By Nutrition Director Juliet Burgh

Sushi is my absolute favorite food. If I could eat it every day, I would. However, I’m no longer blind to the fact that this so-called healthy cuisine does not live up to its hype. So how can there be unhealthy sushi?

Roll, Roll, Roll The Calories

Many of our Americanized sushi rolls are extremely loaded up with calories, 300-500 calories on average. These unhealthy sushi rolls are often covered in sauces, breadcrumbs, all kinds of additions and the portions have all gotten out of whack. The average person consumes 3 sushi rolls at a meal, or 18-24 pieces.

Part of the reason we eat so much sushi in a sitting is because we don’t get a sense of fullness from rolls. Typically you will find a 60-70% rice ratio in each roll, which is the equivalent to 2 slices of bread! Because of this disproportionate ratio between simple carbs and protein/fat you will often feel like a contestant on a sushi eating contest, where you can just keep on eating without feeling full. Contributing to this is hunger is the dehydrating effects of excess amounts of sodium in the soy sauce we coat on each piece and the alcohol we wash it down with. Often times thirst can mimic itself as a craving for food.

Now lets get specific about the type of rolls because if we can pull back the restaurant curtain on unhealthy sushi, then we are all less likely to indulge in the same old habits.

  • Crunchy Rolls: Whenever you see “Crunchy” in the name, that is referring to fried breadcrumbs that are cooked in poor quality vegetable oils.
  • Eel Sauce: Eel sauce is loaded with sugar, corn syrup and caramel coloring (same stuff found in Coca-Cola!).
  • Spicy Sauce: spicy sauce is basically cheap mayonnaise and unless you’re making it from scratch with the right kind of oil, you are ingesting awful calories with no nutritional value.
  • Sticky Rice: How do you think they get the sushi rice so sticky and delicious? A combination of sugar and vinegar. Like we really need more sugar in our diets, right?

Sushi Condiments & Sides Aren’t Clean Eating

It’s not just the rolls that can be bad for you. Even the sushi condiments carry a hefty amount of crap. My mind was blown when a fellow nutritionist friend told me that the seaweed salad I was “addicted” to wasn’t a homemade super food but came in huge vats from factories. So what is really in those delicious condiments and side dishes?

  • Pickled Ginger: The traditional pickling process turns ginger pale yellow or slightly pink. However, many Japanese restaurants serve bright pink ginger which contains food coloring, specifically red #40 or Allura Red.
  • Seaweed Salad: Wakame and agar are the actual plants but guess what else you are ingesting: high-fructose corn syrup, processed vegetable oil, sugar, sesame seeds, salt, vinegar, glucose syrup or starch syrup (“Mizuame”), hydrolyzed protein, cloud ear mushroom, red pepper, glucose, acidulant, food coloring (Yellow #4 and Blue #1). MMmmmmm
  • Wasabi: Think you’ve been eating real wasabi this whole time? Chances are you’ve never had real wasabi, as 90% of the industry buys a combination of horseradish, mustard and food coloring. Not the worst, but it has additives and it’s not what it says it is.

What Sushi Can I Eat?

Now that we know all the negatives about sushi, why was this food touted as healthy at all. Well fish is full of anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids, seaweed has trace minerals and iodine and all the veggies and avocados that come with your roll are packed full of vitamins and nutrients. You just have to be smart about what you’re ordering. Below you fill find a list of the best options to choose from when ordering at your favorite sushi places:

  • Sashimi (just the raw fish)
  • Sushi (raw fish on rice)
  • Basic Maki (rolls) without all the toppings
  • Request any roll of your choice to be made without rice. They can often wrap them in cucumber or seaweed.