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JR8
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Re: Thanks...

Post by JR8 » Wed, 08 Oct 2014 10:31 pm

Brah wrote:
JR8 wrote:You don't see many rotund Asians but then they have less fat in their typical diet
I can't agree with this one - but like you I am a product of having lived elsewhere.

The food here is more oily and fatty that I am accustomed to in the US and Japan, and the amount of rotund people here vs. Japan is remarkably high. I'd say the same of Korea.
Not sure where you are. On a day to day basis in Central SG I see no people I'd gauge as even borderline obese. Ah but, Indians and all the ghee might lead to an exception...

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Re: Thanks...

Post by Brah » Wed, 08 Oct 2014 10:50 pm

JR8 wrote:
Brah wrote:
JR8 wrote:You don't see many rotund Asians but then they have less fat in their typical diet
I can't agree with this one - but like you I am a product of having lived elsewhere.

The food here is more oily and fatty that I am accustomed to in the US and Japan, and the amount of rotund people here vs. Japan is remarkably high. I'd say the same of Korea.
Not sure where you are. On a day to day basis in Central SG I see no people I'd gauge as even borderline obese. Ah but, Indians and all the ghee might lead to an exception...
I'm primarily talking about people of Chinese descent in Singapore.

Again, I'm spoiled by my time in Japan, where there are few overweight people, but they are quite the exception. Here it is commonplace.

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Re: Thanks...

Post by ktw1990 » Wed, 08 Oct 2014 11:36 pm

Brah wrote:
JR8 wrote:You don't see many rotund Asians but then they have less fat in their typical diet
I can't agree with this one - but like you I am a product of having lived elsewhere.

The food here is more oily and fatty that I am accustomed to in the US and Japan, and the amount of rotund people here vs. Japan is remarkably high. I'd say the same of Korea.
But generally speaking, the portion of the food served in US is bigger than that in SG, so wouldn't that cancel out the higher amount of fatty acid in the SG food?... Actually I'm not sure if it works that way, but well.

I'd say you won't see much fat in the fashionable Singaporean youngster walking around in the central, but usually there are more rotund ones in the older generation -- the 'uncles' and 'aunties'.

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Post by Brah » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 12:06 am

Stereotypically speaking, maybe, I find local food to be quite greasy and fatty. Not all Americans eat crap or are fat despite the truths behind the stereotype.

I see all ages of quite overweight local people, of course not all, but go to Korea, come back, and it jumps right out at you.

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Post by Wd40 » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 12:16 am

Regarding food with high fat, just read this article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/0 ... 50174.html

Well, if I could live for 78 years inspite of all that fatty and junk food, then I don't mind it at all :)

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Re: Thanks...

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 12:19 am

ktw1990 wrote:
Brah wrote:
JR8 wrote:You don't see many rotund Asians but then they have less fat in their typical diet
I can't agree with this one - but like you I am a product of having lived elsewhere.

The food here is more oily and fatty that I am accustomed to in the US and Japan, and the amount of rotund people here vs. Japan is remarkably high. I'd say the same of Korea.
But generally speaking, the portion of the food served in US is bigger than that in SG, so wouldn't that cancel out the higher amount of fatty acid in the SG food?... Actually I'm not sure if it works that way, but well.

I'd say you won't see much fat in the fashionable Singaporean youngster walking around in the central, but usually there are more rotund ones in the older generation -- the 'uncles' and 'aunties'.
ktw1990, as one who has done a bit of research here on the subject of weight gain/loss (I lost 25 kg 6 years ago dropping from 94kg to 69 kg, my military discharge weight in 1968), the one startling thing I've learned is about body fat. Not necessarily big and round. Asians, especially girls/women here (and to some extent the guys although reservist duties tends to keep theirs down somewhat) have high levels of internal body fat (inside, around the organs. They look slender but have very little muscle tone and are quite soft. Looks are deceiving here.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by earthfriendly » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 12:52 am

The food in Chinese restaurant is quite greasy. Saute dishes need enough oil so it does not stick to the wok. I took cooking class in Thailand where they used 4-5 times more oil than I normally would at home. The high-butane-with-good-amount-of-oil stir fry method gives a nice smoky flavor, including unpalettable items like vegetables :P . So nowadays I do use quite a generous amount. However the trick is for the final product to not look or taste greasy.

I have lost a few pounds eating food I cook this way :o . Maybe there are some other factors too.

It is not uncommon to make non-greasy Chinese dishes at home e.g. porridge eaten with wide assortment of little hors doeuvre and side dishes, tonic herbal soup, low fat / sugar content dessert with nuts and dried goods, steaming of fish, vegetable and meat and the ubiquitoes soy-based simmering of hard boil eggs and meat. However, these are not hot sellers in a restaurant setting.


As for animal fat like ghee or lard, I am not sure if they are really that unhealthy as modern day healthnuts would like to believe. I mean the flavor is so robust that I end up consuming less. And not to mention, it is so good for my soul :P .

Korean food is quite healthy and non-greasy, unless you are bothered by the fattiness of the meat cut they use in the bbq. However, taste wise, it is not the easiest to like for those unused to this type of cuisine.

http://www.weedemandreap.com/top-reasons-eating-lard/

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Re: Thanks...

