Low-carb foods, which help prevent lifestyle diseases by limiting carbohydrate consumption to appropriate levels, are gaining popularity in Japan.

Such products are steadily winning fans, apparently because they seek to balance healthiness and taste while staying away from extreme restrictions on carbohydrate intake.

Low-carb diets call for the pursuit of good health while consuming appropriate levels of carbohydrates, or between 70 and 130 grams per day.

“We hope that delicious foods will make people healthier and help reduce medical expenses in society as a whole,” said Satoru Yamada, head of the Eat & Fun Health Association, which promotes low-carb diets and other healthy eating practices.

Tokyo-based Nissin Chilled Foods’ low-carb noodles, which are rich in dietary fiber, were released in 2022 and became the company’s best-selling product on the Amazon shopping website in the first half of this fiscal year.

The low-carb bread series from Pasco Shikishima in Nagoya has been expanded to 10 products, including sausage buns, as of this month.

Yamamori, based in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, sells concentrated broth with a 90% reduction in carbobydrates, with sales in fiscal 2023 increasing 80% from fiscal 2019.

Curry restaurant chain operator Ichibanya has launched a low-carb dish with cauliflower instead of white rice at its Curry House CoCo Ichibanya restaurants, and the product is said to be popular.

Meanwhile, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance is developing a dietary habit improvement program featuring low-carb foods. “As a nonlife insurer, we want to provide society with the values of health and safety,” a company official said.

Since its establishment in 2013, the Eat & Fun Health Association has found more than 90 partner companies that can use its low-carb emblem on their products. The association aims to spread the low-carb ideal to various industries, such as baby-goods-makers.