Why aren't all Chinese people fat when their food is both good and fattening?

既然中國人的食物既好又油膩，為什麼不是所有的中國人都胖呢?

1.Jan Soloven, Trained chef, farm to table, former farmer, present organic gardener

簡·索洛文，訓練有素的廚師，從農場到餐桌，以前是農民，現在是有機園丁

What makes you think their food is fattening? If 1.5 Billion Chinese eat Chinese food and rarely get fat on it, I think that argues against your claim. If you're getting fat eating Chinese-American food like 5 deep fried "egg rolls" every day, perhaps you might want to take the time to find out that these are not typical of what Chinese actually eat in China, it's really an American food.

你憑什麼認為他們的食物會使人發胖?如果有15億中國人吃中國菜卻很少發胖，我認為這與你的說法不相符。如果你每天吃5個油炸"蛋卷"之類的華裔美國食物而發胖，也許你需要花點時間來發現這些並不是典型的中國人在中國吃的東西，這確實是一種美國食物。

It's a modern American tradition to take a healthy cuisine and make it as unhealthy as possible by batter dipping and deep frying whenever possible and adding tons of sugar. Most Chinese I've spoken to in the US complain that all American "Chinese" restaurants add way too much sugar and starch to everything.

這是現代美國的一個傳統，採取健康的飲食，使它儘可能不健康的麵糊浸和油炸，只要可能，並添加糖。我在美國見過的大多數中國人都抱怨說，所有的美國"中國"餐館在每樣東西上都加了太多的糖和澱粉。

"Chinese food" in America

美國的"中國菜"

Chinese food in China: lots of vegetables, tofu, soup, a small amount of fish or meat, and of course rice. Nothing below is deep fried. No egg roll; what exactly do you think would be fattening about this dinner?

中國菜在中國:有很多蔬菜，豆腐，湯，少量的魚或肉，當然還有米飯。下面沒有什麼是油炸的。沒有蛋卷;你覺得這頓飯會讓人發胖嗎?

2.Matthew Miller, American living and working in China.

馬修·米勒，美國人，在中國生活和工作。

This is an interesting question that I have also considered. Not only is their food delicious and somewhat fatty, but they eat A LOT! Food is the center of Chinese life and culture. It is not an overstatement to say that the Chinese are obsessed with food.

這也是我考慮過的一個有趣的問題。他們的食物不僅好吃而且有點油膩，而且他們吃得很多!食物是中國人生活和文化的中心。說中國人痴迷於食物並不誇張。

There are some mitigating factors, however:

不過，也有一些緩解措施:

1. Modern studies show that fat in itself is not necessarily fattening.

1.現代研究表明，脂肪本身並不一定會使人發胖。

2. Chinese people eats LOTS of vegetables: two or more vegetable dishes are a requirement for every meal, even at home.

2.中國人吃很多蔬菜:每頓飯都要吃兩道或兩道以上的蔬菜，即使是在家裡。

3. Chinese people eat lots, but they do not literally engorge themselves at meals like some Americans tend to do. Confucius taught to eat until you are 80% full, and many Chinese follow this.

3.中國人吃得很多，但他們並不像一些美國人那樣狼吞虎嚥。孔子教導人們要吃到八成飽，許多中國人都遵循這一原則。

4. Chinese people place a high regard and emphasis on health, especially in diet. So, while they might eat a dish of fatty pork, they will balance it with lots of vegetables, medicinal herbs, healthy tea, etc.

4.中國人非常重視和重視健康，尤其是在飲食方面。所以，雖然他們可能會吃一盤肥肉，他們會平衡它與許多蔬菜，草藥，健康的茶等。

5. Chinese people drink tea all day and night: tea is very healthy and good for the metabolism.

5.中國人不分晝夜地喝茶:茶很健康，對新陳代謝有好處。

6. Chinese people walk and ride bicycles much more than Americans. Sure, they have cars too, but they walk around much more. They like to go to parks and do sports or exercise and walk.

