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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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 Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| Captain Corea wrote: |
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| Smithington wrote: |
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| Eat some kimchi, it's healthy. |
Sorry love, but the "kimchi is healthy" line has been beaten to death. It's fine in very small dosages, but heavy in salt. Eaten daily it contributes to Korea's astonishing stomach cancer rate. There are many ways to be unhealthy. Obesity is one. Lining your stomach with kimchi and soju on a daily basis is another. |
Kimchi comes in a lot of different forms. Not all of it is salty and unhealthy. And when I look at the people that eat a lot of Kimchi (Koreans) they tend to be skinny. I see a pattern there. |
They tend to also have high rates of stomach cancer - is that also part of your point? |
I'm willing to bet that the higher stomach cancer rates in Korea, is more due to the alcohol... ehem... soju... not the kimchi. |
Oh, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Kimchi and the like.
Salty food linked to stomach cancer
and this holds true even for overseas Koreans
Now, is Kimchi THE cause of stomach cancer in korea? Who knows. But I can see how it's a contributing factor. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 6:07 pm Post subject: |
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Like I said, umpteen pages ago, it's the effen heat and muggyness that keeps you in your room hoddled up with air con cranked. You get fat from lack of movement. Also, don't want to eat rice and kimchi every meal. No other healthy western options around. These rules apply outside Seoul. In Seoul is a different story, lots of place to walk and large air conditioned places to go inside to get out of the heat. Also, maybe healthier eating options, like subway, etc. (Ok Semi healthy.) You do a lot fo walking around. In the country that is not Seoul, boring as sh!t. Not many places to see and many smaller stores. Some with air con; some without.
Younger Koreans under 30 are more chubby and many are also quite tall. Things are changing here too son. Even if the clothing sold here is made to accomodate little and skinny Koreans and not the younger different sized ones. At any rate, I lost a lot of weight as mentioned. Found air conditioned gyms, ways to exercise in the cooler seasons. Sping sucks because of yellow dust and other junk in the air. Pollen, alergies, etc. Summer stinks cause it's way too hot. But, autumn is great for biking and small mountain hikes. Winter can be good with the right warm clothing for some light hiking or walking.
Guess, my advice is do lots of outdoor activity when the weather is tolerable such as fall and winter. Try to find air conditioned exercise places if you can at other times. Prob easy in Seoul. The provinces are hit and miss on that one. (Mostly miss.)
I won't eat chicken breast every day and flavorless spagetti noodles just to have a 6 pack. Delicious food was made for eating just in moderation. Westerners are bigger because they smoked more before suppressing appetite and now they don't. Bored? Don't smoke; reach for some chips instead. (My opinion.) Also, people don't cook at home as much. I personally eat a mix of instant food (can of soup) and healthier cooked food at home. Sometimes, I eat some healthier Korean food at a local restaurant. Maybe a pizza or burger set every couple of weeks. Small belly, but otherwise fit and lots of stares from K chicks when I go to Seoul. I've slimmed down after gaining here.
So, if you're hefty, don't listen to the smart a$$es on here. But you know people will always razz you if you are. You can either ignore it or slowly do something about it. (Trust me when I say most of us never feel like exercising and often have to force ourselves to go to the gym.) |
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Mr. BlackCat
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 6:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| Smithington wrote: |
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| Eat some kimchi, it's healthy. |
Sorry love, but the "kimchi is healthy" line has been beaten to death. It's fine in very small dosages, but heavy in salt. Eaten daily it contributes to Korea's astonishing stomach cancer rate. There are many ways to be unhealthy. Obesity is one. Lining your stomach with kimchi and soju on a daily basis is another. |
Kimchi comes in a lot of different forms. Not all of it is salty and unhealthy. And when I look at the people that eat a lot of Kimchi (Koreans) they tend to be skinny. I see a pattern there. |
They tend to also have high rates of stomach cancer - is that also part of your point? |
+1
It's interesting that often the people who spout off the most about being 'healthy' and insult others for not meeting their expectations are the ones that have no concept of health to begin with. Skinny=healthy. Yeah right. The US may have higher obesity rates, but they have lower rates in many other health areas. Americans tend to actually know what's good for them, even if they choose not to consume it. In Korea, kimchi is god and Samgyupseol is good for man, no debate. Whoever said here that Koreans research their food either lives in a very small bubble or is talking out of their lower orifice. Well balanced meals? Oh, there are vegetables. Boiled and skinned to the extent of being pointless, the fattiest parts of meat, bleached white rice by the bowlfull and almost no dairy. All doused with excessive amounts of salt. I'm not saying it's all bad, or that the American diet (if there is one) is great. There is good and bad in both, which manifest differently. Americans may be fatter, but they tend to live longer, are able to move a table across the room without passing out and can stay awake for more than 5 hours at a time.
