Cause of the Difference between West and East Eating Habit

The Cause of the Difference between West and East Eating Habit

 1. Introduction

Why people distinguish calling between Western and Eastern or Eastern and Western.  There are many reasons, maybe it is because that it is divided by ocean which people cannot easily cross.  In the other word, East countries and West countries were not easily connected until some point in the past. In that sense, food culture is also very different. Even though eating habit is a part of food culture, there is an obvious contrast between the East and West.  In this report, we will compare what is different about the eating habits and find out nutritional problems.

2. Methodology

Data was collected from international co-worker and friends from March of 2017, aged 25~35 year olds.

3.1. The Cause of Different Eating Habit between Western and Eastern

    a. Main food ingredients for environment

     -The most of the Eastern countries have good weather for growing grains. Among them is especially rice. The rice grows well in the monsoon climate. The features of monsoon climate are the seasonal change of the wind, the humid summer, and the dry winter. Though this climate often brings death and destruction, monsoon rains are an annual phenomenon in Asia and are vital for food productivity and overall economic growth.  This led to the development of rice and vegetable dish rather than western. On the contrary, most of the Western countries climate have suited the wheat and livestock industry Suraj Yadav (2014)provide information about wheat which is well growing in cool, moist climate and ripens in a warm, dry climate. U.S Department of Agriculture (2011) provide information about a largeof wheat is still have been produced in the Western and it has been exporting to the Asian countries.

http://necsi.edu/research/economics/grainconsumption.html

  For this reason, a variety of flour based food has been created and have developed in the West, for example, bread, pizza, pasta and so on. Also, there is a wide range of fields for raising livestock. This was a good way to get quality meat, so eating a meat meal is common. Therefore, the recipe and cooking methods for bread and meat have developed, Even now, there are many kinds of food which are using the wheat and meat than East. On the other hand, the kind of recipes for rice and vegetables in the West countries are very few compared to East countries.

   b. Differences Food Culture

   – We can see the difference in eating habit by the tool.

  Westerners cook the food ingredients in large pieces and cut the food on their plates using knives and forks while east people cut food ingredients into bite size before cooking, then use chopsticks to eat. The use of these tools is affecting the cooking time and eating time. To put it simply, Western food tends to need more time to cook and eat, because using the big food ingredients through that survey, we can know this information

2) The Problem of Each Eating Habit

a. The problem about eating habits

It is commonly known that Eastern people eat food quickly. As mentioned above, this is why, it is influenced by the cooking tool and cooking methods, but it causes obesity because when people eat fast, people normally feel less satiated than those who eat slower and therefore end up overeating.  Ann MacDonald(2011)who is Harvard health contributor said that people who eat fast tend to consume more because they do not give their brains a chance to tell the body that it is full, even they tend to swallow food without enough chew, and prefer the spicy flavour, but these eating habits are very harmful to stomach.

On the other hand, a lot of Western people prefer frying as cooking methods. Many dishes are easily cooked by this methods, but it can cause many diseases such as obesity, hypertension.  S.D. Wells(2011)warn about the danger of fried foodand they tend to prefer sweetness. Sweetness is a property of sugar. It is known to be the cause of diabetes and obesity, and Julie Corliss(2014) executive editor said that sugar may raise the risk of dying of heart disease.

b. The nutrition problem of each main food.

   For our health, we should carefully check and study food nutrition facts.  Let us take a look at the rice and wheat which we were examples above.

RICE

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5716/2

Nutrition Information

As you can see in the chart, rice has high calories, the nutrient which can be a cause of obesity and these nutrient elements that are more important such as less vitamin B, protein

WHEAT

Nutrition Information

Wheat has long been controversial among a great number of scientist. Wheat has many nutrients but also has many problems. KRIS Gunnars(2013)said that wheat contains a gluten which many people cannot properly digest. It causes anaemia, bloating and so on.

Conclusion

To sum up from what has been discussed above, it goes without saying that our eating habits are influenced by various environmental factors and our eating habits have a lot of problems. Especially, obesity and adult disease coming from wrong eating habits are the serious problems in a modern society. We need to lay our heads together to solve that problem. We should try healthy eating habits to live a happy and healthy life.

The Reference List    

1. Ann, M. (2010, Oct 19).Why eating slowly may help you feel full faster. Retrieved from  http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-eating-slowly-may-help-you-feel-full-faster-20101019605
2. Julie, C. (2014, Feb 06).Eating too much added sugar increases the risk of dying with heart disease. Retrieved from

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/eating-too-much-added-sugar-increases-the-risk-of-dying-with-heart-disease-201402067021

3)  Kris, G. (2013, May 27).Potential problems with whole wheat. Retrieved from

https://authoritynutrition.com/6-ways-wheat-can-destroy-your-health/

4. Suraj, Y. (2014, APR 15). Climatic conditions for growing wheat. Retrieved from http://www.importantindia.com/12612/climatic-conditions-for-growing-wheat/
5. U.S Department of Agriculture. (2011). Global Grain Consumption Map. Retrieved from

http://necsi.edu/research/economics/grainconsumption.html

6. Wells, S. (2011, Dec 26).Health Basics : Why are fried foods terrible for your health?. Retrieved from

http://www.naturalnews.com/034483_fried_foods_health_damage.html