Drink Yourself Slim With Japanese Health Teas
In Japan, food is judged on its health properties, real or imagined, and fads of such foods are fed by media frenzy. It is only a short time ago that all Japanese were eating blueberries for better eyesight and natto to slim down. Drinks, especially of the sort sold in 350 or 500 cc pet bottles in convenience stores, do not fare differently. Many teas make claims about bringing down the level of body sugars or helping you get slimmer…
Contrary to the US, Japan’s $48-billion-a-year soft-drink industry consists for a large part of sugarless teas (with ot without health claims) rather than of sodas and other unhealthy products. This has been ascribed to the graying of the population, but I have my doubts: most buyers seem salarymen and young people, at least when you look at the convenience stores. There has always been a connection in Japan between food and health. What keeps amazing me is the sheer volume of this industry in Japan. Teas, juices, and soft drinks of all varieties take up a solid refrigerated wall in convenience stores. The number of different products is mind-boggling. As is the number of new drinks brought to market every year: 1,500! Many of these fail, of course, but the sheer logistical power of Japan’s companies is impressive, to say the least.