is sushi a good idea?

Question

im trying to lose weight (around 25lbs) and have been very good about working out. i eat sugar free oatmeal for breakfast with some fresh fruit, turkey wrapped in lettuce with fat free mayo for lunch (so theres no bread aka carbs) and then usually have sushi for dinner. i LOVE sushi but my stepmother is concerned about how often i have it. i usually get the philly roll (raw tuna or salmon with cream cheese but i ask them to not put alot of cream cheese in it so it isnt as bad) the spicy tuna roll, the eel roll and a side of edamamae. my stepmom keeps sayin stuff about mercury in the raw fish and it will make me very sick, that the rice is fattening (but theres not a whole ton of rice in sushi anyway) and that sushi is bad for me...is there any validity to what she is saying? is there a website that i can look up the nutrition facts (calories, carbs etc) for different ingrediants that go into my sushi?by the way the resteraunt is very clean and up to code..thanks in advance :)

Answer 1

Sushi is good for you because it is fish.

A philadephia roll (6 pieces) has about 170 calories and a spicy tuna roll probably around 200 calories for 6 pieces, as does an eel roll. So, all that sushi is probably closing in on 600 calories including soy sauce and wasabi. Edamame has about 43 calories per ounce - figure 2 ounces per serving.

So, it looks like your meal has about 600 to 700 calories depending on size of the portions (which can vary place to place).

That's a big meal for one sitting, but not overly so. It all depends on what else you eat for the day.

Probably due to the omega-3 fatty acids contained in fish, eating fish can benefit the heart. The American Heart Association, accordingly, recommends that people eat fish at least twice a week - and more than that if you've got heart disease. However, pollution has sufficiently contaminated water resources with mercury that some fish (usually larger fish who get that way by dining on smaller mercury-containing fish) concentrate enough mercury in their bodies to pose a health hazard to some people.

The FDA recommends that pregnant women and young children should avoid eating the kinds of fish that are likely to be high in mercury. These high-mercury fish - including shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish - should not be consumed at all by pregnant women and young children.

However, the guidelines recommend eating other varieties of fish, known to be low in mercury, twice a week. These fish include shrimp, light canned tuna, salmon, pollock and catfish. The light canned tuna is preferred over the albacore because the albacore tuna are larger and contain more mercury. Most fish sandwiches and fish sticks contain pollock. Pregnant women and children, according to the guidelines, can (and ought to) consume these low-mercury fish twice a week like any other people.

So sushi should not be a big deal. Plus, the quantities of fish in sushi rolls are fairly small compared to when you eat a filet or fish steak at home. So, I wouldn't worry about it much.

Answer 2

You're fine. The rice, like you said, isn't the greatest stuff, but there's not enough of it in sushi to make a big deal out of it. The big mercury scare isn't that big of a deal either. If you were eating 2 or 3 pounds of farm-raised salmon every day, you might have a concern, but that's about the only fish used in sushi that has any mercury issues whatsoever, and even with that, the amount you probably eat isn't enough to be concerned with.

As long as you aren't pounding down 3 or 4 rolls a night, you're fine.

Answer 3

sushi is all good perfect choice u get alot of the nutrients u need in these wonderful little rolls and the rice isnt bad, that carb dieting fad is over u need carbs for energy, anything in moderation isnt bad for you, u just have to moderate. and ur stepmoms right the mercury can eventually be harmful but if eaten to much, then again just moderate how much raw fish u have, everyday isnt good switch it up with a cucumber roll or sumthing different k and good luck

Answer 4

Too much white rice isn't good for you. Eat sashimi (straight up fish) and have brown rice instead.

Fat free mayo is loaded with tons of processed crp. Add something with protein to your breakfast. Theres only about 5 grams of protein in a serving of oatmeal.

In reference to getting sick... our water is polluted, our soil polluted, which means all our food is polluted. If the fish doesn't kill you something else will eventually.

Answer 5

Sushi is O.K., but there are some issues surrounding sushi that you need to be aware of.

First, if your stomach is not acidic, any bacteria in the sushi will not be killed. This is the body's way of protecting itself from raw food. Early man had plenty of stomach acid to take care of this issue, but in our modern world of eating processed foods, soft drinks (there's nothing soft about them), soy, canola oil, etc., the stomach acid is being used up quickly, leaving us with a deficiency of this necessary element in our digestive process.

Parasites are the common place now in most Americans rather than the exception. In fact, one of the probiotics that used to be passed on from the mother with breast feeding is all but extinct.

Even when fish look good to the chef, it still has bacteria and some critters that our bodies usually take care of, provided we are healthy.

In regard to the mercury, this is a real threat. Don't listen to the idiots that tell you the amount of mercury in fish is so small it won't matter. Mercury vapor or mercury ingested by eating fish can and will affect you. The mercury vapor, just from brushing your teeth if you have just one amalgam filling (silver) is enough to damage brain tissue and does. The mercury vapor from brushing goes into the liver and the liver creates mercuric ions that are sent to the brain and kill the Tubulon Matrix around the brain dendrites. Very small quantities do this. Go to the web site: http://commons.ucalgary.ca/mercury/

This web site has a video showing how mercury kills brain cells. It is a very credible, pier reviewed study. The amount of mercury used in this experiment was 100 to 1,000 times less than what you get from brushing with amalgam fillings.

Most of the mercury is coming from polluted oceans due to coal production used for electricity and fluorescent light bulbs, even the so called great energy saving compact fluorescent ones. Neon has huge amount of mercury in it and when it breaks and the mercury goes into the environment, it ends up in your water and food. The idiots who think mercury is not a problem, just look around at the Alzheimer's that is on the huge increase. The lowest mercury content fish is WILD fish caught in northern waters.

To protect yourself from the bacteria issue, you should be taking Betaine HCL + an activator after each meal. This will not only help you protect from the bacteria & viruses, but will remethylate your cells and add 30 + years to your life and cause you to actually absorb the calcium, magnesium, and zinc you are eating, rather than flushing it out. It will also fix any acid in digestion issues and acid reflux. Don't take the ANTACIDS! They increase the bacteria and exacerbate the problems.

The fat free mayo is junk. It contains soybean or canola oil. These won't help you lose weight, they will inhibit mineral absorption, especially iron (over 50%) and slow your thyroid down and cause you to gain weight! Eat olive oil, coconut oil, walnut oil, avocado oil, etc. Stay completely away from margarine and eat only real butter. Margarine is a trans fat and real butter is a monosaccharide that is good for you.

Good luck to you

Answer 6

"Should I be concerned about mercury in fish and what fish are safe to eat?" Find more information here:

http://www.whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=103

If you do want to switch it up every now and then, I suggest eating other filling things like chicken and brown rice is good for you. Your brain does need carbs. I lost tons of weight by eating more poultry and fish.

Answer 7

Yes the rice is bad even tho its just a little bit you seem to be in the right track tho try sashim just the fish but you were heading in the right direction. haha mecury in fish what a joke you know how long that will take to affect you hundreds of years

Answer 8

As with any food, if you over eat, you won't loss any weight.

As far as the mecury, you have to eat LOTS of fish over a LONG period of time, and even then it isn't that big of a health issue.

Answer 9

http://homepage3.nifty.com/maryy/eng/calorie.htm

The mercury levels of most fish are perfectly fine. Check with your doctor if you are concerned. If you get pregnant, definitely let your doctor know of your diet. That could become dangerous.

Answer 10

i think sushi tastes very good, but i don't see the harm in trying to diet with it....