A low-carb diet means decreasing the amount of carbohydrates you consume. INTERSECT BY LEXUS – TOKYO hosted “Low-carb Food: Beauty and Health,” aiming to share reliable and practical information about healthy low-carb food. Attended by 50 people chosen by lottery, the event started with a seminar by Satoru Yamada, a medical doctor and low-carb specialist, followed by a talk with world-famous chocolatier and pastry chef Hironobu Tsujiguchi and Miss Universe 2007 winner and dancer Riyo Mori. Guests were also able to sample low-carb food and desserts prepared especially for the event.

In the ground floor Garage space, Dr. Yamada introduced the ideas behind a low-carb diet and international research results. By reducing carbohydrate intake to 20-40g per meal, and 70-130g per day, blood sugar levels are improved as well as neutral fat. This can help prevent diabetes and is also suitable as a means of dieting or fighting the effects of aging. “Improving lipid concentration in the blood as well as your blood pressure and blood sugar through a low-carb diet can help you lose weight, while people who are not overweight will gain muscles and likewise firm up their figure,” Dr. Yamada explained. “Past thinking about nutrition taught that it was healthy to eat frugally, but this has now been completely turned on its head.” He also told guests about the anti-aging benefits of low-carb food. “Advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which cause wrinkles and marks on the skin, are formed from glycation between proteins in the body with sugar. A low-carb diet improves your blood sugar count, reducing AGEs and thus helping to ward off the signs of aging on the skin.” Low-carb food means eating well with the right amount of carbohydrates. There is no need to give up delicious food. As long as you keep your carbohydrate intake down below 10g, you can still enjoy sweet food and alcoholic beverages.

After Dr. Yamada’s seminar, the guests moved to the second floor Bistro, where Tsujiguchi and Mori joined him for a talk about beauty, health and food. Mori started by explaining how she likes a healthily balanced meal of rice, miso soup and pickles, and that at dance school she was taught to move her body on a daily basis. “Reducing your intake of carbohydrates and increasing lipids is healthier and actually a better way to improve your beauty,” Dr. Yamada advised.

During the talk, guests also enjoyed a low-carb cuisine buffet that had been prepared under the supervision of Dr. Yamada. Starting with an amuse-bouche of scallops in tartar sauce, guests next sampled sautéed foie gras as an appetizer, followed by sautéed golden threadfin bream and roast aitchbone Japanese beef. Despite the rich and varied tastes, the carbs only added up to 17g per serving. It was topped by a terrine chocolat by Tsujiguchi that had just 1.6g of carbohydrates. Being completely sugar-free, it didn’t increase blood sugar and also had plenty of cacao polyphenol. It got a big thumbs-up from Mori. “It’s really delicious and has great texture. Even though it’s low in carbs, it still tastes sweet and leaves you satisfied.” Combined with a glass of wine (2g of carbohydrates), the carbohydrate intake for the meal came to a mere 20.6g, which is less than half a rice ball.

By the end of the event, the guests had heard a lot about low-carb diets while also trying some fantastic food. “I want to live a long and healthy yet also happy life, so I’m certainly going to make use of the tips I learned today,” Mori said. Tsujiguchi, meanwhile, told the guests that he wants to come up with ways for people to live while enjoying sweets and desserts right up to the end of their lives. “To that end, I am planning to publish a book with Dr. Yamada that will be a kind of low-carb Bible.” Dr. Yamada then closed the event with some final words of advice. “There is a philosophy about aging that says happy people live longer. If you eat low-carb food, you can still eat well but you also keep your blood sugar down, and this protects against the appearance of wrinkles and marks on the skin. So please enjoy eating well in the future!”

INFORMATION
Chocolat Universe and Chocolat Universe Beans, two kinds of low-carb, sugar-free chocolates created by Hironobu Tsujiguchi, are now available at INTERSECT BY LEXUS – TOKYO until March 14th (White Day).

1,080 yen (incl. tax)
Ask a member of staff at INTERSECT BY LEXUS for further information.


LINKS
Low-carb Chocolate by Hironobu Tsujiguchi at INTERSECT for Limited Time Only
https://www.lexus-int.com/intersect/tokyo/other/chocolat_universe-20170202.html?nav=jp