A Dieting Segment on a Show

It comes as no surprise that getting into shape and dieting have become popular trends all over the world, Japan included. I see numerous products, aimed at women especially, that promise various ways to lose weight or at the very least to maintain your weight. For example, if you like eating and don’t want to change your eating habits, there are pills that help ‘cut calories’ or stop your body from absorbing some carbohydrates or oils. Other products make you feel fuller with fewer calories or speed up your metabolism to help burn more fat. Whether or not these pills, supplements or products have any noticeable effects is arguable, but there is a good chance that most of them are a waste of money.

I recently came across a video on Youtube from a Japanese variety show with a segment on dieting. On the show, there were these ‘pochari’ or chubby girls that wanted to lose weight so they were separated into groups of 3, all trying different diets most suited to their lifestyle or eating habits. While I can’t remember all the groups and the details, the ones that had the most significant results for the participants were: intermittent fasting, the MCT Oil diet, and the gyoza diet. I am going to talk a bit about each one from what I was able to gather.

The girls involved in the intermittent fasting diet originally had common issues with snacking, and the timing of when they ate. One girl kept a bag of snacks and treats next to her bed so she could eat them in bed throughout the night. Therefore, the solution of intermittent fasting was implemented for them, where they could only eat within an 8-hour window.

With the MCT oil diet, the group had to put some MCT oil (made from fats found naturally in palm oil and coconut oil) into their drinks for breakfast and dinner. The foods paired with the drinks were low-carb, so more fat is burned throughout the day or so the theory goes. Overall it was very similar to a ketogenic diet, a diet which helps keep your body in a state of ketosis to burn fat and energy.

Last but not least, the gyoza diet. According to the medical professionals on the show, gyoza has a good balance of carbohydrates from the gyoza skin, protein from the meat and fiber from the veggies inside. So, we can get a sufficient amount of nutrients while satisfying our tastebuds. For the diet the girls ate 7 pieces of gyoza for dinner with beer. What a way to satisfy your appetite! During the rest of the day, the meals were more controlled. This diet surprisingly yielded some dramatic results for the participants, which I was quite surprised by.

All in all, the diets each had certain scientific evidence backing them up and making them good diets to follow. Whether or not any of these would be the right choice for you is unclear until you give each one a go. Otherwise doing more exercise might be the standard way to go. As for me, I might try to enjoy more foods for now.

Amy

Vocabulary

metabolism (n) ? the chemical processes in your body that convert food into energy
intermittent fasting (n) ? an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting (not eating)
window (n) ? a period of time during which something can happen
ketosis (n) ? a metabolic process which helps your body burn fats instead of glucose (sugar)
yield (v) ? to produce as a result of time, effort, or work