Diet Q & A: Is it safe to eat sushi on a diet?
More recently, one of my good friends decided to go on a diet. Hell, actually two of my good friends. Boring I know. And it came up that sushi was ok to eat. Common sense will tell you, of course sushi is less fattening and heavy than say a loaded potato, or pasta but how healthy is it? More importantly, how fattening is it compared to other foods?
Based on quick research, a spicy tuna roll is 290 calories per roll. A standard roll has 6-8 pieces. A California roll has 255 calories per roll. Surprisingly, 2 pieces of salmon sashimi with no rice [quick lesson: Sashimi – only fish, nigiri – fish with the rice] is 164 calories/6 grams of fat. I don’t know about you but I could eat a good 8 pieces of just fish which is freaking over 650 calories already. ZOMGWTF. That’s like my whole calorie intake for a whole effin day. Lucky for you non-salmon fans, salmon is a pretty fatty fish so eh. For tuna sashimi, it’s 61 calories per piece slightly better than salmon.
[Btw. If you like it with rice, here’s a guide from Sushifaq.com:
For a nigiri sushi item, just add 30 calories, minimal fat, 6.3 grams of carbs and 0.5 grams of protein to the sashimi data to include the rice.]
So I mean, numbers are nothing without comparison.
A 6 oz grilled steak seasoned with paprika, sage, cayenne, garlic is 260 calories.
A 5 oz skinless, completely unseasoned boiled chicken breast [4 oz is a deck of cards] is 230 calories not accounting for the olive oil you may cook it in.
So, the jury is still out on sushi. But the most important thing is, it’s all about portion control and self restraint.. Just cuz it seems healthy doesn’t mean it is. There’s a big difference between being ‘fit’ and being ‘healthy’. Being skinny does not mean you’re healthy in any sense. Want proof? See my post about not being able to run far without losing my breath. Yikes.
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