Your Butt is Wide Well Mine is Too...

Lori Lancaster | June 25, 2012
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Erik Bates | June 25, 2012
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Tony Peters | June 25, 2012
The difference is in Japan the Government pays for healthcare so they are looking at it as protecting their investment. Japan has also seen a significant drop off in the use of their "subsidized" exercise facilities. They are using logical reasoning to insure that their economy doesn't take a bigger hit that it already has

Samir Mehta | June 25, 2012
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Tony Peters | June 25, 2012
not the same way they have a real single payer system

Samir Mehta | June 26, 2012
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Tony Peters | June 26, 2012
I don't think they cost us in taxes as much as they do in premiums (another way to punish the wallet)....We as a country are better at treating the results of poor heath choices. Japan used to be very pro health oriented though the proliferation of McDonalds (and other like food) has created many of the same problems we have. When you look at the way insurance companies are attempting to control health behaviors here in the USA its really not that different. Here its Market forces there its government intervention but the end result is very similar

Samir Mehta | June 26, 2012
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Tony Peters | June 26, 2012
The big complaint as I see it from the right is that Government Healthcare wastes money between management and the patient I would argue that it's likely less than a company syphons off as profits but since we are at heart a capitalist country business before before people is the moto. You are right Preventive care is a cost saver only in a non profit my scenario....Single payer is one such which is a big reason why it's not used here in the USA extensively except by the military. My big complaint with the healthcare industry is that they are making money by making sure that the majority of the population is unhealthy.

Scott Hardie | June 26, 2012
I used to doubt that government-run health care could be a good thing, since the primary example I could think of were under-funded, over-stuffed VA facilities. Then I got into a long conversation with a retired pharmacist, who explained in no uncertain terms how much worse corporate-run health care is: It's unaccountable, often reckless, and puts profit ahead of patients. He told me a few stories of people who couldn't get the simple medicine they needed to live, and others who were harmed by under-tested new drugs that shouldn't have gone on sale yet, and those was only the tip of the iceberg. This wasn't a philosophical difference for him, but something he had dealt with first-hand his whole life. It definitely influenced my attitude.

As for Japanese cuisine, 600 calories per meal is right on. Ever since I switched back to a low-calorie diet (which is working great btw), I've been seeking out light meals that I can eat out and still feel satisfied. So far, sushi has worked best: I can eat a lot, it's delicious, the rice makes me feel full, and I barely consume any calories in the process. If only it was cheaper... :-)

Tony Peters | June 27, 2012
Eat edamame with your sushi and you will increase the protein and help with the starch digestion