Sugar-Free Foods in Japan

[SuzySushi]

How available are sugar-free foods and beverages in Japan? I'm planning to visit Japan this winter with my 12 year old daughter, who has diabetes. We'll be staying with friends part of the time and doing some of our own grocery shopping.

This is something I never paid attention to before. What kinds of artificial sweeteners are in use? Aspartame? Sucralose? Others?

What should I look for on the labels (kanji or kana) to identify such foods and beverages? (e.g., "diet" or "lite," Japanese names for the sweeteners, etc.)

How do I read carbohydrate content on the nutritional labels?

I'm particularly interested in being able to identify products such as diet sodas, sugar-free fruit drinks, "light" yogurts, etc. Brand names?

Thanks!

[nakji]

Well, in my experience, Diet Coke is often practically impossible to find in my area, although Coke Zero rears its ugly head frequently. I ended up switching to bottled green teas, and I almost never drink carbonated beverages any more - I used to be a one Diet Coke a day girl, too. I think the teas are healthier, anyway - but your daughter might miss the sweet taste. I've found after a year in Japan that I hardly crave sweet things anymore.

I feel like Fanta has a low-calorie drink out as well, but I'm not sure of the name. Calorie information is usually displayed on the label, and is easy to read, though - usually it looks like "kCal". "Low calorie" or "calorie-free" is often written in katakana on the label, but I still haven't gotten around to installing those drivers on my computer, so I can't type it out for you. I'm not sure I've ever seen artificially sweetened yogurt, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Plain yogurt is easily available, and I just sweeten mine with honey. Actually, I used to consume a lot of artificially sweetened products when I lived in Canada, but because they're not as readily available in Asia, I just gave up trying to find them.

As you know, a lot of traditional Japanese foods have a bit of sugar in them as seasoning. However, labelling is pretty good here, and you should be able to see what things suit your daughter's diet needs.

That doesn't help much at all, I'm afraid. But I hope you and your daughter enjoy your trip.

[sanrensho]

Stevia is used quite commonly as an artificial sweetener in Japan.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

Edited October 17, 2008 by sanrensho (log)

[helenjp]

Beverages - as noted, people tend to go for unsweetened beverages rather than things that are artificially sweetened.

If a bottle of tea says "straight", it will be unsweetened.

Items such as yogurt are usually either sweetened, lightly sweetened "amasa hikaeme"), or unsweetened ("plain").

Jam is not that popular, so diabetics are more likely to simply avoid it altogether, and generally diabetics are advised to eat Japanese food (partly because a Japanese breakfast is more substantial anyway). You can find lightly sweetened jam.

I have a couple of cookbooks for diabetics, and am surprised that they permit sugar, sake, or mirin as seasonings - I suppose it has less impact as part of a meal eaten with protein and fat anyway.

Carbohydrates will be listed as tansuikabutsu 炭水化物 in the little panel on the back of labels. In case the Japanese script doesn't display on your computer, take alook at this page (the text may not display, but the label should be a graphic)

Scroll down to "Zone 8 Point" in purple letters above a blue box...there is a canned tuna label to the right of it.

The first thing to check is whether the quantities are for the container or the can - the amount will be in grams at the top of the box. In this case, "per one-person serving of 60g" (which is a tad over 2 oz).

Toward the bottom, there is a division with 3 items in it, each listed as "0g".

The top one is carbohydrate (the second one is dietary fiber, and the third one is sugar).

The next division item, 12g, is protein (tanpaku-shitsu), by the way.

http://coconatu00.hp.infoseek.co.jp/z8.html#shokuhin

[SuzySushi]

Thanks, Helen! The kanji does show up on my computer, but that nutrition label and your explanation is very helpful.

Actually, it's not surprising to me that Japanese cookbooks for diabetic include sugar, mirin, etc. as seasonings. Even the American Diabetes Association has revised its dietary guidelines to include a small amount of sugar in its recipes. Carbohydrates are carbohydrates, no matter what the source. Some are metabolized more quickly than others, and some provide less nutrition than others. The key is a good nutritional balance (and enough insulin or other medication to cover the amount of carbohydrates being eaten).