Yoshiike, et al. Trends in childhood obesity in Japan over the last 25 years from the national nutrition survey. Obes Res. 2004 Feb;12(2):205-14)
It appears that the title is somewhat mis-guided. According to the published research on female body weight in Japan, it should be
"Older Japanese Women are Getting Fatter: The Secrets of Social Pressure Thinning Young Tokyo Women"
Sadly, the traditional Japanese diet that Naomi speaks of is going by the wayside, even among older women. Good recipes are provided, however, a more detailed review of the traditional diet with more extensive Japanese/tropical recipes (about 4x more) and readable science can be found in The Okinawa Program by Wilcox.
PS: I own and read already the "Why French Women Don't Get Fat" and I thought can be usefull for you, the one that try to diet!
By AVT (Earth) - review is from: Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen
I lived in Japan for close to 10 years. In Tokyo. Mine is an unscientific observation.
The diet in this book is a stereotypical "Japanese diet", one that most naive Americans and others think the Japanese eat.
I lived with a number of Japanese female roommates. The way they eat in public (picky and delicate) is nothing like the way they eat at home (they could get in a contest with a vacuum cleaner and win). I saw three of them down a large bag of cookies in 3 minutes flat. It was gone by the time I got back from the bathroom.
Japanese women are very cognizant of the way they are seen in public, and will also go to extremes to lose weight and stay underweight. I used to think that the popularity of Comtrex, a type of milky looking mineral water from France, was due to health concerns. I found out that young Japanese women take it because it has laxative qualities. Other popular diet aids have been "nata de coco", a colorless, calorie-free jelly made from coconuts, and water pills. The water pill thing got so out of control that at some point there was an epidemic of gout among young Japanese females, and pharmacies quit selling these pills to them.
As for green tea as a diet aid - funny thing, the Japanese don't drink THAT much green tea (except at the office) and not one of them ever told me it was a diet aid. I was told very often by the Japanese, however, that oolong tea was the secret to weight loss. Oolong is a popular diet aid in Japan. Green tea went for a long time unmentioned.
Beer should be listed as a major food group in the standard Japanese diet, considering the level of consumption. Popular dishes are "curry rice" - a football sized pile of rice with curry sauce and little bits of meat; ramen - which is usually high fat and loaded with msg; "pizza toast" - a very thick slice of white bread with pizza sauce and some veggies; "Tonkatsu" or "chicken katsu" - deep fried and breaded (with panko) pork or chicken cutlet; "hamburger steak"; rice omlette - a thin egg omelet loaded with rice and topped with ketchup; spaghetti; and certainly the ubiquitous white rice three times a day. I was told by some school children there that the brown rice I preferred to eat was "for cattle". And if you think Japanese food is all low cal and based on aesthetics, just do an image search on okonomiyaki or "soba sandwich". How about "strawberry sandwich" for that matter?
A major cause of house fires in Japan is the well-used deep fat fryer, a standard article in most kitchens. This is used to deep fry shrimp, "croquettes", oysters, tonkatsu and tempura, among other items.
The Japanese diet changed with modernization and exposure to western culture, but not always in a bad way. Around the late 1800's to early 1900's, the average Japanese lived on little but rice and some pickled vegetables, and perhaps some fish if it could be gotten. Consequently, the life span was apparently not any better than the rest of the world - I once read an old Japanese fairy tale with a picture of two "elderly" people with long flowing white hair, and they were supposed to be in their 40's, according to the story.
Since the Japanese contact with the west, the amount of protein in the diet has gradually increased. This was in part due to agricultural reforms imposed by the US. The increase in protein in the diet over the years has not only lengthened the lifespan of the Japanese, but has made more than a few of the younger people much taller than their elders. So a slightly westernized diet has not been an entirely bad thing.
Still, the average Japanese diet tends to lack protein - the most obvious result is the tendency for Japanese nationals to have leg issues - if you have a chance to hang around Tokyo, you might want to spend some time "leg watching". Bowlegs, crooked legs, pigeon toes, knock knees and other issues with bone structure are very common in Japan, however, they don't seem to be as prominent in China or Korea (where more land animal protein is consumed). It has been stated that a mainstay of protein in the Japanese diet for many years has been natto (fermented soybeans) - not exactly a protein powerhouse.
The Weston Price foundation focuses on various cultural diets and protein and the problems issuing from having too little in the diet - bone structure and bone density being affected most of all.
The main difference in the Japanese diet (as well as the Chinese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese) compared to the American is the absence of the huge amounts of sugar that Americans consume. This really is the secret. Most Asian sweets, no matter if they are traditional or commercially made candy or cookies, have a low sugar content compared to their American counterparts. Asians in general do not have a sweet tooth. Often, they cannot stand the super sweet foods that Americans consume, and therein lies the main difference.
