Healthy Eating

[AlanHo]

Excerpt from this mornings newspaper..................

Eating mandarins may cut the risk of developing liver cancer and other diseases, research suggests.

Japanese scientists found the key were vitamin A compounds called carotenoids.

One study found eating mandarins cut the risk of liver disease, hardened arteries and insulin resistance.

And a second found mandarins cut the risk of patients with chronic viral hepatitis developing liver cancer.

Ed Yong, of the charity Cancer Research UK, welcomed the research but said the sample size needed to be larger. He said: "With only 75 people, this study is far too small to tell us anything conclusive about the links between mandarins and liver cancer. Smoking and cirrhosis of the liver, caused by excessive alcohol consumption, are more likely to affect your risk of liver cancer.

Unquote

Comment

I would imagine that Chinese officials are now looking over their shoulders. The article gives no suggestions on how to cook them - presumably a standard stir fry with soy sauce. Gives a new slant to the term "Going for a Chinese"

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Well, I will try it and have a mikan with my bottle of wine tonight. I will inform you of the result tomorrow.

[andsome]

Are Cantonese also edible? :D

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

Drinking green tea with your mikan may even increase its health benefits; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5334836.stm

[-pops-]

Pat, it is suggested that the Japanese diet also contributes a lot to the general good health of the Japanese but is it really true that the invasion of the American rubbish food industry (burgers, cola, and slightly upmarket beef steak etc., etc.) is gaining a big hold in Japan, especially with the young who, like here in the UK, seem to want to embrace everything American?

(Perhaps I should qualify the above and say that not all of the American diet is rubbish - just that exported/franchised by the rubbish food industry - the burger and cola manufacturers. I have greatly enjoyed almost all of the food I have eaten when in the USA and I've never eaten a commercial burger or drunk cola anywhere in the world).

[andsome]

The Japanese have the lowest incidence of heart disease in the world, due it is thought to the amount of fish that they eat. It is also true that they have the highest incidence of stomach cancer in the world, possibly due to the fact that much of this fish is eaten raw. I love fish, but it has to be fully cooked before I will eat it. Raw fish has been found to case at times all sorts of parasitic infestation in the stomach, including worms.

One example of problems with eating raw fish

[AlanHo]

Oxford Compact English Dictionary

Mandarin n A Chinese official. A person of importance, esp. a government official (from Sanskrit mantrin 'counsellor')

[Thos]

Oxford Compact English Dictionary

Mandarin n A Chinese official. A person of importance, esp. a government official (from Sanskrit mantrin 'counsellor')

It had struck me, AlanHo , what your point was. But what is a "mikan" which Pat had with his bottle of wine the other night?

I am afraid that Japanese food, at least as sold and served in this country, does not appeal to me. Unlike pops, and some others though, I do enjoy an occasional hamburgher and McDonalds is my favourite. It is a while since I had one as my wife is a vegetarian and I am usually with her when I go out. I recall the first ones opening in the UK, and, frankly, it was heavenly to go from work at lunch time to McDonalds in the Haymarket and have a quarter-pounder with cheese. I wouldn't want to live on them and I am sorry to go against current trends but the fact that they are enjoyable is one of the reasons for their success.

Thos.

[-pops-]

Is mikan Japanese for a Mandarin orange?

Just found this click here.

[andsome]

Oxford Compact English Dictionary

Mandarin n A Chinese official. A person of importance, esp. a government official (from Sanskrit mantrin 'counsellor')

It had struck me, AlanHo , what your point was. But what is a "mikan" which Pat had with his bottle of wine the other night?

I am afraid that Japanese food, at least as sold and served in this country, does not appeal to me. Unlike pops, and some others though, I do enjoy an occasional hamburgher and McDonalds is my favourite. It is a while since I had one as my wife is a vegetarian and I am usually with her when I go out. I recall the first ones opening in the UK, and, frankly, it was heavenly to go from work at lunch time to McDonalds in the Haymarket and have a quarter-pounder with cheese. I wouldn't want to live on them and I am sorry to go against current trends but the fact that they are enjoyable is one of the reasons for their success.

Thos.

Almost anything can be made to taste reasonably palatable with the right fat content, plus herbs and spices. The stuff that they claim is cheese is processed rubbish. Did you ever see the TV programme several years ago showing just what went into Mc Donalds? It was a real eye opener, even the skin and hair from the cow is in there all minced up. YUCK

[Thos]

Did you ever see the TV programme several years ago showing just what went into Mc Donalds? It was a real eye opener, even the skin and hair from the cow is in there all minced up. YUCK

I am not suggesting for a moment that a diet of Mcdonalds is healthy eating, just that we keep a sense of proportion about a balanced diet.

And no I did not see that TV programme. But I do know that the US food admin authorities (I forget the acronym) is very stringent an an operation the size of McDonalds is open house for inspectors.

I enjoy a hamburger now and again. :P

Thos.

[catgate]

What bothers me is what do MacDonalds do with the part that rubs against the shafts?

[CurlyWhirly]

What bothers me is what do MacDonalds do with the part that rubs against the shafts?

I also enjoy an occasional hamburger and I also enjoy coke as it's my favourite drink but I do acknowledge that it's not a healthy diet.

If we avoided everything that wasn't good for us, then we would be very restricted in our diet.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

I don't think there is any harm in an occasional hamburger, fries, and even a coke, if one enjoys this. The bad thing is kids practically growing up with that stuff. Moms who won't cook a proper meal for their children, but rather send them to the nearest McDonalds.

It is sad to see so many overweight young kids in Japan. Just 20 years ago that wasn't the case, but things change quickly here.

Japan did/does have its own fastfood, but it's certainly not junk food. A bowl of ramen (Chinese noodle soup) is as quickly produced and eaten as a hamburger. But it's good and healthy food, with not too much fat, but plenty of vegetables, and no artificial additions. There is at least one ramen shop next to every railway station in Japan.

An N.B. here: "real" ramen cannot be compared with instant ramen or cup ramen that are so popular in the United States. These things are junk food!

---

Mikan is indeed the Japanese word for mandarin oranges, although there are many different kinds, and even more different other citrus fruit. Japanese cuisine couldn't exist without yuzu, kabosu, or sudachi.

As Thos pointed out in his post, there is really not much Japanese food available outside Japan, except in areas with a large Japanese expat population. I had pretty good Japanese food in Sydney's Suntory restaurant, but it was rather expensive!

Most other "Japanese" restaurants around the world are teppanyaki places, which is pretty much an American invention. Nobody in Japan would think of juggling around knives and other kitchen utensils...

[sapins]

I read somewhere that Beefburgers/Hamburgers are actually very healthy foods, they analysed them and found, with chips and/or salad, they were a balanced meal!

[andsome]

I read somewhere that Beefburgers/Hamburgers are actually very healthy foods, they analysed them and found, with chips and/or salad, they were a balanced meal!

You can find an awful lot of rubbish in print. When I referred to the TV programme, I did not mean to infer that all the rubbish that goes into McDonald's will not get by food inspectors, it is hygienic after preparation, but do you really need spiced and flavoured skin hair, cows lips etc. YUCK. We also eat burgers but we get them from a local butcher who makes them out of minced steak and spices. All good stuff, not the cheapest but definitely good.

[-pops-]

Over-indulgence and exclusion of other nutritional elements are the things that make junk food so bad.

How many children eat salad with their burger? Some even consider that ketchup is salad because it is supposed to contain tomatoes.