There is also this obsession with trying to live as long as possible, no matter the cost to your quality of life. Sorry, some people don't want to give up some vices now in return for being a senile drain on their family and society for 20, 25, 30 years. |
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T-J
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul EunpyungGu Yeonsinnae
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
| Captain Corea wrote: |
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| Smithington wrote: |
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| Eat some kimchi, it's healthy. |
Sorry love, but the "kimchi is healthy" line has been beaten to death. It's fine in very small dosages, but heavy in salt. Eaten daily it contributes to Korea's astonishing stomach cancer rate. There are many ways to be unhealthy. Obesity is one. Lining your stomach with kimchi and soju on a daily basis is another. |
Kimchi comes in a lot of different forms. Not all of it is salty and unhealthy. And when I look at the people that eat a lot of Kimchi (Koreans) they tend to be skinny. I see a pattern there. |
They tend to also have high rates of stomach cancer - is that also part of your point? |
+1
It's interesting that often the people who spout off the most about being 'healthy' and insult others for not meeting their expectations are the ones that have no concept of health to begin with. Skinny=healthy. Yeah right. The US may have higher obesity rates, but they have lower rates in many other health areas. Americans tend to actually know what's good for them, even if they choose not to consume it. In Korea, kimchi is god and Samgyupseol is good for man, no debate. Whoever said here that Koreans research their food either lives in a very small bubble or is talking out of their lower orifice. Well balanced meals? Oh, there are vegetables. Boiled and skinned to the extent of being pointless, the fattiest parts of meat, bleached white rice by the bowlfull and almost no dairy. All doused with excessive amounts of salt. I'm not saying it's all bad, or that the American diet (if there is one) is great. There is good and bad in both, which manifest differently. Americans may be fatter, but they tend to live longer, are able to move a table across the room without passing out and can stay awake for more than 5 hours at a time.
There is also this obsession with trying to live as long as possible, no matter the cost to your quality of life. Sorry, some people don't want to give up some vices now in return for being a senile drain on their family and society for 20, 25, 30 years. |
That's the second time you've made reference to life expectancy in this thread and the fact is that S. Korea ranks higher in life expectancy than the U.S.
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Seoulman69
Joined: 14 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Americans may be fatter, but they tend to live longer, are able to move a table across the room without passing out and can stay awake for more than 5 hours at a time. |
Now you're trying to make yourself feel better about being a fatty by putting other people down. Koreans live longer than Americans anyway. |
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hiamnotcool
Joined: 06 Feb 2012
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 7:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
| Captain Corea wrote: |
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| Smithington wrote: |
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| Eat some kimchi, it's healthy. |
Sorry love, but the "kimchi is healthy" line has been beaten to death. It's fine in very small dosages, but heavy in salt. Eaten daily it contributes to Korea's astonishing stomach cancer rate. There are many ways to be unhealthy. Obesity is one. Lining your stomach with kimchi and soju on a daily basis is another. |
Kimchi comes in a lot of different forms. Not all of it is salty and unhealthy. And when I look at the people that eat a lot of Kimchi (Koreans) they tend to be skinny. I see a pattern there. |
They tend to also have high rates of stomach cancer - is that also part of your point? |
+1
It's interesting that often the people who spout off the most about being 'healthy' and insult others for not meeting their expectations are the ones that have no concept of health to begin with. Skinny=healthy. Yeah right. The US may have higher obesity rates, but they have lower rates in many other health areas. Americans tend to actually know what's good for them, even if they choose not to consume it. In Korea, kimchi is god and Samgyupseol is good for man, no debate. Whoever said here that Koreans research their food either lives in a very small bubble or is talking out of their lower orifice. Well balanced meals? Oh, there are vegetables. Boiled and skinned to the extent of being pointless, the fattiest parts of meat, bleached white rice by the bowlfull and almost no dairy. All doused with excessive amounts of salt. I'm not saying it's all bad, or that the American diet (if there is one) is great. There is good and bad in both, which manifest differently. Americans may be fatter, but they tend to live longer, are able to move a table across the room without passing out and can stay awake for more than 5 hours at a time.