6.中國人比美國人更喜歡走路和騎自行車。當然，他們也有車，但他們經常四處走動。他們喜歡去公園做運動或散步。

7. Chinese food is not processed and packaged: most Chinese buy fresh, raw food from the market and cook it at home. This is much healthier than, say, processed fast food.

7.中國食品不是加工和包裝的:大多數中國人從市場上購買新鮮的、生的食品，然後在家烹飪。這比加工過的快餐要健康得多。

8. Asians have good genes in terms of weight: they are naturally thin. A Chinese person has to work really hard to get fat, having to overcome their genes.

8.亞洲人有很好的體重基因:他們天生就很瘦。中國人必須非常努力地工作才能變胖，必須克服他們的基因。

9. Chinese culture, once having viewed being fat as a sign of wealth and prosperity (and it still does to some degree), has begun to view being fat as undesirable in the modern age, and thus there is a huge cultural pressure not to get fat.

9.中國文化曾經把肥胖視為財富和繁榮的象徵(現在在一定程度上仍然是這樣)，現在開始把肥胖視為不受歡迎的，因此有巨大的不發胖的文化壓力。

10. Excess in any way is against Confucianism, and China is still very much a Confucian society. Excess in any part of life is seen as undesirable and not civilized.

10.在任何方面，過度都是與儒家思想相悖的，而中國在很大程度上仍是一個儒家社會。在生活的任何部分，過度都被認為是不可取的，不文明的。

There may be other reasons, but you can see that there are many factors that contribute to the phenomenon that you rightly described.

可能還有其他原因，但是您可以看到有許多因素促成了您正確描述的現象。

One quick anecdote: when I lived in China, I did nothing out of the ordinary to try to lose weight, and I was naturally at a good weight. The very week I moved back to the US, I started gaining weight. I am not sure why, but it is true.

一個小故事:當我住在中國的時候，我沒有做任何不尋常的事情來減肥，我的體重自然很好。就在我搬回美國的那一週，我的體重開始增加。我不知道為什麼，但這是真的。

Tamar Harrington, B.A. Chinese, Grinnell College (2009)

Tamar Harrington，中國文學學士，格林內爾學院(2009)

There are some answers here that might address your question well. I think there are a couple of other reasons no one has mentioned yet.

這裡有一些答案可以很好地回答你的問題。我認為還有其他幾個原因沒有人提到。

Probably most importantly, sugar is more of a rarity and treat in China than in places like the United States that struggle a lot with obesity. Particularly in the U.S., lots of people drink soda in gigantic proportions, and that's just not done in China. A dessert is an occasional thing, not something you reach for after every meal. While sugar lobbyists have spent a lot of money trying to convince you that fat in food makes you fat, sugar is often a much bigger problem when it comes to weight gain.

也許最重要的是，糖在中國比在像美國這樣與肥胖作鬥爭的地方更加稀有和珍貴。尤其是在美國。在美國，很多人喝大量的蘇打水，而這在中國是不可能的。甜點是偶爾吃的東西，不是你每頓飯後都能吃到的東西。雖然糖的說客們花了很多錢試圖讓你相信食物中的脂肪會讓你變胖，但當談到體重增加時，糖往往是一個更大的問題。

Matthew Miller said a little bit about this, but Americans just tend to overeat. Eating high calorie foods isn't really a problem, as long as you keep your portions small and can notice when you've had enough. In a lot of restaurants in the U.S., they pile as much food onto giant plates as they can, and people tend to eat everything on their plate without noticing the "full" feeling. If they're having a lot of food, Chinese people share their meals with others, and take time to enjoy it. They can tell when they're full.

