RResidents in Japan

Sugar-free energy drinks?

I’ve noticed that the Japanese seem to have no interest in avoiding sugar in drinks unlike almost the whole western world. What other sugar-free energy drinks are there than Red Bull or are there any? I haven’t seen others and trying to Google for 無糖エネルギードリンク didn’t bring up much either.

40 comments

  4. Monster has lots of sugar free (ultra and absolute zero) , zone has sugar free ultra, and there’s tons of black coffee.

  5. >I’ve noticed that the Japanese seem to have no interest in avoiding sugar in drinks unlike almost the whole western world.

    Hahahaha.

    Is this comedy hour? The western world avoiding sugar in drinks!??

    hahahahaha lolololol.

    Oh man, you could be the next Atsugiri Jason, ya know.

  6. Basically all the teas are sugar free. My wife did a spit take the first time she drank green tea in the US. It was almost impossible to find non-sweet green tea outside of Asian grocery stores (imported stuff).

  7. You’re kind of right… You can walk into any given conbini and not a single thing but black coffee will be sugar free, but another one will actually have them. This is actually a point of frustration for me on a hot day because my body doesn’t do well with lots of sugar, but most supermarkets will carry a variety of Monster (blue and white options) and sugar free caffeinated drinks like Coke Zero that are cold.

  8. Why the fuck would you drink energy drinks, if you want to avoid sugar? Like, where the hell is the energy supposed to come from? Even if it says “no sugar”, that just means they swap in some other similar carbohydrates in, no?

    Or you could just go caffeine only, but that’s just black coffee. As that other commenter pointed out.

  9. >I’ve noticed that the Japanese seem to have no interest in avoiding sugar in drinks unlike almost the whole western world.

    Perhaps you’ve also noticed that obesity is extremely rare in Japan unlike almost the whole Western world?

    Maybe they’re doing something right?

  10. There’s sugar free red bull and at least one variant of sugar free monster in pretty much every convenience store.

    There’s a sugar free peach one in Lawson right now!

  11. You can get the sugar free drinks if you look for them, Japan loves sucralose. Most things marked as low calorie or low/no sugar use it.

  12. I thought energy drinks were loaded with sugar and caffeine specifically because they are energy drinks.

  14. There are more sugar free versions of Monster than not. Any conbini that has redbull has the sugar free version too. I don’t have any idea what OP is talking about.

  15. WTF, how do you miss the huge shelf of Japanese energy drinks located in every convenience store, sueprmarket and pharamcy in this country?

    It seems physically impossible to not notice them even after being in Japan for two days, but here we are.

    **リポビタンD is literally Red Bull with FAR less sugar than western energy drinks** (still 18g worth which is An Amount, but that doesn’t come near Red Bull levels), and it’s been available everywhere in the country for the last 60 years (1962/1963).

    There are tons of similar ones, but リポビタンD is IMO the best mix of pep (caffiene/taurine/B3) without shakes, with a decent taste.

    And yeah, there’s also sugar-free リポビタンD as well: **Lipovitan ZERO**. Which is also in almost every store in this country. (I don’t like ZERO because it uses sucralose as a sweetner, which I’m allergic to but also is apparently – and expectedly – total shit that you shouldn’t be putting in your body At All)

    [https://www.taisho-direct.jp/products/detail/LZEX-00-L2F010H](https://www.taisho-direct.jp/products/detail/LZEX-00-L2F010H)

    Why sucralose/”cheap western sugar free sweetner” is bad for you (recent published study, currently awaiting more verification from sister studies), potentially causing DNA damage (!) leading to intestinal holes and related problems: [https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/news/20230601/sucralose-genotoxic-linked-leaky-gut-study](https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/news/20230601/sucralose-genotoxic-linked-leaky-gut-study)

    Every convenience store has dozens of types and flavors to choose from. I mean… it’s right there. Every convenience store. Even the combinis on those Tokyo islands that have like less than 500 people living on them.

  17. Its an energy drink.

    You know what packs instant actual easily accessible energy in a relatively quickly absorbed form? Sugar.

    I think thats really the main thing there. Like sure you can make it without sugar and load it with caffeine but then you’re just tricking your brain with stimulants

  18. Any of the ones showing **0 カロリー** in the nutritional information on the back are obviously going to be sugar-free. At least two of the Monster varieties are.

  25. Blue and white monster are both sugar free, commonly available at most combini and many drug stores.

  27. They love artificial sweeteners here, they’re just not labeled very clearly. They usually have reduced calorie on the packaging rather than no sugar

  28. >I’ve noticed that the Japanese seem to have no interest in avoiding sugar in drinks

    This is like really elevated satire and I’m a dumb pleb because it’s wayyy over my head

  32. Just fyi, while エネルギー (from German) is the word for ‘energy’, energy drinks are actually called エナジードリンク (from English).

  33. OP as much as you’re getting dunked on, if you are specifically looking for taurine, you have to stick with the glass bottled tonic drinks like Lipovitan/Tiovita/et al.

    Although taurine is on the country’s “List of the substances designated as having no potential to cause damage to human health list” (amazing redundancy there), regulations also prevent it from being sold* in non-pharmecutical drinks, i.e. drinks with carbonated water. This is the entire energy drink market.

    As a result, every single energy drink sold domestically in Japan swaps out the taurine for L-arginine. This is basically the French formula, which France doesn’t even require anymore (they had banned taurine for a time after a death in a club, but since rescinded the ban).

    So keep this in mind if taurine is the most important thing for you.

    * Sold domestically. You can bring taurine-filled Red Bull or any other energy drink in on an airplane as part of your checked luggage as long as they don’t suspect you intend on reselling it, or if you or a friend have access to a US post exchange on one of their bases it’s US territory and hence Japan’s domestic regulations don’t apply.

  35. To add to the question, are there low sugar alcohol drinks offered? I like the taste of some Chu-hi’s but they have lots of sugar. I know I can get a 25% alcohol mix and make my own lower sugar drink but I wouldn’t mind being able to buy an already low sugar mixed drink. Not sure if any exist though.

  36. Most Japanese people drink 1 liter of unsweetened green tea a day. Any other drink consumed tends to have a purpose. Energy drinks require sugar to fuel your body. Sugar free ones are just caffeine, at that point just use your brain and find cheaper caffeine. Canned coffee is popular for a reason.

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