Many in Japan, once they reach middle age, suffer from "middle age spread", the women in particular can start looking square or "chunky". There was a Japanese comic strip called "Obatarian" (rough translation: Aunt-Zillah) which lampooned this type of Japanese middle aged woman. This may simply be due to increasing insulin resistance because of age. Beer drinking and an over consumption of carbohydrates doesn't help much here.
Regarding breast cancer - the one factor the media has (deliberately?) overlooked is that birth control pills have never been legal in Japan - Dr. Lee's book, What Your Doctor Isn't Telling You About Breast Cancer, cites artificial hormones as the culprit behind most breast and prostate cancers.
Also, Japanese don't eat as much soy as the soy industry would like you to believe. The whole soy as health food mess was cooked up based on faulty information - Japanese on the average consume about 2 tbs of soy sauce per day as their main source of soy. They may eat tofu once in a while, though it is considered the "poor man's meat" and has a generally low status. Edamame (boiled soy beans) are usually consumed as a bar snack with copious amounts of beer.
In addition, radioactive iodine is also a culprit in breast and other cancers - the Japanese higher consumption of raw fish and seafood guards against any intrusion by Iodine 131. Seaweed, it has been found, needs certain enzymes to be digestible - these enzymes are usually found in the systems of those who consume raw seafood (i.e. Japanese). So if you've adopted seaweed into your diet, it may not be beneficial without the help of some sashimi to go with it.
If you are worried about breast cancer, you'd probably be better off ditching the bc pills and / or fake estrogen menopause hormones.
The concentration of super-elderly people in Japan tends to center in Okinawa, which has a somewhat different diet - bitter melon being a part of it. Bitter melon keeps blood sugar levels steady, which adds to the longevity factor. The small village in central Japan that had a great deal of active elderly was noted to be a place where people consumed vegetables (grown fresh in their gardens) and did not consume much or any rice.
If you are a major consumer of fast food and have a sugar jones, any diet that emphasizes low sugar, lean protein and fresh vegetables will probably be a major improvement and you will no doubt see an improvement in your health from the change.
This book, however, is riding on the coat tails of the French Women Don't Get Fat diet, which is nothing but another low sugar, low cal option based on more myth. Anyone can get fat on traditional Japanese food - sumo wrestlers eat a traditional, though hefty, Japanese diet - they don't get that way from consuming burgers and twinkies.
As an update to this review - the main success I've had with diets so far has been with The Leptin Diet (not really a "diet"). YouTube has a video titled The Five Rules of the Leptin Diet, if you don't want to spend the time reading "Mastering Leptin".
I had some success on Somersizing, (aka food separation).
One thing Somersizing has in common with the Leptin diet is the spacing of meals - 3x a day, 5 hours lag time before the next meal. This is the standard in most countries. It may be the real reason (outside of lower sugar consumption) why the "French", or "Mediterranean" or "fill-in-the-country" diet works. Timing. This is how we used to eat in the US.
Americans have been lulled into the idea for the past 25 years or so that eating 5x a day will increase metabolism. According to proponents of the Leptin diet, eating that often will result in weight gain.
The following is not meant as medical advice, however this is what is working for me. Check with your medical practitioner / adviser.
1) The InherentHealth site has a genetic test which will show what types of food suit an individual - some people have a problem with carbs and some do not. I am in the former category, according to the test (something I have known based on experience).
The test will also show if one will benefit from high or low intensity exercise (higher in my case). This test was promoted by Dr. Daniel Amen of the Amen Clinics.
I used to go on long walks (8 miles day, 5 days / week, for several months, no result except exhaustion) and once I switched to the advice from the genetic profile (higher intensity exercise, 20 minutes on an elliptical 4x a week at a faster pace than walking) people began to notice, even after one week, that I was losing weight.
Barry Sears, in an essay Understanding the Zone, states: "Not everyone is genetically the same. About 25% of the U.S. population is genetically lucky because they have a low insulin response to carbohydrates. These people will never become fat, and they will always do well on any high-carbohydrate diet whether it be pasta, Snickers, or Twinkies. Unfortunately, the other 75% of the U.S. population aren't so lucky. As they increase the amount of fat-free carbohydrates in their diet, they increase the production of insulin. Next time you look at a bagel, ask yourself do you feel lucky. You have a 25% chance that you might be."
For those that are carb sensitive, I suggest reading "Life Without Bread" - it explains in detail the side effects of over consumption of carbs, including acid reflux.
2) I've had all the classic symptoms of hypothyroid, for years, even though usual tests for it (TSH) came up normal. Check the site StopTheThyroidMadness and its symptom list. I have never felt better since I started taking dessicated thyroid for this problem. Caution: This might not be for everyone, but if it fits your situation based on symptoms, you must consult with a physician before starting on thyroid meds. Get thyroid antibody tests (there are two different ones, get both). I've recently tested positive for Hashimoto's disease, which is the most common thyroid disorder - it's an autoimmune problem.