There is also this obsession with trying to live as long as possible, no matter the cost to your quality of life. Sorry, some people don't want to give up some vices now in return for being a senile drain on their family and society for 20, 25, 30 years. |
I don't think Americans know the first thing about how to eat healthy. Every American thinks they are an expert and they have discovered the perfect diet, but at the end of the day their physique tells a different story. Put 5 of them at a table and ask them what a healthy diet is, then watch them argue for hours.
Stomach Cancer may be a possible side effect but choose your poison. Everything is going to kill you eventually, and when I'm looking at who I would model my diet after I would look toward the people that look more healthy. Just my opinion but I think Korea, and Asia in general has the West beat with their food choice. It's not perfect, but it actually is well researched through time, trial, and error. Not like the USA where it's basically marketing that tells people what is healthy. I see the marketing starting to grab hold in S Korea too though, and at the same time I'm starting to see more unhealthy young Koreans roaming around. At the same time the guys are getting taller and more bulky (or maybe they always were I just wasn't around to see it a while back).
If you get Korean food from the right places it's going to be healthy, if you are getting it from chain restaurants that exist it is probably going to be bogged down with the same mess you find in the USA.
Like I said, not all Kimchi is salty. |
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hiamnotcool
Joined: 06 Feb 2012
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="augustine"]
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| augustine wrote: |
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| augustine wrote: |
| What am I incorrect about? I live in Itaewon, I'm there every day. What are you talking about. And, Jesus, I never said tourists from Alabama, I said poor, uneducated soldiers with fast food restaurants all around them from Dingleberry, Alabama. Learn to read. |
You live in Itaewon? Well that explains the defensiveness.
Dingleberry, Alabama is actually more specific than the entire state of Alabama which makes it less likely you are telling the truth here. I'm having a hard time believing Itaewon is somehow a famous tourist destination for people from Dingleberry, Alabama. What is the population of a city with a name like that anyway? 82? I actually just googled the name and came up with nothing. It sounds like you just made up a city. How can I believe anything else you say at this point? |
"most of the overweight people walking around Itaewon are either tourists or Army people and their families hailing from Dingleberry, Alabama where they grew up poor, uneducated, and surrounded by a million fast food joints."
Yes, I live in Itaewon.
You actually searched for Dingleberry, Alabama on google?  Oh, lord, some people have the humor and imagination of a dingleberry, or at least the reading skills of one. That made my day though, thank you very much, time to go home on that one lol.  |
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| Or they are fat ESL teachers. Rich, educated, ESL teachers that grew up next to organic farms. |
No, most of them are not. I explained this on page one. They are grimy looking military family people OR tourists. You can see the English teachers scurrying back to Anyang or some dump outside of Seoul with their black plastic bags full of Mac 'n Cheese and Dr. Pepper at 11 pm after they finish their crappy hagwon jobs on most nights. I hang out in central Itaewon almost every single day, I do almost all of my privates here, I know a lot of people here, and I feel confident saying that the military families and other random foreigner groups strolling through the streets of Itaewon generally outnumber the amount of teachers most days of the week. Zzypher also lives in the hood and backed up what I said, so your assumptions as someone who does not live here aren't very relevant.
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
| And why wouldn't I google Dingleberry, Alabama? You seem to have some kind of an experience meeting people from this specific place and you corrected me when I simply said Alabama. So excuse me for being thorough here. |
I'd hope there would be a few reason you wouldn't google Dingleberry, Alabama... But you weren't being "thorough", you simply didn't read what I said thoroughly. I also didn't correct you, I just restated what I said the first time, which you failed at understanding a couple times before I had to quote it for you directly.
Listen, I like your posts here and you seem like a good guy. But I also know that you always go at it with that supposedly unaware that he's biased loon SR, so I'm not looking to debate you. What I'm saying, is that I don't think the majority of foreigners who you see in central Itaewon on a day to day basis are English teachers, or especially overweight white girls roaming the streets for buffets.
I only work 4 hours a day so I'm off early, but I play pool and meet friends and go on dates regularly around here, and my contention is that most of the people who hang around here on the weekdays are not English teachers. Helios on a Fri/Sat night is a different story, as I said. There are a good amount, but there are all kinds of crazy random people who hang around Itaewon, and a very large chunk of those people are military people. So many of those people and their families are from Dingleberry, Alabama, Missouri, Florida, or name the state, that was the point. They're mostly uneducated military people from towns you've never heard of, and a lot of them are overweight because Applebee's is a "nice" night out where they're from.
