What makes Chinese people so skinny? Is it all due to genes? A more active lifestyle?
In her new book, Why the Chinese Don’t Count Calories, British writer Lorraine Clissold set out to discover what it was that kept the Chinese so skinny when they were eating large, delicious meals, while she and her British and American counterparts were suffering on bland salads and still not managing to lose weight.
Interviewed from her home in North Yorkshire, Clissold’s ultimate answer for the secret to the slim Chinese physique is not surprising: the traditional Chinese diet, supported by a strong cultural background.
Humorous and insightful, the book is a thought-provoking analysis of what makes the Chinese diet work.
Drawing on Clissold’s 10 years in Beijing as a teacher of Chinese cooking and presenter of a cooking program on CCTV, it will likely have many readers re-examining their lifestyles and eating habits.
Although it isn’t your usual dieting book, it also includes tips and recipes for non-Chinese readers so they can incorporate some of the healthier aspects of Chinese diet into their lives. Clissold lays out several ideas for why the Chinese diet is so healthy, ranging from what is actually eaten to attitudes toward food. Vegetables play a much stronger role in Chinese cuisine than in a British or American one. Instead of being relegated to limp supporting roles, vegetables are more likely to be stars of the show, and appreciated on their own with meat used as a flavouring or side dish.
Taking in liquid food also plays an important role. Chinese and Western ideas about soup are extremely different. Western soups are often hearty and sometimes even “a meal in its own right,” but Chinese soups tend to be based on simple broths, providing a liquid element to the meal that is full of nutrients.
“By drinking the liquid in which the vegetables are cooked, Chinese diners ensure that no vitamins are lost during the cooking process,” she says. Clissold also believes that China has a much stronger culture of eating as an enjoyable communal activity, making every meal an occasion.
She says that while she has always been fascinated by food, British attitudes toward food were often based on guilt over how many calories were consumed, and unhealthy cycles of guiltily eating rich meals only to punish herself by having a bland meal afterwards.
-Asia News Network
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