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Forum - View topicAnswerman - Is It Possible To Eat Gluten-Free In Japan?
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SheRrIs
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How is that question even anime related? What site am I on?
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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Apparently, you've been here for over 5 years and still don't understand how Answerman works. What site *are* you on? |
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Lupica
Posts: 89 |
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Given how many anime have featured food as the main plot point lately it's probably more relevant than it seems! On the topic at hand, it's become recently trendy (finally) for Japan to have a smattering of artisan vegan-friendly places which properly respect allergies and accommodate special requests. Some Lawson branches even have expanded ranges of unusual onigiri which avoid the usual temptation to put grains/pork/chicken etc into every single dish. I'm lucky as I don't have any severe medical sensitivities but even with my language skills, getting people to accommodate not putting bacon bits on top of salads or sauces on top of things which could easily be served plain can be a challenge, so I heartily recommend finding some 'safe' restaurants and making contact in advance to avoid stress. Buffet restaurants ('viking') are great too so long as you're good at identifying what you can safely eat as it's a lot easier to see what you're getting than at a traditional restaurant, and there are quite a few of them around. You won't have as much fun as your omnivorous traveling buddies but you'll at least get to eat your fill. |
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Cam0
 Posts: 4901 |
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According to the Finnish Coeliac Society soy sauce is gluten-free because the (wheat) gluten in the soy sauce breaks down during the fermentation process. However googling about the subject has always given some conflicting info: Some say soy sauce is ok for people with celiac disease others say it isn't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'm inclined to trust the Finnish Coeliac Society. |
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KabaKabaFruit
 Posts: 1879 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba |
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I'm sorry if I have to acknowledge an 800 lb gorilla in the room here but...
Are people nowadays really having difficulties processing glutens in their system as a result of a rise in coeliac disease or is this just another diet craze? |
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Ggultra2764
 Subscriber Posts: 3919 Location: New York state. |
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Having gluten intolerance personally, gluten-free food is mostly a necessity for me as I otherwise suffer from bloating, constipation, and abdominal pain if I have too much of the stuff. It's much worst for those with Celiac disease as the body's immune system assume any presence of gluten is an attack from a foreign body and it damages the body's intestines while trying to go after any trace of gluten present within them. |
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Brand
 Posts: 1028 |
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Probably a combo of things. More people know about coeliac so it is easier to get a diagnosis. Some people have some other problem where cutting gluten seems to help (weather is actually gluten, something else, or placebo is still unknown). And the last group are just idots doing a fad diet. So, it isn't just one thing or group of people. |
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configspace
Posts: 3717 |
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I'm not so sure either and am on the doubtful side because it takes a specific type of protein/peptidase enzyme to break down the specific gluten and gliadin bonds. Supplements sold for these will indicate a DPPIV unit and enzyme and it takes a specific bacteria or yeast to produce it, which I don't know if it's the same one usually used for fermenting soy (baclilus subtilis and others). Like Justin mentioned, to be safe for celiacs you should use tamari instead. But you can also take high dose gluten enzyme supplements as back up.
Previously scientists only believed that celiacs could not tolerate gluten but now they recognize non-celiac gluten sensitivies. This is particularly relavant to people with allergies and food sensitivies and auto-immune issues. Finally wikipedia has an entry on this when previously it was considered "fringe": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gluten-sensitive_enteropathy–associated_conditions background and references: https://www.drperlmutter.com/yes-gluten-sensitivity-is-very-real/ https://www.drperlmutter.com/study/celiac-disease-and-nonceliac-gluten-sensitivity-a-review/ https://www.drperlmutter.com/study/effect-gliadin-permeability-intestinal-biopsy-explants-celiac-disease-patients-patients-non-celiac-gluten-sensitivity/ this is because one way to test is not with the usual anti-body tests like allergies but with food challenge tests and detecting physiological changes in response which are repeatable, but these don't lead to permanent antibody development like gluten-allergies or have indicator genes like celiac The immune connection still makes sense because in everyone, gluten and gliadin triggers an immune response and tends to make intestinal cell wall more permeable (it tends to widens the gap between the cells) regardless of your condition. In healthy people with functional immunity, it doesn't get out of hand an remains controlled. In other people it leads to allergy like responses. Some speculate one possible cause are GMOs where on the macro level and for the most part the food is digested and metabolized the same, but the slight difference in genetic code means the new protein molecules are slightly different and seen as foreign Last edited by configspace on Wed Jan 02, 2019 2:25 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Mhora
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I'm only sensitive to gluten and had no problem finding places to eat. The food at restaurants are much more pure. They less processed food in general as well. I even found my sensitive stomach less irritated when eating gluten in Japan. Might have something to do with how they "wash" the grains.
