My Asian NT'ers: I Have Some Questions. re: Health/Nutrition

[DCAllAfrican]

If I come off as ignorant I apologize, I don't mean ANY type of disrespect. Just trying to learn

1. I know a lot of you consume a lot of white rice; has the influence of the Western Nutrition (anything white is bad for you) stopped you from consuming asmuch rice as you did before.

2. What are some of your remedies for common health problems? Common colds, flu, arthritis, etc that would differ from what we practice/preach here on the"West side"

3. How health conscious are your respective countries? Have they been doing anything to try to fight the influx of all of that filthy western food that hasleaked into your societies in the past 15 years?

 

[andrew630]

I'm a Chinese American and here is my own personal take on your three questions.

1.) Rice in our culture is very necessary, because it is one of those crops that fed billions of people. Without white rice, we would just have super greasyfood with nothing to tone down the wonderful flavors. Just because Western civilization does not cook white rice all the time does not mean it is bad for you.Rice (and noodles) are a very important part in the Chinese diet. Rice (and noodles) are equivalent to potato (and pasta) in the Western diet. I ate ricealmost everyday ever since I was three, and nothing is going to stop me now.

2.) For me, I still take your typical Nyquil, Aspirin, Advil etc. When I was younger and I spent more time with more grandparents, they would take me tocertain Chinese medicinal shops to get my palm read. It was amazing because I just show them my palm and they knew everything that was wrong about me (I'msure they have a general sense of what is wrong with me, but it was pretty amazing). Then they prescribe these ingredients that you have to boil together inwater and we drink it. It is nasty, it is so bitter, I hated it, but that is Chinese culture for you.

3.) Health conscious, China? I mean, they aren't oblivious about it, but they just enjoy food.

 

[rightguard]

we will not let you in our asian secrets your questions sound like a school report

 

[a couple grand]

@ that avy^

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Not a school report, just for personal knowledge man.

 

[rightguard]

im joking man ginseng is a big remedy

 

[yeahitsrust]

In regards to the second question:

Im filipino/white and when ever I was sick, my mom made me drink rice water. Didnt taste too bad but the texture of it always made me throw up. Perhaps thatswhy it made me feel better? lol.

 

[acidicality]

Originally Posted by DCAllAmerican

If I come off as ignorant I apologize, I don't mean ANY type of disrespect. Just trying to learn

1. I know a lot of you consume a lot of white rice; has the influence of the Western Nutrition (anything white is bad for you) stopped you from consuming as much rice as you did before.

2. What are some of your remedies for common health problems? Common colds, flu, arthritis, etc that would differ from what we practice/preach here on the "West side"

3. How health conscious are your respective countries? Have they been doing anything to try to fight the influx of all of that filthy western food that has leaked into your societies in the past 15 years?

1) I know most people eat white rice, but my mom is super health-conscious and whenever we're eating at home we eat purple-rice. I don't knowwhat it's called but it's supposed to be healthy. Sometimes brown rice too.

2) Yeah, back when I was younger my mom never gave me NyQuil and stuff like that. My mom just gave me a lot of hot tea, chinese cough syrup (pi pa gao toMandarin folks), and other stuff like Zinc/Elderberry.

 

[alltra]

1. i have actually toned down the amount of rice and noodle i have been eating since college. i dont eat it as much as i did as a kid. we used to own arestaurant so id eat it practically everyday, but it really just depends on your parents. I know some parents that have integrated themselves into westerncivilization, and eat rice every now and then. While in college i have actually have cravings for rice, and make my own. its just how i grew up man.

2. typical western medicine, with other aspects. I am a 1st gen chinese american, that emigrated from vietnam during the war. I have learned that most of thesepeople have adopted both chinese and vietnamese medicine practices. I would say that besides the obvious of western med like asprin and tylenol, I have hadquarter scratches on my back, if anyone knows what that is, with oil, when sick. I have also had the suction cups on your back, and have drank salted water torelieve sick like symptoms. I think they work for the most part, especially at relieving your symptoms initially.

3. Im not really sure as I have yet to travel to either vietnam or china, so i have no real opinion

 

[imperialh8]

Honestly I grew up eating a lot of vegetables.

In my diet growing up, We had one plate of protein, rice and the rest is vegetables. I would say 70% is greens.

I hated it growing up but now I'm so glad I'm accustomed to it.

It helps with digesting and blood pressure and cholesterol.

