[TALKING TRENDS] 'Sosikjwa'

Seo Jeong-min
The author is a senior reporter of the JoongAng Ilbo.

The era of sosikjwa has come. Mukbang, which gained global popularity as it stimulates people’s appetite, is now being pushed out. Sosikjwa is a combination of sosik, which means eating small portions, and jwa, which refers to one’s position. It basically refers to somebody who only eats small amounts.

Sosikjwa started to draw people’s attention and became an issue, as various variety shows featured celebrities who only eat small amounts of food at every meal.

For example, Code Kunst, a hip hop producer, and singer Sandara Park only have a banana or a sweet potato for their meals throughout the day. Park So-hyun, an actress, barely drinks a whole cup of latte and Ahn Young-mi, a comedian, buys a bowl of bibimbap and divides it into three portions to last her for a day.

Park So-hyun and Sandara Park, the small eaters, are called “unnies (sisters) without an appetite,” based on the name of a variety show that they both appear on. In contrast, in “I Live Alone,” an MBC variety show, Jun Hyun-moo and Park Na-rae, are shown as big eaters who love foods, and are nicknamed “palm oil lines” because palm oil is used when producing ramen and other fast food.

Experts in the medical and food and nutrition field recommend people to eat small portions, explaining it has an anti-aging effect and is good for the skin.

To do this, you should make a habit of choosing vegetables rather than meat.

Doing so has positive effects not only for your body but also the environment. The biggest carbon dioxide emitter is the beef trade, which releases 99.48 kilograms of carbon dioxide in the air per kilogram of beef produced. It’s a huge number, considering that tofu, tomato, and potato production emits 3.16 kilograms, 2.09 kilograms and 0.46 kilograms of greenhouse gas per kilogram, respectively.

In addition, it is important to eat raw vegetables and raw food first before having fried or seasoned foods in order to feel full more easily. Chewing food thoroughly and slowly for a long time is also essential.

BY SEO JEONG-MIN [meantree@joongang.co.kr]