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chronos02
Posts: 270 |
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As far as I remember, Japan has had no tolerance for people with food "problems", and they pretty much believe that everyone is simply picky, and being picky in Japan is a serious NO.
We have seen this in most, if not all, anime with any kind of food involved, with the classic "proverb": Picky eaters don't grow strong. It might seem pretty innocent and actually good to teach people about how bad it is to be picky, however, many seem to forget that kids that don't eat something might do it for a reason, and the Japanese tend to ignore that, attributing it to them being picky eaters and nothing else. There are plenty of horror stories related to this, as many as there are related to hair color, or being too tall, and it all comes down to THE Japanese proverb "the nail that sticks out, must be hammered down", meaning, anyone that stands out must be standarized, be it with their cooperation, or against their will. In recent years, things have been evolving favorably for people with food intolerance, as well as for mixed blood Japanese, and pretty much anything and anyone that got affected by that nail proverb, but as good as that might seem to be, it has negative side effects on Japanese society as we know and love it, since it is what it is because of that proverb, among many others. Anime in particular is very sensitive to these changes, after all, we like it because it is made by the mindset of a Japanese creator and other talented individuals, through the filtered glasses they wear made by their society up to that point. I still remember the controversy sorrounding a certain episode of Sakurasou na Pet na Kanojo, in which we see a typical korean dish for sick people, instead of the Japanese Okayu, and that was, most probably, a sign of the change anime is having because of the changes Japanese society has been having over the years. That time, it affected the food, but at some other, it might affect how the script is written, and at some point, we might not be able to tell the difference between Japanese Anime and a Canadian Cartoon, though it hopefully NEVER reaches that point. Anyway, I simply hope Japan being Japan, manages to incorporate all the recent health trends related to food into their society, without changing it dramatically (like how they incorporated wine, western sweets, etc. but in their own way; ever seen a REAL Bamkuchen? compare it to the Japanese variant, it's like night and day). |
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Scalfin
Posts: 249 |
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So are the Japanese just not given to shellfish allergies, or are cross-contamination controls more widely respected than this particular answerman makes it sound?
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harminia
 Posts: 2020 Location: australia |
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I have a slight gluten intolerance (mostly if I eat bread, though I eat it anyway because I'm a rebel), but the bread in Japan isn't as bad as the bread in the west (in my case, Australia). Apparently it has lower levels of gluten or something. When I was seeing a dietician they were basically like "if you want to eat as much bread as you'd like you'll have to live in Japan".
I think a problem is a lot of people are realising they have gluten intolerances on some level, and now that there are lots of gluten-free foods being made, they find it better to eat those. I know of people whose mood is effected by gluten, and a lot of people who don't have celiac disease suffer problems like bloating or (in my case) acid reflux type problems. Also I think it's a view that going gluten-free is probably healthier anyway. |
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digidragon
ANN Past Staff
Posts: 173 |
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For what it's worth, I haven't gotten dirty looks from Japanese restaurant workers when I've asked for special changes to menu items. (Usually, "please hold the tomato, I'm allergic.") Obviously not all places are going to be the same, and maybe they still gripe privately about picky foreigners, but I get what I need. Throwing in a "sorry for the trouble" goes a long way.
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Sakura-Alchemist
 Posts: 489 |
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I'm gluten intolerant, it cause widespread inflammation when I eat it as my body creates an antibody that reacts to the protein. So no it's not a fad but many people treat it as such.
No we know fairly cut and dry why this is. In the US we have hybridized wheat to have more gluten and outside of the US they have not. More Gluten = More reaction, less gluten = less reaction. |
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Fenrin
 Posts: 699 Location: SoCal |
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I hope that's the case that Japan processes their food in a more natural way than America, because we're planning a trip in 2020 and my sister has an intolerance to practically everything under the sun, but gluten, corn and white rice affect her the worst (what with corn and grains being some of our most highly processed foods). With the amount of white rice the Japanese eat it's going to become a big problem real quickly if her body doesn't adjust to it well enough. |
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