A Healthy Guide when Ordering Sushi

May 28, 2015

Fish Are Food, Not Friends – The first things you should know when eating at a sushi place are the key words to avoid and helpful tips to follow. So, I will lay this out simply.

 

The DONT’S:

1) Tempura – this is either a vegetable, type of meat, or seafood that is battered and deep fried. Tempura takes a healthy food and turns it into an unhealthy food. Simple as that.

2) Spicy– this means that the roll contains spicy mayo, which is very high is fat since it is mayonnaise based.

3)Crunchy– This means that something has been fried.

4) Limit the avocado. Though the fat in avocados is heart-healthy, the calories certainly add up quick. Also, the avocado flavor is often lost when combined with other ingredients. If choosing two rolls, make sure only one has avocado.

5) Avoid rolls with cream cheese, high in fat and calories.

6) Go easy on the soy sauce. Soy sauce has 25% of your daily value in just one tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce

7) Watch out for the high levels of mercury in tuna, this is a growing problem so just be warned.

8) Most rolls contain 28-60 grams of carbohydrates (which is the carbohydrate equivalent to 2.5-4 slices of bread) and about 290 to 550 calories depending on the roll. Many people get more than one roll so that can bring you up to 580-1,100 calories. This number also does not include your side soup, salad, soy sauce, eel sauce, and spicy mayo for dipping. So, just remember that before you indulge in a a few rolls. But, as always, everything in moderation.

 

 


 

The DO’S

1) Start with a healthy appetizer. There are many deliciously healthy options while dining at a Japanese restaurant. For example, the miso or clear (sometimes known as hibachi soup), Edamame, Green salad with ginger dressing on the side, ect.

2) Eat sashimi ! If you have never tried it, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Sashimi is rich in omega-3s, low in calories and has no carbs. Tuna has around 42 calories per ounce and salmon has 40 calories per ounce.

3) Choose brown rice over white if available. It will give you an extra boost of fiber. Some restaurants even let you wrap your roll in cucumber instead of rice!

3) Stick with the basic rolls. The minute you start getting fancy is when caloric extras pile on (cream cheese, tempura coating, mayonnaise, eel sauce, crunchy toppings). Choose fish, rice, and vegetables for a lighter roll.


Some of the healthier options:

Sashimi is always going to be the healthiest. This is due to the fact that there is no rice and because sashimi alone is high protein, healthy omega fats, and contains no carbs.

As for rolls to choose some of the best choices are:
•Tuna roll/ tuna avocado roll
•California roll
•Yellow tail & scallion roll
•Salmon roll
•Alaska roll
•Rainbow roll
•Cucumber roll

Rolls to stray away from
• Anything with “spicy” in the name- you can always get spicy mayo on the side!
• High calorie and sugary sauces (often found on eel and avocado rolls- eel sauce)
• Spicy crab roll
• Spicy tuna Roll
• Philadelphia roll (or any roll with cream cheese)
• Shrimp tempura roll (or any tempura roll)
• Dragon roll

Hope this helps all of you sushi lovers such as myself! and remember everything in m moderation, this is just a guide if you are trying to watch your calories! xo

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