(Answered, ありがとう Thank you!) I want to visit Japan someday, but before I make any actual plans I thought it’d be good to ask this question. Is following a low-protein/phenylalanine diet possible to do in Japan? I have to follow such a diet for my PKU/phenylketonuria. I can have a decent amount of phenylalanine with little to no issue, but I still need to be careful since it adds up throughout the day.
Edit: I thought it’d be helpful to specify what I can eat, since it’s a little different for everyone with PKU. I can eat rice and noodles just fine, and most veggies as well (tofu I have to be careful of).
Beans, nuts, and meat I try to avoid but can eat in rare occasions. Dairy products + eggs especially I can never eat. I think I’ll be OK if I go but I wanted to ask just in case.
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You can literally find anything to eat in Japan. Arguably a vegan diet may prove challenging (it’s my understanding this is becoming more popular), but in major cities you could enjoy anything under the sun.
I don’t know what a low protein diet looks like, but yeah, no shortage of good food.
Perhaps be more specific about things you eat normally? And when in doubt 7-11, lawsons, and family mart offer an amazing selection of inexpensive options.
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You’ll be limited but keep an open mind. Can you have meat based food? Ex: beef broth etc. If not, you’ll have a tougher time. There are plenty of udon/soba/ramen places to keep you busy but they usually have meat stocks in their broth. Okonomiyaki, conveyor belt sushi and a vegan app should be fine for you though. Okonomiyaki is very customizable and conveyor belt sushi places usually have vegetable/egg sushi options. I’ve been to a few vegan ramen sops as well. Many coffee shops will have pastries you can eat (French pastry culture is a big thing here) and you can get a variety of sandwhiches and snacks etc. at convience stores. They have pizza buns and I was addicted to them for a long time. You’ll have to be a bit savvy but you can do it!
Can you eat fish? Because it is likely to be in everything. Dairy and eggs are easy to avoid in Japan (dairy would be a very unusual thing in general unless you’re specifically looking for it).
For noodle based dish, you can easily get udon, ramen and soba. Just check the topping, especially ramen, as it can include meat and egg. They all have either pork/chicken/fish based broth, but it should be more on the fat/salt spectrum than high protein. On a side note, miso is made from soy beans, so it can be regarded closer to tofu category, but there should not be a ton in a mis soup.
Japan is known to not customize dish, but there is often different options in the menu, including some without topping. And you can always try to get no meat/egg topping if there is no other choice.
Rice is often found to accompany a dish, but it can be part of dish that do not have much protein, such as ochazuke. You can also find rice ball (onigiri), but for those it’s the same thing, check what is inside, popular options include fish, but there is also plum, that is on the acid side of taste or some have seaweed inside.
I think that it should be possible, of course it is more challenging than someone who can eat everything, but you should have options.
It might be a good idea to get a card in Japanese to explain in simple words what you cannot eat at all and what you try to avoid. The trick then is to use it to ask for recommendation, not to get a custom dish. Oh and maybe one more specific for drinks as you say artificial sweetener, so you can use it as a reference to check if there is aspartame in the drink you are going to buy.
Others seemed to answer more about your actual question about diet, but I wanted to recommend a specific restaurant, called Meguri, which is in Nikko right near where the UNESCO heritage shrines are. Meguri was this wonderful little vegan cafe that was a revelation for me! I’ve never had any food like it anywhere, even elsewhere in Japan. It’s hard to describe the type of cuisine, but it was delicious and unique, and I dream about it sometimes (and I am not vegan or have any dietary restrictions). If you go to Nikko to see the sights, I HIGHLY recommend making a reservation and going to Meguri.
https://g.co/kgs/nsRfcv
909-1 中鉢石町 Nikko, Tochigi 321-1402, Japan
I was dabbling with being vegan when I was in Japan in 2019 and didn’t have any trouble really. Download the Happycow app, go for the vegan/veggie options and you should be fine for main meals. For convenience store snacks, I was using the Google Translate camera app to check ingredients for meat (EVERY* NON PLAIN SALT POTATO CHIP HAS CHICKEN IN IT) but you might have more trouble with your specific diet. Worth knowing you can use that app anyway.
I recommend that you make a “Japanese Food Bingo” list. I did this when I went to Japan last year; there are so many great foods and I didn’t want to get stuck on one or two dishes.
There are some great ideas on this thread already, but do a little research into Japanese dishes yourself as well. There are plenty of “top 10s” around to give some ideas, and you can check the typical ingredients of each before adding them to your Bingo list.
Last bit of advice – Japanese people tend to be quite hospitable. I cant tell you how many food gifts my husband and I received from strangers in Izakaya on our last 2 trips! Be vocal early about an “allergy” (use this word!) to avoid uncomfortable situations.
Good luck on your travels 😀
Ugh I’m sorry you have that issue, can’t imagine going to japan and not being able to eat the majority of the food there
Easier to do low protein vs low carbs (keto) in japan
Mostly try local foods like Japanese Kobe beef (Wagyu beef) which is popular globally for its flavor and deliciousness. Sushi, Sashimi, and Tempura are one of the globe ‘s best known Japanese foods.
Quite a few people suggested okomomiyaki, so I just wanted to point out that it has eggs as part of the ingredient, and adding cheese is common too, so you actually can’t eat it.
Good backup food when you’re struggling is a tasty rice ball or two (onigiri) from your nearest conbini. Some have fish or meat fillings (very small quantities per ball), but they also do seaweed or pickled plum ones which are divine!
It doesn’t look like anyone mentioned this yet – be VERY careful of canned/ bottled drinks. Im diabetic and had to treat low blood sugar a few times on my last trip… when you’re buying from a vending machine, you can’t see the nutritional info until it comes out of the machine. To my dismay, MANY drinks had artificial sugars in them. Learn the Japanese characters for artificial sugar and aspartame, and check every bottle before you drink.
I don’t recall having anything unexpectedly contain artificial sugar from cafes or restaurants, so i think you’re safe there.
Please check out the wiki! We have a section on special diets.