Sushi began as a simple way to help preserve fish, but has over the centuries expanded into a world-wide food phenomenon with sushi restaurants opening throughout the United States and in countries all over the world. Not all sushi is good for you, but by choosing the right ingredients sushi may help you lose weight, when part of a healthy diet combined with regular exercise.
Seafood Benefits for Weight Loss
Seafoods provide a wide range of benefits for your body. These benefits include heart and blood vessel benefits from the healthy fat content contained in seafoods like salmon and tuna. Seafood is also typically lower in calories compared to other animal-based proteins, especially in the portion sizes found in sushi. Lower calorie intake means a greater chance at creating the calorie deficit needed for weight loss. Some of the most common seafood found in sushi includes tuna, salmon, eel, crab and shrimp. The amount of calories in each roll will vary widely depending on the size of the roll and the sushi chef's preparation style, but examples of healthy options include basic tuna rolls at 140 calories for 130 g of sushi, or a California roll without sauce at 150 calories for 130 g.
Mayo and Cream Cheese
Sushi has a better chance of helping you lose weight if you avoid both mayo-based sauces and cream cheese. Some of the main examples of these rolls include the Philadelphia roll, the smoked salmon roll with cream cheese and even some California roll recipes will use mayonnaise. Mayo adds up to 90 calories per tablespoon in your rolls, and cream cheese can add 51 calories per tablespoon.
Fried Rolls
When sushi is fried in oil, it takes on the calories from whatever oil it was fried in. Depending on the type of oil, it may also significantly increase the saturated fat and cholesterol content, which can have a negative impact on your cardiovascular system. Fried sushi is often breaded, with either the entire roll breaded, or just an ingredient inside the roll, such as shrimp. This breading increases the overall calorie content of the roll.
Go Vegetarian
To increase your chances at weight loss, opt for vegetarian rolls as part of your sushi meal. Most sushi restaurants offer vegetarian rolls made with rice and seaweed like traditional rolls, but with replacing fish with only vegetables like cucumber, asparagus and avocados. Although avocados are a beneficial source for healthy fats, they are also higher in calories than other vegetables. Consume avocados in moderation to prevent adding additional calories to your meal. Periodically choosing vegetarian rolls also helps cut your mercury intake from fish if you plan to have sushi as a daily aspect of your diet. The USDA recommends that pregnant women and children limit fish and seafood intake to 12 oz. a week. However, for men and post-menopausal women there is not a set limit as the benefits of seafood typically far outweigh the risks of the mercury within the seafood.
Rice Choices
Although white rice is traditionally used in sushi rolls, health-conscious sushi restaurants are now offering the option of brown rice as well. Although both types of rice have similar calorie counts, brown rice has more nutrition as the bran and the germ of the rice are left intact. This also increases the fiber content of the rice, which benefits weight loss as fiber keeps you feeling fuller longer between meals, helping reduce overall calorie intake.
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