I'm not trying to make excuses, but as I said before, personally, it doesn't bother me. I don't care what other people do with their short term existence on this planet as long as they don't interfere with mine. Fat people don't bother me. Just about all of the Itaewon people I know aren't overweight anyway, most of them are thin boozers who have been here for many years. I won't deny that I see my share of chunky white girls around the way, but I can understand it and I don't look down on them. It's a hard place to live for most foreign females. A decent looking guy with a coveted nose can rake in the skirt here but it's a biological stalemate sentence for most women who choose to come here, so I can understand how it's a difficult situation and they can often become depressed and put on some weight. I generally avoid white girls here because I'm into the local flavor, but I wouldn't get on them about their issues. Live and let live, stop hating on people, if you're getting consistent Asian tang I don't see any reason why one would have to vent any hatred towards the western ladies here. That issue/problem is comfortably taken on by the Nigerian dudes who are living here.  |
Well if that's your experience than that's fine. I'm usually there on weekends so I don't know about the week. I just came to the conclusion the foreigners in Itaewon were there to drink western beer and eat western food, while the foreigners that aren't there are off eating some Korean food. I would attribute the food to the reason I see a lot of overweight people in Itaewon. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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| hiamnotcool wrote: |
Like I said, not all Kimchi is salty. |
I'm curious - have you ever made kimchi? |
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hiamnotcool
Joined: 06 Feb 2012
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
Like I said, not all Kimchi is salty. |
I'm curious - have you ever made kimchi? |
No.
That being said, I believe salt is used in the fermentation process but regardless of that, the level of salt varies. There are also tons of different types of Kimchi. If you are buying Kimchi and you aren't checking the brand, or you are getting it at a chain restaurant it probably isn't that healthy.
Anyway, just look at all the Korean people around you, sorry but they are generally more healthy than Americans. They age better too (not just because of going under the knife). Have fun trying to convince me the 50 yr old Korean that is out hiking around the mountains all day doesn't know how to live healthy and is an idiot because he eats kimchi all the time.
Recently the Korean food has become mass produced and it is starting to become more unhealthy, but there is some consumer reaction to this. I don't see it lasting that long here because -in my opinion- Koreans generally use more common sense when they choose what they are going to eat. Except for the girls that starve themselves instead of exercising, that is just stupid. |
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Mr. BlackCat
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 9:22 pm Post subject: |
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| T-J wrote: |
That's the second time you've made reference to life expectancy in this thread and the fact is that S. Korea ranks higher in life expectancy than the U.S.
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You're right. I was thinking about Canada, since I'm Canadian. So, what does that say? Canada is healthier than Korea because they eat so much differently than the US?
| hiamnotcool wrote: |
I don't think Americans know the first thing about how to eat healthy. Every American thinks they are an expert and they have discovered the perfect diet, but at the end of the day their physique tells a different story. Put 5 of them at a table and ask them what a healthy diet is, then watch them argue for hours.
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So people disagreeing about what is healthy is better than a whole society that believes certain things without question? I'm sure if you rounded up 5 random Koreans they'd all agree that boshintag is good for the male organ and that fans kill people in their sleep. Doesn't make it true or helpful.
In any event, you take those 5 Americans and I will put money on none of them saying a Big Mac is good for you. Only idiots (I'm sure we'll now all hear of a friend of a friend's cousin's uncle's housesitter who said it was healthy) believe that. Ask those 5 Koreans if Samgyupseol is good for you and I'll bet that at least 1 or 2 say it is. Bibimbap is consistently pushed by Koreans and foreigners alike as being healthy when in reality studies have shown in most places it has more sodium than a meal at McD's. Hey, your heart will fail and you'll pass out from high blood pressure, but you'll have a tight ass which is 'healthy'...apparently.
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Stomach Cancer may be a possible side effect but choose your poison.
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Exactly. So why do you condemn people who eat one thing that's unhealthy and not another? Not only that, but then claim that one is healthy when it clearly isn't. You're picking on one diet while willfully brushing aside the equally dangerous consequences of the other.
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Everything is going to kill you eventually, and when I'm looking at who I would model my diet after I would look toward the people that look more healthy.
