@jj123 the eating out most likely a big part, for most of my time here I’ve eaten out about 5 days of the week constantly. Bound to get the odd dodgy dish here and there as always eating somewhere different as much as possible.

Decided to eat at home a lot more recently, so hope that helps long term with added exercise. I’ll look into the healthier diet stuff online as it’s about time :o)

Drink lots of lemon water. You can thank me later.

I like lemon water too, but drinking it regularly will raise the acidity in your mouth and increase your risk of cavities. After drinking something acidic, I usually rinse my mouth with milk to rebalance the pH.

@redjon and others: I am not a doctor, so I am just going to say: check out the research on the interactions between sunlight, vitamin D, strength training (as distinct from cardio), testosterone levels, and general health & well-being/longevity.

In terms of a midpoint between cooking at home and eating at a different restaurant every night: I have found a few restaurants that are convenient, seem to have reasonably healthy food, and are heavily frequented by locals, and I stick to those during periods when I really want to avoid getting sick.

Diet is a big part. I mostly cook Chinese food (local market veggies, fruit and meat).

I feel like a have less energy than when I'm on a "European" diet. I don't know, maybe it's just all in my head.

Talking about health in a broader sense: medical services. I always feel nervous visiting the dentist or some hospital clinic. Let's talk about going to the dentist. It's not that cheap anymore, but the quality is way worse than in the west. You pay a lot of money for a treatment, but I definitely don't feel relieved after a visit.

Medical services are not tailored for westerners, they are tailored for Chinese. I mean, lots of Chinese don't really care about their teeth. Your Chinese friends need to get a tooth pulled? Just one less, he thinks no real biggie.

I once had a Chinese roommate. He said he cared about health, not sure what his definition was. He had this cough, he thought it was because of the dry weather. I thought it might had to do with him smocking a pack a day. I think taking a crap a day is regular. He thought it was more like 2/3 a week. Probably based on eating two bowls of rice noodles a day.

Yikes I take three craps a day. Should I worry?

No.

I have just come back from a dentist. Had a lose crown re-fixed and four fillings, two of those on the gum line, caused by receding gums (age). I was told a few years ago in UK that gum line fillings were not possible. Today in China, they are. I was also given a choice of filling materials, 3M or Japanese. Total cost, 1200 rmb, a lot less than back home.
The older generation of Chinese may not have had much knowledge, or culture of dental care. The middle aged people I know all care a lot about their, and their family's dental health. Dental care has moved forward a lot in China in the last 15 years. Dental implants and veneers are now common place, for those with the money. A Hollywood smile can be had for much less than people expect here.

I agree that dental care has moved forward in China. But I think a lot of people still go to the dentist to fix something and not necessarily monitor/maintain/check. Most dentist services are adapted for that. So your dentist back home might be more reluctant about gum fillings, here they just fix everything at once. Way more aggressive.

Are you talking about upper middle class people maybe? Shanghai? I was talking more about averages, definitely some bad teeth in the smaller towns.

till 8 is considered normal.
If you are not trolling, what's your diet like? (curious, srls)