Post by ktw1990 » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 3:33 am

sundaymorningstaple wrote: Asians, especially girls/women here (and to some extent the guys although reservist duties tends to keep theirs down somewhat) have high levels of internal body fat (inside, around the organs. They look slender but have very little muscle tone and are quite soft. Looks are deceiving here.
Interesting. The internet told me that a pound of fat occupies less space than a pound of muscle. So that explains why Asian women are usually more petite. And that also means if an Asian woman and a Caucasian woman are of the same size, the Asian woman will be the heavier one. Hmm...

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Re: Thanks...

Post by x9200 » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 5:14 am

JR8 wrote:
Brah wrote:
JR8 wrote:You don't see many rotund Asians but then they have less fat in their typical diet
I can't agree with this one - but like you I am a product of having lived elsewhere.

The food here is more oily and fatty that I am accustomed to in the US and Japan, and the amount of rotund people here vs. Japan is remarkably high. I'd say the same of Korea.
Not sure where you are. On a day to day basis in Central SG I see no people I'd gauge as even borderline obese. Ah but, Indians and all the ghee might lead to an exception...
Many Asians are obese even if they not appear so.

On the basis of the available data in Asia, the WHO expert consultation concluded that Asians generally have a higher percentage of body fat than white people of the same age, sex, and BMI. Also, the proportion of Asian people with risk factors for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease is substantial even below the existing WHO BMI cut-off point of 25 kg/m2. Thus, current WHO cut-off points do not provide an adequate basis for taking action on risks related to overweight and obesity in many populations in Asia.
http://www.who.int/nutrition/publicatio ... tegies.pdf

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Post by earthfriendly » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 6:25 am

It is easier for Caucasian to gain muscle tone then it is for Asian.

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Post by the lynx » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 9:19 am

1. Diet in this part of the world is high on carbs. People here eat white rice and noodles and vermicelli three square meals a day. Yes, people get fat but normally toward mid-age and higher. Unless you stop burning them earlier.

2. Oil and MSG, yes. Like earthfriendly has mentioned, people here use oil a lot to prevent food from sticking to the wok when stir-frying. And they use lard in food deemed "high grade". Soups, noodles, rice, stir-fry, steamed, etc. Like how people here say that "it ain't good till pork lard swims".

3. South, East and South East Asians tend to have higher body fat percentage compared to Caucasians or other groups of people of the same weight and height. That pretty and petite Chinese girl may be candy in your eyes but she is zero muscle and 50% fat.

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Re: Thanks...

Post by JR8 » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 10:44 am

ktw1990 wrote:Interesting. The internet told me that a pound of fat occupies less space than a pound of muscle. So that explains why Asian women are usually more petite. And that also means if an Asian woman and a Caucasian woman are of the same size, the Asian woman will be the heavier one. Hmm...
Well the internet told you wrong, 180 degrees wrong.
---


'1. The density of mammalian skeletal muscle is 1.06 g/ml.

"... 1.06 g/cm-3 which is the density of mammalian skeletal muscle"
Source for quote: The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological
Sciences and Medical Sciences 56:B191-B197 (2001)
Specific Force Deficit in Skeletal Muscles of Old Rats Is Partially
Explained by the Existence of Denervated Muscle Fibers
Melanie G. Urbancheka, Elisa B. Pickenb, Loree K. Kalliainenc and
William M. Kuzon, Jr.a,d
http://biomed.gerontologyjournals.org/c ... 5/B191#R23

2. The density of adipose tissue (fat) is about 0.9 g/ml

"...by multiplying the density of adipose tissue (0.9196 g/ml)"
Source: Association of adiponectin and resistin with adipose tissue
compartments, insulin resistance and dyslipidaemia
M. S. Farvid1, T. W. K. Ng2, D. C. Chan2, P. H. R. Barrett2 and G. F. Watts2*
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/ab ... 04.00410.x
-----------

Image
http://keleefitness.com/does-muscle-wei ... -than-fat/

---------------------------------------------------------------
earthfriendly wrote:It is easier for Caucasian to gain muscle tone then it is for Asian.
Taking exercise does not seem to be part of the Asian culture (IME), and you can't get 'muscle tone' without it.

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Post by bgd » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 11:26 am

Watched a programme recently that was suggesting sugar rather than fat might be the cause of a lot of obesity in the west. It was certainly interesting to see how much sugar is in products, especially low fat items. Generally sugar replaces the fat.

Any opinions? Have we been looking at the wrong culprit all these years?

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 12:18 pm

It's pretty well know that the traditional food pyramid was wrong because of the huge grain lobby in the US. Carbs should occupy the smallest portion of the daily diet. But it currently is the largest. And what are carbs? The four white killer starches. Bread, Pasta, Rice & Potatoes. And when the body breaks them down? Sugar, Sugar, Sugar & Sugar. No bloody wonder people have weight issues. Carbing up is only good if you are about to embark on an extremely arduous physical activity where you will burn off all the starches/sugars instead of allowing it to go to waste (waist).
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by Wd40 » Thu, 09 Oct 2014 12:26 pm

I agree, carbs were great in the good old days when people used to work in the farms. You needed that instant energy that carbs gave, to toil hard. In the present day desk jobs, we dont need so much of carbs.

But I think South East Asian and Chinese cuisine is still better off, you have decent portion of chicken. Indian cuisuine is the worst. I am now diversifying away to salads, sandwitches etc.

Also bread is not that bad compared to rice. Rice is the worst.

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