馬修·米勒也提到了這一點，但是美國人往往會吃得過多。吃高熱量的食物並不是什麼大問題，只要你控制自己的食量，並注意到自己什麼時候吃飽了。在美國的很多餐館，他們把儘可能多的食物堆在巨大的盤子裡，而人們往往會把盤子裡的所有食物都吃掉，而沒有注意到"吃飽了"的感覺。如果他們有很多食物，中國人與他人分享他們的食物，並花時間享受它。他們能知道什麼時候吃飽了。

People might well argue with me on this, but I think Americans' obesity problem is also tied to creature comforts, especially cars (others have mentioned this) and indoor climate control. In southern China, very few buildings are heated, and in most places in China, air conditioning, while not always unavailable, is mostly limited to the box type. (Northern China has central heat, and people also tend to be heavier there, I've noticed.) Your body burns more calories when it has to work hard to regulate its own temperature. And if it's hot out and you're feeling the heat, you might often lose your appetite. Also, when your house or office is too comfortable, it provides a disincentive to go out and walk, bike, do tai chi, fly kites, etc. So, I think it leads to people exercising less in the summer and winter.

在這一點上，人們可能會與我爭論不休，但我認為美國人的肥胖問題也與物質享受有關，尤其是汽車(其他人也提到了這一點)和室內氣候控制。在中國南方，很少有建築是供暖的，在中國的大多數地方，空調雖然並不總是不可用，但大多限於箱型。(我注意到，中國北方很熱，那裡的人往往也比較胖。)當你的身體需要努力調節自己的體溫時，它會燃燒更多的卡路里。如果外面很熱，你感到很熱，你可能經常會失去食慾。而且，當你的房子或辦公室太舒適時，你就不願意出去散步、騎車、打太極、放風箏等等。所以，我認為這導致人們在夏天和冬天鍛鍊得更少。

Also, not all Chinese food is good. Some of it is downright disgusting. It depends on where you go in China and what you pick from the menu.

而且，並不是所有的中國食物都是好的。有些簡直令人作嘔。這取決於你去中國的什麼地方，以及你從菜單上選擇什麼。

3.Jay Eitch

Many answers missed an important factor: higher percentage of Chinese people cook lunches and dinners at home from many times a week to doing so daily. Home made Chinese food is not the same as restaurant served Chinese food. Home made food is lot less fatty (and less salty, not as cholesterol rich, etc.).

很多答案都忽略了一個重要因素:從每週在家做很多次午餐和晚餐到每天都在家做，中國人在家做飯的比例更高。自制的中餐和餐館供應的中餐不一樣。自制食品脂肪含量要低得多(含鹽量要低得多，膽固醇含量也不高，等等)。

They cook because:

他們做飯,因為:

1. They know how. It's a tradition passed on from parents, or skill picked up from relatives and friends. After all this is a culture that's obsessed with food.

他們知道如何去做。這是一種從父母那裡傳承下來的傳統，或者是從親戚朋友那裡學到的技能。畢竟這是一種痴迷於食物的文化。

2. To save money by eating home meals

通過在家吃飯來省錢

3. To satisfy personal taste, yet having healthier and safer food.

既能滿足個人口味，又能吃到更健康、更安全的食物。

So in the end, people consume less processed food and less unhealthy restaurant food.

所以最終，人們會少吃加工食品，少吃不健康的餐館食品。

4.Yolanda White（這個中國妹子開始炫耀食物和自己的體重，導致本文不適合在深夜看^_^）

I have to say, I am a Chinese.Of course the food is fantastic,but everyone eat it for nearly everyday!!!You know it's mean you eat Hamburg or chips everyday!If you are a student, many of them will eat the school dining room everything is terrible !At least in myschool.It'also expensive. So many student like foreign food more.

我不得不說，我是中國人。當然食物很好吃，但是每個人幾乎每天都吃!!你知道這意味著你每天吃漢堡或薯條!如果你是一名學生，他們中的許多人會吃學校餐廳的一切都是可怕的!至少在我的學校。它也很貴。所以很多學生更喜歡外國食物。

After all Chinese mother will always ask their kids to eat more vegetable.Athough I don't like it at all.But i am just 40kg now.

畢竟，中國媽媽總是要求孩子多吃蔬菜。雖然我一點也不喜歡它。但是我現在只有40公斤。

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