Asian Weight Loss Secrets

It's no secret that the rate of obesity in the United States has been growing for years, even among children. Faced with a lifetime of reduced mobility and chronic health problems, more and more people are trying to find an alternative to the standard American eating habits. Since Asia has a long history of producing a healthy population with a low rate of obesity and heart problems, many Americans want to know about diet secrets from the East.

Tea

• One custom common in Asia that results in weight loss or control is the habit of drinking tea, especially green tea. The health benefits of green tea have been known in China for centuries but have only recently been proven by Western medicine. Regularly drinking green tea lowers cholesterol levels and helps burn fat. Green tea is also good for your health in many other ways: It has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, and it contains many antioxidants, according to studies done in the Netherlands and Japan.

  But it's not only green tea which can help you to get healthier and lose weight. Wulong or oolong tea has also been proven to decrease body fat and increase metabolism. According to a study published in August of 2003 by The University of Tokushima School of Medicine, the metabolism of a group of adult Japanese women was significantly raised after drinking wulong tea, even though it contains half the caffeine of green tea.

Non-Dairy

• Another characteristic that distinguishes the Asian diet from the standard American diet is the lack of regular consumption of dairy products. Though a good source of calcium, dairy is also high in fat and is connected to a host of health problems including colic, anemia, allergies, heart disease and diabetes. People in China, Korea, Japan and other Asian countries do not consume even remotely near the amount of dairy Americans do. Cutting dairy and all its attendant fat and high-calorie foods, such as ice cream, is an easy way to lose weight the Asian way.

Plant-Based Diet

• Asian diets are plant-based, whereas the American diet tends to be centered around meats and processed foods. Most Asian diets are high in grains, especially rice, vegetables, soy foods and sea greens. Sea vegetables are rich sources of iodine, vitamin K, magnesium, iron and calcium, with almost no calories and no fat. According an article published in "The American Journal of Medicine" in September, 2005, a low-fat, plant-based diet is the most effective way for women to lose weight, and that the numbers of people who can be classified as overweight or obese is much lower in countries which predominantly follow such a diet.