Getting your hands on Western health foods in Japan

Japan is often regarded as a country that has some of the most healthy eating on the planet. Fresh seafood for all those Omega 3’s, fermented foods (natto, anyone?) and superfoods like sweet potatoes are all prevalent in Japanese cuisine. They’re also easy to find in just about any supermarket.

However, there are a lot of westernized healthy eats that can be harder to find - and they might be things that you’re used to eating (and want to keep eating). There are ways of finding your healthy eats in Japan - here are some sources that I use.

Costco

Leave it to a global conglomerate to have a wide range of healthy western eats here in Japan. I get big bags of things like chia seeds and quinoa at Costco when I'm near to one, and they last quite a while. They're also good for things like large bags of frozen fruit, which are perfect if you want to make DIY smoothies regularly. Fruit here is expensive compared to what many of us are used to, so buying frozen and in bulk for things like smoothies can be really helpful. 

Amazon Japan

Amazon Japan is useful for me as well, particularly because I can just use the search tool to find what I want. They have a wide variety of health foods on offer - including some stuff that Costco stock (such as the quinoa that I like when I can't get to a Costco in person). 

They're also helpful if you have any kind of dietary restrictions or intolerances. For instance, if you're a celiac they have some gluten free products, such as this brand of pasta available. Since a lot of the gluten-free products are imported, they're probably going to be more expensive than what you're used to back home - but it is convenient to have quick and easy access to it via Amazon.

Alce Nero have a range of gluten free pasta products available on Amazon Japan.

iHerb.com

iHerb.com are a website that ships globally, with a pretty extensive range of healthy eats on offer. Things like almond butter, organic energy bars (like CLIF bars - also vegan friendly!), specialty baking products like coconut flour, almond flour and gluten free pancake mixes...and that's just scratching the surface. As well as the wide range of grocery items on offer, they also stock various vitamins and supplements, natural beauty and home cleaning products and more. 

I've also found that my local Aeon supermarket is getting better and better with healthy westernized eats. There's constantly more brands and flavors of greek yogurts whenever I go, and I even found Aeon branded almond milk there recently. I'd struggled to find almond milk anywhere until then - soy milks are everywhere, and in a myriad of flavors, but finding almond milk was a nice surprise!