How to eat healthy as a tourist?

12 comments

1. google “japanese food” or “healthy japanese food”

   or eat non-japanese food (it’s great too!)

2. You can eat the fattiest unhealthiest foods in Japan and it will still be healthier than a “healthy meal” in America.

   Their ingredients are fresher and less toxic to begin with. Their chefs actually care about their products.

3. Sashimi

4. Unless you are taxing everywhere you are gonna be doing a lot of walking and standing, probably more than you are used to, so as long as you don’t eat ramen every day you should be alright. If you still want noodles, soba is a healthier noodle dish. (Not yakisoba) udon is often slightly healthier than ramen, but not by a huge margin depending on what you get with it.

   Also, if you are into fish and hate rice there is always sashimi!

   If you wanna eat vegetarian and distinctly Japanese, shojin ryori cuisine is Buddhist vegetarian cuisine that is super healthy. You may need to hunt it down though.

5. People are giving you a lot of options that aren’t really answering your question. We eat a lot of meat, but always reach a point on any vacation where we just need to source some healthy nutrient dense food.

   Donki and plenty of other places will sell you roasted sweet potatoes. Full of nutrients and filling. Obviously skip the candied stuff.

   There are a lot of tomato based vegetable drinks packed with veg.

   Those bottom floor food halls at department stores will often have several vegetable based/salad shops, more selection than I see at just about any restaurant.

   7-11 has a smoothie machine where you can get a kale and fruit smoothie.

   That’s it off the top of my head, but you do have to plan a bit to get the vegetables in.

   I guess I also sort of didn’t answer your question because you’re looking for dishes you can order. I don’t think that’s the right way to approach this. There aren’t a lot of dishes in restaurants like that necessarily unless you seek out a specific health food restaurant.

6. One of my favorite dishes is nishime, I make it at home but also eat it in Japan. You can also have Okonomoyaki which has a lot of veg. BTW you can find lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and salads at the excellent supermarkets (not combini)

7. A good hotel breakfast will have veggies and lean meat without sauce, so there is that
   Lots of dishes can be rich in lean meat or fatty fish, grilled joints have veggies that can get grilled (zucchini, pepper bell, aubergine ). Same with bentos (but they are salty).
   Buy fresh fruits and unsalted unsweetened nuts in Kombini

8. Shabuyo is a chain all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu restaurant. Good way to eat plenty of veggies.

9. Look for nabe. You should find healthy bentos, too.

10. The concept of salad is familiar in Japan

11. Google macrobiotic restaurants. There are plenty that specialize in fresh/steamed veggie-forward meals that offer a nice break from some of the heavier/saltier meals. I’ve also found really good Indian restaurants in Japan that might not be the healthiest, but have really good naan and tons of veg options.

12. I posted about making sure you try a shabu shabu meal here

    https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravelTips/s/KyJ8HYQKyX

    Others suggested nabe and hot pots in general. They’re a great way to get a ton of cooked veggies into a meal and they are also delicious!

    Yes they also feature meat but you can tailor the amount and fattiness to suit.

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