10 Weird Diets That Were Popular in Japan
5 Popular Diet Method Among Japanese Girls : Not Extreme But For Beginners!
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As many of you might know, Japanese girls are are obsessed with losing weight no matter how they are really in good shapes enough.
According to the transitive graph from Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, about Japanese people’s BMI (body mass index), the number of Japanese women’s BMI has been decreasing (although in 2014 it is increasing a little bit).
*The graph in the right is women, and the left is men. *The white line is 17 years old, the red line is 20s, and the blue line is 30s.
In Western countries, the word “healthy” is used for describing girls who are in good shape and look happy, but it doesn’t exist in Japan. Girls are judged as “skinny” “slim” or “chubby” or “fat”. Compared to the other countries, Japanese girls are still obsessed about losing weight all the time.
However, it seems that Japanese girls have started to take less extreme diet these days with help of world wide healthy movement. Quite a few girls are doing fasting, eating only snacks, or doing no carbs.
Here I’ll show five popular diets that are trend among Japanese girls these days! Some of them are popular in other countries too, right?
1. Morning Banana diet
We don’t really know why but Japanese people love bananas. There are a lot of candies with banana taste which are popular especially among young girls. Therefore, Japanese girls jumped on this diet method when it appeared in the media as it sounds so easy!
Some of you might know about Morning Banana diet but let me explain in short. Or I don’t need to explain it in short, as it’s super simple. It’s just “eating only a banana for breakfast”. It doesn’t take time and bananas are available with cheap price in Japan. In addition, it also works for detox, and poor circulation and constipation, which are the two top problems for young girls, will improved. Bananas are also potassium-rich food, so it’s good for Japanese girls as they tend to get swelling in their legs because they drink less water and take more salt.
2. RIZAP diet
RIZAP is fitness chain where you can have personal training, and standard two-month program costs ¥350,000. It also includes eating advice and you have to keep the rules as your trainer monitor everything what you eat. RIZAP casts many celebrities on TV commercial and that’s one of the reasons of the popularity. Some of you might know this AKB48 Minami Minegishi’s one.
However, going RIZAP is a little bit expensive, so I’ve heard that a lot of young girls are taking RIZAP method by themselves in their daily life. Basically, RIZAP’s eating rule is “less carbs, more protein.” According to RIZAP rule you cannot have carbs for dinner, but basically it’s simple, although there are more strict and details rules what you shouldn’t eat on RIZAP program.
3. Natto Diet
Natto, Japanese traditional fermented soybeans, brings you a lot of health benefits! Basically, it is said that soy products are good for health, but the power of natto is extraordinary compared to the other soy products as natto contain higher levels of enzymes by being fermented. Enzymes enable your body to break down food components into usable nutrients.
Natto, fermented soybeans
Vitamin B1 and B2 included in natto function for lipid metabolism and change the calories you convert into energy. In addition, eating natto brings you feeling of fullness, therefore it stops you eating something extra. Vitamin B2 also works for keeping good skin condition, so that’s another reason why this diet is supported.
4. Kogao Roller
Kogao roller means “small face roller”. In Japan, having smaller face is essential to be cute. Yes, girls are obsessed to “Kogao”, smaller face. We analyzed the reasons in this article : http://tokyogirlsupdate.com/kogao-obsession-20151062722.html
Media, especially models in fashion magazines, say “I’m using this to keep my face smaller”. The trend is still keep going on since 00’s it seems, probably it just costs a few hundred yen to get the item and easy to use it as you just need to move your hand to roll it.
By using this roller, face’s swelling goes down as it works for lymph drainage. There’s no test results about this, but girls are believing this works for getting a smaller face.
5. Preventing Round-shouldered diet
Rounded shoulder occurs when your anterior shoulder muscles become too tight, causing your posterior muscles to weaken over time. Yes, not just girls, but young people in Japan tend to have less exercise in daily life, in this modern life, as they don’t need to. However, no cool fashion models have round-shoulders. First of all, round-shouldered does not look stylish and gives off an unhealthy impression.
To prevent round-shouldered, the first and the most important things is try to stand straight. It sounds very simple but for people who are always round-shouldered, it’s tough thing. In addition to that, girls wear supporter or inner to keep your back straight.
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Ayaya
Been working in girls’ fashion magazines for a long time and am now the chief editor of Tokyo Girls’ Update. I have more expertise in Japanese teen fashion than anyone else (probably)! I’m a huge fan of the Revolutionary Girl Utena and Bakemonogatari animes.
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