Santiago is the capital city of Chile, the southwesternmost country in South America. It's a big metropolis with more than 7 million inhabitants and lots of things to see and do. / Santiago es la capital de Chile, el paĂs más al sudoeste de SudamĂ©rica. Una gran metrĂłpolis con más de 7 millones de habitantes y muchas cosas que hacer y ver.
🤔 AskSantiago
It's my first time in Santiago and I'm very confused because almost everyone has overweight, I took the metro and there is not even enough space to take all people.
Even trainers in fitnesscenters are fat and some people think you have a eating disorder if you are not fat like them?Â
I tried different restaurants and the food is mostly average or terrible and at the same time expensive.
I'm from europe and traveled around 2 years in latin america, can someone explain me the culture here and eating behaviour?
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Europeos preguntándose por qué está tan la cagá en latam 🤔
será porque durante siglos Europa enriqueció a nuestras costas?
Bread is the main part of most people's diets. We eat too much carbs.
About restaurants quality, Idk, where have u gone?
Also other countries consume a lot of bread like germany or argentina.
I was at some restaurants in barrio italia, in malls and some other places. better places I tried where just a few like La Birra Bar or PizzerĂa JĂşpiter.
There’s plenty of fat Argentinians too.
There’s lots of skinny people in Chile as well.
There’s also plenty of fat Europeans lol.
Part of the magic of Chile is that people can be whatever size they want and wear whatever style they want without being commented on all the time. At least from my point of view. When in Rome dude. Don’t be a douche.
Germans are a developed first world country. They can eat bread and healthy. Argentinians are starving.
We're not starving, but we're not rich enough to eat healthy.
Our diet is shit, yea, but fitness trainers fat? You have an eating disorder if you're not fat? Terrible food?
You got plently of Youtube videos from travelers recommending places. Maybe try those.
We est them in larger volumen and what we put in the bread also.
Shitty places if you are looking for quality food.
Say what you want about americans, but when they come to the third world they're much less likely to be absolute bellends compared to europeans. I've met my fair share of europeans who come here, see a lot of the consequences of poverty, and start asking insightful questions like "why are the bikepaths so bad"? or "why is there so much obesity"?
While we'll really miss some digital nomad/sex tourist income, you're free to go home at any time.
you don't like europeans?
I don't think they have any problems with europeans, just with people who come from "1st world countries" and criticize the culture of an underdeveloped country. I guess you could attribute Chile/Santiago's obesity problem mainly to poverty.
Fried carbs are a cheap way to survive on a budget, while whole-grain, healthy ingredients and fresh produce can be quite expensive and require time to cook/prepare.
no es necesariamente cierto... en Colombia la pobreza es parecida o mayor y hay menos gordos, ni hablar de Argentina.
We don't hate Europeans, but we don't like foreigners that complain about the country. Only Chileans are allowed to badmouth Chile.
I agreed with you till the “the food is mostly average or terrible”. Yes, Chile is a fat country (tons of obesity in fact), but we don’t have BAD food everywhere.
My friend, that sounds more like a travelers research trouble.
can you recommend some good food, I should try before leaving?
Sure! What do you want to try. Something purely chilean?
Yes, I'm a fan of healthy none-vegan dishes and also curious about local dishes.
Do you know a good chilean place? I tried different places, like peruvian, colombian, ramen, pizza, burger etc. but not a 100% chilean place yet.
Great! It’s not too easy to find a place that serves 100% chilean food, but there are some places that serve great chilean dishes along with other options. I don’t know where are you staying, but i’ll leave here some options:
Not 100% chilean, butI like a place called “Lomit’s” (it has some kind of a german aesthetic, don’t let it fool you). I’ve eaten a truly nice “Carne mechada” in there.
A little far, but a nice place is El Palacio del Poroto con Rienda. You can have a glorious dish of chilean porotos con rienda here (kind of a soup/stew of beans with pumpkin and other vegetables and even spaghetti in it. Truly nice for cold days).
In Chile we are fucking mad for sandwiches: go and ask for a Completo, a Chacarero or a Barros Luco. For that, I like “Elkika Ilmenau” and “La Fuente Chilena”. Also, “Petru”.
Some friends reccomend two places of purely chilean food: El Divertimento and Don Peyo. Haven’t been there yet, but the strongly suggest those places and I trust them.
Annnnd finally, a place I like their food (yes, a little expensive but I think is worth the shot) is the Bar Liguria
Bonus track: I love peruvian food and months ago I went to a great place called “Barandiaran”
Good luck, hope this is useful!
Go to factorĂa Franklin this weekend, you won't regret it.
Once (something like british tea, an evening meal) is religious for us. not only we eat more calories per meal but we eat more times per day.
So we eat breakfast, lunch, once and dinner. also Chile is one of top bread consumers (I think that Turkey is first?).
Coffee and bread with avocado or cheese is a classic once meal.
No. No one in Santiago that I've ever met eats once and dinner, once is ate instead of dinner.
Primero que todo, buenas tardes.
Te están explicando abajo y aún asà no aceptas argumentos, deja de pensar desde la posición europea.
