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Close your mouth. Sushi can contain more calories than a big mac with fries. Though some celebrities such as Keira Knightley and Victoria Beckham claim to swear by the raw fish, it might not be just as healthy as you may think. These days eating sushi for lunch is as common as picking up a sandwich.
The Japanese dish can be brought from every major supermarket, and even common pharmacies such as Duane Reade. The British sushi industry is surging, worth more than £56 million annually, so whats the big fad over something so “fat”? The main reason for it’s surge in popularity is it’s reputation and misconception as being a “healthy meal”.
According to nutritionist Rachel Beller a “light lunch” of sushi may mean that you overdose on both calories and carbohydrates. In her book Eat To Lose, Eat to win, she states “A typical sushi roll contains 290-350 calories and has the carbohydrates equivalent of two and a half-four slices of bread. So a California roll (round rolled sushi, containing a small piece of fish and avocado plus fatty mayonnaise) equals two sandwiches filled with crab sticks (processed fish that is flavored and colored to look and taste like crab), a silver avocado and a tiny bit of veg”.
A sushi lunch, that usually contains up to 3-4 rolls, adds up to a whooping 1,050 calories. So where exactly do these calories come from? Sushi contains very little protein, despite its expense. Healthy experts say that a portion of fish should weigh around 140g, but on average, the fish in a California roll weighs just 5g. In order to get the governments recommendation of eating two portions of fish each week, you would need to eat 28 pieces of sushi or more.
It is also full of processed carbs. It’s not hard to see that white rice is the main ingredient in sushi, but sometimes it makes up to 75% of the dish. Long grain white rice is heavily processed, causing it to lose vitamins, minerals and fibre, which is vital to maintain a healthy digestive system. Unlike being boiled in water, sushi rice has great amounts of sugar as well as vinegar in it to add flavoring.
That flimsy sheet of seaweed packed with fibre, iron, calcium and potassium is definitely a benefit, but a very small one at that. If you eat six California rolls you’ll get 1g of seaweed wrapping, which doesn’t even come close to providing a women’s daily iron or calcium percentage that she needs per day.
Eating too much salt increases the risk of high blood pressure, the risk of heart disease, and the risk of having a stroke. Though sushi has been touted as a great choice for dieters, it’s important to realize that not all sushi rolls are low in calories and fat.
“Yo Sushi’s” mixed sushi box has a shocking 755 calories, and usually these sushi box’s sneak in secret ingredients such as cream cheese or mayonnaise. They have very little nutrients when compared to a sandwich. Being low in calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C and folate which helps us sustain a healthy nervous system. Ready to throw the chopsticks away?!