Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories: 15 Secrets from a 3,000-Year-Old Food Culture

I have read this book 3 times now and I learn something new every time. I have become a lot healthier and lost weight since applying the principles she teaches. This book fueled my desire to learn more about Traditional Chinese Medicine and healing methods.The only thing I don't like about the book is the Chinese recipes. Our culture has such different tastes and likes than the Chinese culture so I found the recipes and vegetable cooking ideas to be unhelpful. But it is easy to take the principles she teaches to lose weight and become healthier and utilize those in connection with Western style recipes and eating. Read and implement this book and you will be happy you did!

LOVE THIS BOOK. Like hearing from someone who actually spent time there and gained from it. I have added this to my interest category including the Okinawa Project and Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat.

This is a fantastic glimpse into Chinese culture. The tip of the iceberg you might say. I found this book an amazing read as Lorraine Clissold takes us through things as diverse as the Chinese attitudes to food (so different from the West),to balancing flavours(sour, bitter, sweet, pungent and salty), mastering ingredients, to taking restorative exercise .One of the most fascinating facts in this book to emerge,for me, was that while the Chinese have a much higher calorie intake, their body mass index is considerably lower. To find out how they achieve this you'll have to read the book.It is written in a very readable, casual manner that makes putting it down difficult. And there's easily achievable, simple recipes throughout the book.I'd definately recommend this book.

Good service, and book as described.

interesting

I was charged an Express Rate for getting the book in 2 days, it didn't arrive for 5 days after I paid for it. I would appreciate a response to my 4 emails that I have sent. I purchase a lot of material through Amazon am not happy with the level of response I have received.

I stumbled across this book in the library and the title intrigued me. As a typical American battling with weight issues, the idea of not having to count calories sounded good to me. This author spent a lot of time in China studing Chinese food. She even taught a cooking school and gives many anecdotes aboout Chinese cusine and her family's reactions to it. She talks in the book about how chinese cooking is mainly vegetables with various sauaces and seasonings. The Chinese do eat meat but it is more as a side dish to complement the meal. What amazes me is how the Chinese can eat so much rice and not gain weight. Their way of eating seems to be built around rice and they have it every day. They also eat as much as they want and don't seem to have the problem with obesity that so many American's have. The author describes a whole culture and philosophy that is the foundation of Chinese cooking and she shares a lot of the Chinese philosophy in her book. She also includes recipes in her book for anyone who is adventureous to try them. For anyone who is into food and nutrition I would recommend this book as an interesting read. -- Valerie Lull, Author, Ten Healthy Teas

Counting calories is widely considered in the United States as a means for managing your weight and health. But try telling that to the Chinese people who find it incredibly strange to obsess over every calorie you put in your mouth. Instead, they put the focus on the enjoyment of the food itself, eating to satiety, and experimenting with flavors and spices to tantalize your culinary desires. This is the point of Lorraine Clissold's Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories.Clissold takes her love for recipes and her personal experience living in China for 15 years to educate people about the secrets to the Chinese diet. She even had her own television cooking show to educate the Chinese people about their historic traditions in the art of food preparation. Many of these concepts are shared within the pages of this book.The 15 "secrets" from China were certainly eye-opening in places, including stop counting calories, think of vegetables as dishes, fill up on staple foods like noodles, rice, and bread, eat until you are full, consume liquid foods, bring yin and yang to the kitchen, balance your flavors, become a master of your ingredients, choose "live" over "dead" or processed foods, respect the body's climate, use food to keep you fit, make an occasion of meals, drink green and herbal teas, engage in restorative exercise, and avoid extremes in all areas of life. While much of this is cutting-edge information for people who hope to do something productive for their health, some of it can be misleading for people who aren't designed to eat like someone who lives in China. That's one of my biggest concerns about the message of this book.While I enjoyed being educated about Chinese food culture, I could never eat the way Clissold describes in her book. I know that carbohydrates like bread, rice, and pasta will balloon up my weight, raise my blood sugar and insulin, and lead me down a path of morbid obesity and disease. And while I can respect a vegetarian-styled diet for someone who chooses to eat that way, I believe it is unhealthy to omit the tremendous health benefits of consuming meats like grass-fed beef, free-range chickens, lamb, bison, and wild game. One glance at the "Further Reading" in the back of the book shows a deference for vegetarianism with T. Colin Campbell's The China Study cited.It would have been great if Clissold had openly discussed why the Chinese people tend to be thin eating a very high-carb diet. As a connoisseur of this culture and the food consumed, it would have been a perfect opportunity to make the case for why carbohydrates do not seem to produce any negative effects on the weight and health of the people of China. Research studies combined with anecdotal stories would have certainly hammered home the overall message of the book, but it was nowhere to be found. That's truly unfortunate.Overall, I enjoyed reading this book because it gives a pretty decent historical perspective of the 3,000-year old Chinese food culture. Clissold does not get caught up in the subtle nuances of the diet debate and simply shares from her firsthand knowledge of her experience studying and living in China. Why the Chinese Don't Count Calories is worth checking out for anyone wanting to find a comprehensive look at Chinese culinary cuisine.

Having lived in Beijing myself, I just loved the conversational and un-apologetically sinophile nature of the writing. Full of true wisdom and I am so much more healthy having taken on board the advice, in conjunction with what my Chinese doctor has been telling me. Highly recommended.

This book has opened my eyes. It is very easy to understand, very well written. Plenty of easy advice to follow and understand. I have been following her advice before even finish the book and I am already feeling a difference. It all make sense. I highly recommend it.