3) Stay hydrated with spring water.
4) Build muscle. Three times a week at a gym should be enough for most people. If you don't like gyms, or don't have the room for weights, get some resistance bands and a dvd on how to use them. Try the PowerPlate (see the Mercola site for info) if you have issues that make it difficult to lift weights. Some children with Cerebral Palsy have been using PowerPlate machines to build muscle with great results. Get Teresa Tapp's book - she's got a 15 minute workout that seems to work for even the very unfit. In fact, Tapp's is the best workout I've ever tried, and influences blood sugar and hormone balancing in very little time. It gets quick results as well for inch loss.
5) Quit alcohol and drugs if you have an addiction. Those will interfere with everything you're trying to accomplish.
6) Get off the sugar and refined carbs. Avoid "diet" drinks.
7) If you have a thyroid issue, iodine can in some cases make it worse.
I can, however, recommend this book to people with thyroid issues because the dishes tend to be relatively gluten free. As stated before, it does not reflect how Japanese women really eat.
For further "evidence" on eating habits in Asia, you might search for the (somewhat sophmoric) blog post "Hong Kong girls that eat so much but don't get fat" on HongKongMassacre dot com. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
The Reality of the Tokyo Kitchens, April 20, 2006
By Dr Yamaguchi (Yokohama, Japan) This review is from: Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen
In reading the reviews, K.M. Harris and T. Tanaka (Japanese residents) have got it (mostly) right. This is not the reality of the modern Japanese diet, it is a look at traditional dietary habits. I disagree with reviewer Harris that Japanese genetics are the whole story - there is an increase in body fat and weight gain as reported by T. Tanaka and an increase in chronic diseases. These changes are in line with dramatic changes to the Japanese diet in a short period of time so it is indeed quite evident that nutrition can influence genes.
For a more useful overview of the changing Japanese diet and the differences between Western diets and that of Japan, see the excellent new book by Logan - The Brain Diet. This book is based on the realities of the Japanese diet and includes more practical ways to take advantage of the best components of the Japanese diet for health promotion.
All Japanese Women Painted with the Same Brush?, December 27, 2005
By T. Tanaka (Tokyo) This review is from: Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen
Finally had some time to read this book and I must say I was disappointed.
To follow-up on the points made by reviewer "Carol", Japanese women who are in her (Naomi's) age group and younger (20-49) have had an incredible drop in Body Mass Index (BMI) over the last 30 years while men and older Japanese women have seen significant and dangerous increases in BMI - its definately not the 'mini' obesity crisis described by Naomi. The majority of Japan's women, those aged 20-49, are helping to keep the statistics low.
Whats more is that the increased weight among Japanese men and older women is not always captured by the BMI because when weight gain occurs in the Japanese, it tends to accumulate in the abdominal region and not the legs and arms. This is the worst place to gain weight as it is more closely tied to the rapid increases in chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes in Japan. The Japanese waist circumference is increasing rapidly and adults who are not technically even overweight according to the BMI, let alone obese, are showing increased waist circumference. This may become the biggest challenge to Japan's longevity crown.
The decline in the BMI among young and early-middle-age Japanese women is most noticable in metro areas such as Tokyo and appears not to be related at all to Government educational efforts on the risks of obesity. It appears to be related to social pressure.
As stated from the medical journal Obesity Reviews (Yoshiike,et al. Twenty-year changes in the prevalence of overweight in Japanese adults. 2002;3:183-190)
"The desire of young (Japanese) women to be thin and their use of extreme diets which, in some cases, can lead to anorectic eating disorders, may explain the decreasing trends in BMI in younger women. This phenomenon could be much influenced by social circumstances, so it is significant that the most pronounced falls in BMI and the lowest prevalences of overweight occured in young women in the metropolitan areas".
A more recent study by the same researchers shows that drops in BMI are occurring in even young girls age 10-14. (Yoshiike, et al. Trends in childhood obesity in Japan over the last 25 years from the national nutrition survey. Obes Res. 2004 Feb;12(2):205-14)
It appears that the title is somewhat mis-guided. According to the published research on female body weight in Japan, it should be
"Older Japanese Women are Getting Fatter: The Secrets of Social Pressure Thinning Young Tokyo Women"
Sadly, the traditional Japanese diet that Naomi speaks of is going by the wayside, even among older women. Good recipes are provided, however, a more detailed review of the traditional diet with more extensive Japanese/tropical recipes (about 4x more) and readable science can be found in The Okinawa Program by Wilcox.
PS: I own and read already the "Why French Women Don't Get Fat" and I thought can be usefull for you, the one that try to diet!
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