What factors make Korean food healthy?

                According to The International Prevalence Adult Obesity (revised August 2013), the percent of adult obesity of the United States is 35.9%(2010). On the other hand, the Korean adult obesity rate is 4.1%(2010). What causes make difference between United States and Korea? Most Koreans eat steamed rice (Bahb) with mixed grains, soup (Gook) and Kimchi , and some kinds of side dishes (Bahnchan). The calories of this common meal are less than 400 calories. Some other special Korean foods have more than 600 calories, but those are for special occasions. Most dinners' maximum calories have fewer than 600 calories. Compare that to eating plain cheese pizza that has 350 calories per slice (Pizza Hut). If people eat two slices of cheese pizza and drink some soda, their calories will be more than 750 calories. This has more calories than ordinary Korean food.  Therefore, Korean food is healthy due to low calories, multi- grains, vegetables, and seasonings.              

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           Steamed rice (Bahb), is the main food in Korea. There is such a saying, “Bahb is better than medicine,” and “Live with the power of Bahb.” Bahb is the basic resource of nutrition for Koreans.  Because of the awareness that white rice is not healthy by itself, most Koreans try to avoid the pure rice. Instead, people usually have multi-grain rice and beans. The grains that most Koreans use are barley, brown rice, black rice, black bean, oat, sorghum, millet, adzuki bean, kidney bean, peas, sweet rice, and so on. Multi-grain rice contains nutrients, fiber, and other healthy compounds that are found naturally in the grain such as proteins, vitamins, and minerals. The multi-grain rice is one of the factors that makes Korean food healthy. 

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               Usually, Koreans eat steamed rice with soup and some side dishes. There are so many kinds of soups and stews. The most common soups are soybean paste soup and Kimchi soup. These soups have tofu and plenty of vegetables such as spinach, potato, onion, zucchini, napa cabbage, radish, green pepper, and so on. Soybean paste is a good source of protein and vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, and vitamin E. Also, soybean paste helps the anticancer effect and lowers blood pressure.  By eating healthy Korean soups, people can reduce their calories and eat vegetables. Furthermore, people can  lower the risk of cancer and heart disease.

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                Kimchi is a basic traditional Korean food. Koreans use Kimchi to make dumplings, pancakes, soups, fried rice, mixed noodles and so on. Kimchi provides plenty of minerals and vitamins, as well as aiding digestion. For example, Kimchi offers lactobacillus and other good bacteria that help digest and boost the immune system. Kimchi is usually made with napa cabbages and radishes. There are plenty of red pepper powder and other seasonings like garlic, scallions, ginger, onion, fish sauce, salt, and sugar. Notably, red pepper powder contains capsaicin which is good to protect blood vessels and boost metabolism. Kimchi is another reason that people think Korean food is healthy because it has a lot of vitamins, fiber, and good bacteria.

                These are some reasons why Korean food is healthy; the multi-grain rice, soups, and Kimchi. Korean food has plenty of good factors like low calories and many good nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Having vegetables with healthy seasonings like red pepper powder leads to healthy people. Also, many kinds of fermented food like Kimchi are good to digest and improve the immune system. Thus, Korean food is healthy for all types of people.