The food is expensive. People make shit money.
I agree it’s insane as hell that most chileans will lose their minds if you aren’t fat. Fat is the normal in poor countries.
But I’m afraid that if you are so surprised about this that you had to post on reddit about it, maybe it’s time to check your privileges and be more grateful and humble about being born in the better country. We didn’t choose to exist here, and neither did you.
Eating healthy is costly here. Food prices are not too different from high some income countries and median incomes are WAY lower. We don't exercise much either.
:(
Opinion generica penca.
La media de la población somos bastante pobres, y los carbohidratos son de lo más asequibles.
Viene un gringo qlo les escribe en ingles y además quejándose de Santiago, y los weones se dan el tiempo de responderle en ingles, justificando, poco menos pidiendo disculpas... Lo que es ser chupapico cuando viene un gringo a chile, la cagó.
weon la cago, 0 respeto e interes en entender las respuestas que se le dan MAS ENCIMA en ingles.
There is a really weird Phenomena, Even tough we have first Quality raw ingredientes, like nilk and whest and fruits, we have really shitty food in general. We have a USA style of feeding ourselfes, lot of ultra proceder, Lot of shugars, and we don't carry a healthy lifestyle in general.
Almost zero healthy lifestyle education.
Expensive healthy food. Cheap high carb and sugary food and soda.
Very few open and safe spaces to do outdoor exercise. Emphasis on safe.
Go to “el hoyo” for good Chilean core cuisine.
Or try a sandwich at la fuente alemana.
Hate to admit there are lots of bad restaurants here. In Buenos Aires seems like any random place is good.
Unlike average countries in Europe, here people just don't have time (hence, not the will either) to cook, as we work way more than there. I can confirm this based on my own xp, the amount of holidays is massive and the work time in Europe is ridiculously less. When you get very late at home, the last thing you want to do is cooking. Live quickly, eat quickly
How many hours people work per day and how many days holiday people have on average ?
45/44 hours x week, and the minimun wage is 476 euros. And this year 2024 there are 20 days of holidays.
average time travelling from the house to work is around 2hrs, so that is almost 4 hours in average just in movilization... (wich is not payed by employers)
Also consider that food prices in the supermarkets are around the same as in Europe.
Us chileans don't know when to shut the hocic
Mate, try "sánguche de potito". One of the best sandwich that Chilean gastronomy can offer. And also, "Chanta unpeo en latula", which means "Good luck, friend" in Mapudungún.
We have a big problem with fake things being overpriced as if they were real items. This occurs in food, clothing, jewelry and even electronics.
In reality, there is market collusion and justice does not work here.
Added to this is that salaries are very low (average $500 per month) and there is an internal currency (UF), which is used to pay big debts, and the UF increases every day. In reality, there is over-indebtedness and people are forced to eat the cheapest (and often the most toxic) to survive.
Because Pinochet ctm!
Las hueas que preguntai po gringo maraco!
The answer is poverty. People over stuff their plates with carbs because of poor nutritional education ( we were taught carbs has to be the base of the food pyramid) , and because it's what most people can afford to.
Also, some people have to commute for hours on a daily basis, leaving them too exhausted to cook something elaborate, too exhausted to exercise, some of them have children to take care of, sometimes not even being in time to tuck them in bed.
My other guess is high stress levels mean higher cortisol, which is related to weight gain.
There are heaps of evidence of people in richer countries, thus having more food available, being more propense to being overweight. If you add that to the fact that there are few free hours(a Chilean work aprox 45 hours a week and have to travel at least 2 hours a day) and few places and infraestructure to do excercise(how many nature trails are in the city? not many, and certainly not near where people are) end up with the obesity problem we have as a society.
As a fun fact: most people go TO THE MALL during their free time, because most of people dont have proper parks near their homes, just buildings, malls, places to eat and roads(not for bikes tho).
Dont go to cheap restaurants
FYI europeans are more obese than latinamerican people, source here
I lived there and I think they eat way too much white bread. Simple carbs don’t curb hunger for long and provide minimal nutrients.
Hi! Where you come from? If it us US, come on dude.. they’re all fat đź«
Comemos mal y no sabemos leer
I've noticed there are a lot of packaged foods here. There is basically a corporate duopoly on grocery stores and lots of processed food corporations.
The vegetable options can be limited at grocery stores too, but usually the fruterĂa is solid.
I'm not Chilean so I won't speculate on cultural reasons. The traditional food is hearty and heavy for like miners and gauchos working hard all day. There is also a great love of bread.
That said I think the Chileans are pretty sexy!
I feel like the levels of obesity are pretty similar to southern Europe, definitely lower than USA or UK.
yes there are many packaged foods here but I would say in europe more, also there are so many places and weekly markets to buy fresh fruits, vegetables and fish.
I'm just wondering if many of the fruits and vegetables are genetically modified, for example there are many things without seeds.
You dont seem to have the slightest idea about how seedless fruits work. Nothing to do with gmos. Also, do you have anything against GMOs? It would fit with your ignorance on agriculture.
How does it work here? It’s the first time I see this kind of tomatoes here for example.