 

[paul is on tilt]

I'm Filipino American and my parents always cooked white rice since I was young. Now that me and my brothers have grown up, we ask if she could make a fewdishes not of the Filipino culture. We ask my mom to make fettuccine alfredo or BBQ spare ribs or chicken pot pie and stuff like that. I mean, we still eat ourtraditional Filipino dishes like palabok and pancit, so we haven't totally "westernized" ourselves... more like integrated western dishes intoour diet. And rice will always be a big part of my diet.

As far as your second question goes, my parents buy Tylenol, NyQuil, Pepto Bismol, and stuff like that. My grandma, however, uses some Chinese ointment(she's not Chinese but ehh... that's what she uses for headaches and stuff).

 

[ninongbrown]

1) rice, the need for it is ingrained in out DNA, this white food is bad propaganda is **** to us, we eat rice 24/7, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

2) i'm filipino, so traditional remedies for us aren't the same for other asian cultures. us filipinos love catholicism, holy water goes a long way.massages are a biggie from what i remember. fortune tellers get play too. superstitious remedies are sometimes believed in. i remember my mom got sick for somereason back in the day, and my grandma took her to some fortune teller lady, she told my mom that she got sick because she poured water onto the dirt withoutasking permission from the gnomes/spirit (this is a long story, basically if you need to throw water or take a piss on some dirt, you ask permission first).later on she also got her fortune told that she would bring her whole fam to america, and lo and behold here i am. i know my grandfather drinks the water afterboiling corn for health reasons

3) philippines, health conscious?

our people is about having a goodtime and eating good. filipinos hate doctors. fear of our health comes last compared to our fear of ghosts

.

 

[superflyinchopstickninja]

chinese/japanese american
1. pretty much eat rice every day. even when eating an "americanized" meals theres still some rice in there. besides when i had dorm life, i cantremember the last home cooked dinner i had without rice in it.
2. TIGER BALM! tiger balm is used to help reduce pains. its some potent smelling rub that smells like... spicy dooky

. of course i still use the westernmedicine like tylenol and get vaccinations like anyone else you know. come to think of it... tiger balm is probably the only thing that i've ever used thatisnt "western" medicine.
3. not really sure about this one. i've been to japan and the air quality is terrible there. they ARE pretty conservative with their water and whatnotthough and keep their streets extremely clean. china, well i've never been to china but my mom has and she said it's really dirty.

 

[the north west]

well i am asian and i hate rice

i mainly eat cornbread, burritos, fried chicken and spearmint gum

 

[w0odtactics]

Originally Posted by yeahitsRUST

In regards to the second question:

Im filipino/white and when ever I was sick, my mom made me drink rice water. Didnt taste too bad but the texture of it always made me throw up. Perhaps thats why it made me feel better? lol.

Im filipino and i never heard of that one. its sounds crazy enough to work might try it next time i get sick but what kind of sickness and elaborate onrice water. Did it work???
1. I eat rice almost every day and asains eat rice b/c its cheap and abundant which fills you up for the most part.
2. I take that otc stuff that like tylenol advil etc.
3. I highly doubt that the philippines is health conscious we eat spam and all that other not so healthy foods.

 

[krazy]

I don't take medicine at all... you sure Asians get sick?

 

[dont be a menace]

Originally Posted by NinongBrown

1) rice, the need for it is ingrained in out DNA, this white food is bad propaganda is **** to us, we eat rice 24/7, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

2) i'm filipino, so traditional remedies for us aren't the same for other asian cultures. us filipinos love catholicism, holy water goes a long way. massages are a biggie from what i remember. fortune tellers get play too. superstitious remedies are sometimes believed in. i remember my mom got sick for some reason back in the day, and my grandma took her to some fortune teller lady, she told my mom that she got sick because she poured water onto the dirt without asking permission from the gnomes/spirit (this is a long story, basically if you need to throw water or take a piss on some dirt, you ask permission first). later on she also got her fortune told that she would bring her whole fam to america, and lo and behold here i am. i know my grandfather drinks the water after boiling corn for health reasons

3) philippines, health conscious?

our people is about having a good time and eating good. filipinos hate doctors. fear of our health comes last compared to our fear of ghosts

.

tabi tabi po.. man i always say that when i take shortcuts at likea grassy lot or something.

but back to the topic.
since i came here from the Philippines to the US in '01 everything was new to me. I thought everyone ate rice and had a spoon and fork handy but thatwasn't the case. I still have no idea how people can eat rice without a spoon, seriously who'd eat it with a fork? I'd pretty much each anythingwith rice. rice + ulam =

without rice, it just doesn't feel like acomplete meal. so I don't think we've been Westernized since we consider American food to be snacks like burgers, hotdogs, etc. And probably the onlything to stop us from eating white rice would be the prices. One of my friends family switched to brown rice not cause it's healthy but cause they're abunch of cheap _es but they're telling everyone that they switched cause they wanted to eat healthier

and pretty much the only thing I switched is from white bread to wheat bread.

as far as remedies.. well my family is like in the main city of the Philippines and not the countryside so we use medicine. only remedy I know is for a sorethroat and we just gargle with pretty much warm salt water.

and the Philippines isn't exactly health conscious when it comes to food. street food in the Philippines is

. pretty much their only concern now is the price of the rice.