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Yes, but what you consider to look healthy can be flawed. A model who smokes 3 packs a day, eats pills for meals and barely moves all day may look good, for a while anyway, but is it healthy? If you believe thin=healthy then science just doesn't back you up. The desire for a slim build is a very recent development, it's not some sort of universal truth.
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Just my opinion but I think Korea, and Asia in general has the West beat with their food choice.
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I'm confused by your terms. So a Chinese diet is better than a Greek one?
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It's not perfect, but it actually is well researched through time, trial, and error. Not like the USA where it's basically marketing that tells people what is healthy. I see the marketing starting to grab hold in S Korea too though, and at the same time I'm starting to see more unhealthy young Koreans roaming around. At the same time the guys are getting taller and more bulky (or maybe they always were I just wasn't around to see it a while back).
If you get Korean food from the right places it's going to be healthy, if you are getting it from chain restaurants that exist it is probably going to be bogged down with the same mess you find in the USA.
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Korean food is mostly from their recent peasant past (nothing wrong with that). It consists of the worst cuts of meat, mostly fatty and bony, with fermented vegetables and easily accessible grains. That's "highly researched"? I agree that food in the US is heavily marketed, but again no one rational believes a meal at Taco Bell is healthier than a nice meal cooked at home, or that Lucky Charms is a healthy breakfast.
If you get Western food at the right places, it's going to be healthy. What a lot of people here do is compare fresh home made bibimbap to a Big Mac and declare Korean cuisine superior. Maybe there are more unhealthy people in the US per capita, but I'd wager that there are also more objectively healthy people there, too. What you and others here are doing are taking an extreme to compare to Koreans.
If you prefer the Korean diet to the American (whatever that means...it's hard to compare such a homogeneous society to such a diverse one) then that's fine. I'm just saying that's not the only answer.
| Seoulman69 wrote: |
Now you're trying to make yourself feel better about being a fatty by putting other people down. |
Oh good, name calling. I was wondering when that would show up. Anyway, I don't see how what I said is any more insulting than what you guys have been saying this whole thread about Americans or foreigners in general. But I guess I should have realized that saying the Korean diet makes you sleepy due to the high carb content and gives you high blood pressure due to high sodium content is the same as calling everyone 'fatty' and suggesting all Americans are pigs. |
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T-J
Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul EunpyungGu Yeonsinnae
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
| T-J wrote: |
That's the second time you've made reference to life expectancy in this thread and the fact is that S. Korea ranks higher in life expectancy than the U.S.
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You're right. I was thinking about Canada, since I'm Canadian. So, what does that say? Canada is healthier than Korea because they eat so much differently than the US?
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Obviously not but I'm not the one who brought up life expectancy as a measure, you are.
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nicwr2002
Joined: 17 Aug 2011
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Well, if we are going to look at life expectancy rates as a model for eating healthy, then I'm going with the Japanese diet. They rank number one while Korean is ranked number 17th according to wiki. Eat whatever you want in correct portions, do some exercise and you're golden. Just don't sit around eating pizza and chocolate while watching TV all day every day and you won't have a problem. |
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transmogrifier
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Yay, another diet debate! It's been a good week since I last had a bunch of pseudo experts wax lyrical about how the food they like to eat is better than the food that some other person likes to et. |
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markness
Joined: 02 Jan 2013
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 10:32 pm Post subject: |
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| transmogrifier wrote: |
| Yay, another diet debate! It's been a good week since I last had a bunch of pseudo experts wax lyrical about how the food they like to eat is better than the food that some other person likes to et. |
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hiamnotcool
Joined: 06 Feb 2012
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| Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
If you prefer the Korean diet to the American (whatever that means...it's hard to compare such a homogeneous society to such a diverse one) then that's fine. I'm just saying that's not the only answer.
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I prefer it so that's why I eat it, and I agree it's hard to compare the two.
I'm taking the American diet to the extreme the same way other posters are taking the Korean diet to the extreme. The salt content of products has been taken into account recently and it's not like the society is in denial of the problem. The people here aren't eating sam gyeop sal or bibimbap everyday. And the salt level in those meals can vary, it's not all the same unhealthy mess.
I'm no expert but at the end of the day I can just look at the people here and see they are leading a more healthy lifestyle when it comes to their eating habits. The poster that said this is due to portion size is right in my opinion. Yeah there are some unhealthy meals here, but they are spaced out and the portions are usually balanced. |
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