Usually using varieties with a tendency to parthenogenesis.
The common folk has no time to exercise or they get tired AF from work. Also, may be that you are in an incredible shape overall. Just curious, what's your BMI? Anyway, I'm not going to omit the fact that most people here are sedentary and eat pretty bad: fast foods like hot dogs with mayonnaise, ketchup, avocado... lots of bread with butter, tea or coffee with a lot of sugar. Overall, the Chilean cuisine is basic with a lot of sugar and salt. About the behavior, as everything, it may vary from person to person, but it is somewhat common to eat cookies, potato chips, ice cream and other snacks out of the main meals of the day. As you can see, our culture is not healthy at all, but in our defense we can say that the food is expensive and, in general, the people are over-exploited, indebted and stressed, among other things.
yes food is very expensive here but I think it's more expensive to eat unhealthy, you have to spend more and also to eat more.
How is the cooking mentality here in chile? do people like to cook or it's just they tend to cook unhealthy?
Bread is the cheapest food here, most families have to feed a family of four with $470 a month, while cost of living can go easily to $800 a month. Living in eternal debt, depression and overwork can change someone's priorities, surviving is more important than a good diet. Bread is cheap and can feed a family, while vegetables, meat and fruit are getting more expensive each day.
Add sugar, alcohol parties and no time for exercise. Those are some reasons of why obesity is common here.
yes you are right but at the same time there are also people who can afford it, for example there is a huge number of people smoking here and smoking is not so cheap here.
Smoking is an addiction, not a luxury. People are stressed and they spend money on smoking to relieve some anxiety and stress from, usually, overdemanding work. That money is not spent on good food, making matters worse.
Some people with money don't care about their health, they just work and party and assume their body "is what it is". They no longer care, they accepted it and won't do anything about it until it's too late. This is a general assumption though, it depends case by case, but it's based on my experience.
Work, sleep, exercise, pick 2
Just to give you an idea, the richest 1% in Chile concentrates 49.6% of the country's total wealth, the majority of people live in debt thanks to the neoliberal model imposed after the dictatorship. I think it is very revealing of your privileges to think that people can stop smoking (a vice usually acquired by stress) and start playing sports or eating healthier, when food is expensive, the salary is not enough and there is no time, becouse here you work to survive.
In my experience, most people have little to no time for cooking, and we make fast and easy-to-do dishes such as pasta with tomato sauce, rice with canned fish, instantaneous soup, some salad like lettuce or sandwiches. I think most people do not like to cook and do unhealthy dishes that can get them full fast and are tasty at the same time, by tasty I mean with a bit more salt than you would normally use for sure.
Nah, unhealthy food is really cheap here, you can find a great variety of sellers on the street. Also, beer has a lower price than bottled water. I think you are not used to the culture of Latinoamerica and thats just it.
Regards cooking, it depends on some factors like the budget that your income gives you and how many people lives on the house. However, younger people tenda to use delivery apps since we rely more on individualism and not having kids, so you can use your money on whatever you like.
I would not say that we don’t cook at all, and we have a very distinct cousine that people celebrate as a important part of our culture, ej: Completos, Porotos, Cazuela, Sopaipillas, Empanadas, etc.
where u from
Go to Na que ver, that’s a truely Chilean restaurant. And stop complaining about our culture, this is how we like you cunt
https://www.instagram.com/naquever_cocineria?igsh=azlkN2Jtb3Z5N3R0
There is an almost fetishised fascination with mayonnaise and high-calorie bread like hallullas. There is also a long history of lethargy and abstinence from physical fitness in this culture, although little by little that's changing. Regarding the quality of food: I've found people here are (A) not very picky about flavour, meaning they don't particularly appreciate international cuisine with more/different ingredients and seasoning and that (B) they tend to be very self-conscious about sending food back if it's not good enough which obviously means a restaurant never finds out their food is lacking.
This is not to say all places and people are the same. There are exceptions, albeit in my experience they are rather few.
do you know what the problem is about access to physical fitness? I find it pretty hard to find something as a tourist. or it's hard to afford for people here?
There are very cheap options like Pacific and SmartFit gyms which are chain brands and scattered all over, not to mention other equivalents doing the same. Even just doing calisthenics in the respectively fitted public parks is a great option for people here—I know plenty who do it.
smartfit for example offer only a yearly plan and some gyms have a daily pass for like 10$. so for local people should be more affordable or it's still doesn't fit in the budget?
do you know how much people you know make per month?
I have friends/acquaintances who make anywhere from minimum wage to 5k+ USD per month. I would say the amount of those people who regularly attend a gym is pretty much evenly spread, meaning say 3/10 of min. wage and 3/10 high wage people go to the gym. So it's not a matter of cost in that regard, specially since, again, you can just go to a calisthenics gym in public parks.
As a tourist for you it's probably a pain in the ass to pay 10k per day, but the Pacific and SmartFit plans would be like 15-20k per month which is for most earning folks affordable, specially given the reward (mental health, physical health, social health). Sometimes you can catch deals which make you end up paying almost 10k per month.