 

[jbv1]

In reply to your questions:

(Filipino-Canadian, btw)

1) Rice is a comfort food & a necessary staple when you have family over or are hosting an event - try having a party & telling your family there willbe no rice - they will think you are the village idiot - don't matter as Asian families bring ice cookers to picnics

It is as common as bread in most cases; for some dishes it just works better & brings it all together better than any other grain could.
Myself I usually try to take it easy on the rice & just veg. up more on the plate or eat more fruit to compensate - I've branched out & triedincorporating more pasta, whole grains, brown/wild rice, quinoa, hummus, sushi, etc. into the weekly meals with the wife to take away from the high glycemicrice dishes. Basically it is a matter of individual preference but I do know that when my Dad developed diabetes he cut back on the rice intake & his bloodsuger levels got better - I think I've got to take the same route to avoid developing it.
Nonetheless, I will continue to eat rice as a staple; still have memories waking up with my Dad getting home from the night shift eating white rice with milkfor breakfast - before you laugh go check your "Rice Krispies" & see what they are made with.

2) In terms of homeopathic medicine I've only experimented here & there - I usually rely on standard OTC North American treatments, such as Advil ,Tylenol, etc. If anything when I feel I am coming down with a bad cold or something I take some fresh lemon juice & fresh garlic & that really helps.Never got into the whole ginseng thing (IMO it tastes horrible) In terms of balms & such I used to use Tiger Balm (the old plaster kind) & they seemedto work on the same method as A-535 & Ben-Gay, etc. My mom used to rub fresh garlic on my face to clear up blemishes & guess what? They went away; gofigure. The guy who posted drinking water after vegetables have been boiled in it (corn?) is on to something - my Dad does that since the vitamins are now inthe water since they got boiled mostly out - get it?

3) I'm worried, to be honest. Filipino food, back home or anywhere for that matter in general tends to be on the fuller, greasier side than most otherAsian cuisine - when I went & visited family in Sacramento I hit up the OG first Jollibee location (chalk that up as visiting a shrine lol) I knew when Iwalked in there there wasn't going to be anything "light" or "calorie-reduced" on the menu.

Not sure how they do it back in the PI but undoubtedly the food is tasty - guess the best is moderation (longanisa FTW)

In retrospect, growing up I used to be made fun of as a fat little kid but I look around now & most dudes & young ones are my size...
Combine that with genetic predisposition, high fructose corn syrup, cheap food & BAM you have new health problems when kids latch onto Western fastfood....

Good luck with your research

 

[theabove]

I'm Filipino-Cdn.

Most of the above is correct, but man...

VICKS VAPOUR RUB FTW!

 

[dirtylicious]

 

[xxxnillionairexxx]

Originally Posted by Dirtylicious

I hate the smell of this it's so strong, you use this and you'll smell like it for months afterwards. My mom is Jamaican and thinks this is theremedy to every ache and pain. When I have a cold she tells me to rub tiger balm on my chest like it's Vicks or something...it works tho, the smell is just

 

[fc1114]

I'm asian and I cut back on rice, I only have rice about three or four times a week.

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Originally Posted by NinongBrown

remember my mom got sick for some reason back in the day, and my grandma took her to some fortune teller lady, she told my mom that she got sick because she poured water onto the dirt without asking permission from the gnomes/spirit (this is a long story, basically if you need to throw water or take a piss on some dirt, you ask permission first).

So yall really believe in gnomes

 

[DCAllAfrican]

still have no idea how people can eat rice without a spoon, seriously who'd eat it with a fork?
I swear I hate that foolishness man. Why NOT use a spoon

 

[rsdplaya]

Originally Posted by yeahitsRUST

In regards to the second question:

Im filipino/white and when ever I was sick, my mom made me drink rice water. Didnt taste too bad but the texture of it always made me throw up. Perhaps thats why it made me feel better? lol.

hey, as long as it worked!