“Slow calorie”, a way of eating that ensures glucose is absorbed slowly into the blood and sudden spikes in blood sugar are minimised, is an idea that is gaining ground. Garnering attention as a measure to fight obesity and ward off diabetes or prevent it from getting worse, slow-calorie food products have hit the market.
Staving off obesity
When you eat food containing sugars and carbohydrates — such as rice and noodles — the molecules are broken down in the small intestine, metabolised in the liver and turned into glucose. Glucose, a form of sugar, is an essential source of energy for the human body.
As glucose enters the blood, the blood sugar level rises. This prompts the secretion of insulin, a hormone that lowers the blood sugar level. A sudden spike in blood sugar goes hand-in-hand with a large secretion of insulin, which tends to lead to build-ups of fat inside the body.
Moreover, a sudden spike in blood sugar is not good for diabetes patients, whose blood sugar levels do not go down due to insufficient insulin secretion.
In order to curb obesity and prevent diabetes from getting worse, preventing sudden spikes in blood sugar levels — a condition called postprandial hyperglycaemia (PPHG) — is vital.
Don’t eat fast
Slow calorie eating helps avoid PPHG. A concrete example of this is given by Yoshio Ikeda, a doctor who serves as chairman of the board of the Japan Preventive Association of Lifestyle-related Disease. “You should avoid eating fast as it leads to sudden spikes in blood sugar levels after meals and makes it easy for fat to build up,” he said.
“Be conscious about eating vegetables, grains and sweeteners that are rich in fibre. [These are good because they] take quite a long time to be absorbed as glucose,” he said.
According to the results of the 2014 National Health and Nutrition Survey, released late last year by the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry, the proportion of obese people aged 20 and above was 28 per cent for men and 21 per cent for women, while the proportion of those strongly suspected of having diabetes was 15 per cent for men and 9 per cent for women. People who tend not to get enough exercise are being exposed to the risks of obesity and diabetes.
Slow-absorbing sweeteners
Among sweeteners, sugar-derived palatinose is gaining attention. In 1984, Mitsui Sugar Co. succeeded in mass producing palatinose, which takes about five times longer than ordinary sugar to be absorbed by the body and thus makes it difficult for blood sugar levels to rise.
It became widely known as a slow calorie sweetener from around 2007, and food products including palatinose are now available for sale.
In March 2014, Imuraya Group Co. started selling Sports Yo-kan Plus. The product supplies energy to the body over a long period of time, and so appears to be ideal for replenishing energy during endurance sports such as marathons.
In March, Bourbon Corp. released a berry yoghurt flavour of its cereal Cereal Slowbar product, calling it “a cookie that stays longer in the stomach.”
Mitsui Sugar’s Slow Calorie Sugar is a sweetener composed of half sugar and half palatinose. It can be used either raw or for cooking.
“Obesity and diabetes can be improved by re-examining your eating habits,” said Yukio Yamori, a doctor who serves as the director of the Mukogawa Women’s University Institute for World Health Development.
“Just by starting to consciously eat foods with ingredients that are rich in dietary fibre and so are absorbed slowly, it is possible to prevent your blood sugar level from suddenly rising. This is as important as trying to cut your calorie intake.”
