Did you know that Japanese are among the nationalities with relatively longer life spans? And, believe it or not, most scientists attribute this to their diet. True, Japanese cuisine is more than just its taste. People around the globe are also after traditional Japanese food because of their nutritive value. So why exactly are they healthier? Here are the reasons why.
- The ingredients used in making the dishes are generally healthy. Locally grown vegetables for example have high vitamin and fiber content. Seafoods on the other hand are considered to be better alternatives for pork and beef because they contain lesser saturated fat.
- Most Japanese prefer eating their seafood raw. This idea may be quite repulsive to some but this is what makes traditional Japanese food more nutritious than their cooked counterparts. Why? Because processing and cooking actually decreases the nutritive value of food. So when you eat something raw, you can be sure that you are taking in the most vitamins and minerals that it can offer.
- Japanese food have lesser calories and fat content. In comparison, a traditional homemade burger would have 560 – 650 calories. On the other hand, a Japanese Futo – Maki only has 70 calories per piece. If a person consumes 4 pieces of Futo – Maki for lunch, that would just be 280 calories. If you are going to look at it, that’s merely half of the calories you get in a burger!
In terms of fat content, a burger has approximately 22 grams of fat per serving where a Futo – Maki only has 1 gram. Quite a difference right? This is also the reason why you would rarely see an overweight Japanese. So if losing weight has always been your problem, those delicious traditional Japanese food may just be the solution that you are looking for.