Healthy & Unhealthy Sushi Ingredients Going out for sushi is widely considered a healthy way to treat yourself. Whether it's sashimi or sushi rolls, most sushi is pretty healthy; it’s high in omega-3 fatty acids, beneficial minerals and carbohydrates from the rice. However, despite its popularity among movie stars and health-conscious people, sushi can be high in mercury or infested with parasites. Dipping sauces or fusion/Western ingredients can add calories and fat, virtually eliminating any benefit you might get from going raw. We’ll give you the breakdown of healthiest and unhealthiest sushi options. Healthy Sushi Brown rice Brown rice is increasingly becoming an option on sushi menus. This deviation from traditional sushi comes with health benefits: Brown rice maintains many of the nutrients lost while processing white rice (iron, vitamins B1 and B3, and magnesium). The bran layer of brown rice grain contains the fiber that lowers cholesterol and helps in keeping you regular.

The fact that brown rice takes longer to break down in the body means it has a lower glycemic index, so it stabilizes and maintains blood glucose levels instead of causing rapid spikes. Nori The brown rice in sushi will still be wrapped in nori, the black layer that keeps sushi rolls together. sushi grade fish palmdaleNori is dried seaweed and contains a dictionary’s worth of health benefits: It’s high in many vitamins and minerals including iodine; gry online sushi chefvitamins A, E, C, and K; youda sushi chef 2 play onlineWasabi For those who like spice, wasabi is a healthy sushi condiment.  play online game youda sushi chef

This hot green paste is Japanese horseradish and is usually served alongside sashimi. It is a smart pairing because wasabi may help protect you from food poisoning due to its antimicrobial properties. It may prevent platelets from forming blood clots, asthma and cavities, but contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t “clear the sinuses.” Ginger A healthy sushi ingredient that does relieve sinus congestion is ginger. Served in a pickled form, it’s used to cleanse the palate after each piece of sushi. Ginger contains the compounds gingerols and shogaols. These oils stimulate digestive juices and neutralize stomach acids, which is definitely a plus when you ingest raw fish. Maybe you’ve had to fetch a ginger ale for your partner suffering from morning sickness, and that’s because Japanese researchers have found that ginger may be responsible for blocking the body’s reflex to vomit. Ginger can also lower cholesterol levels and limit blood clots in the same way aspirin works in the body.

Mackerel Of all the raw fish you could eat, mackerel sashimi is a healthy sushi choice. Mackerel is packed with omega-3 fatty acids. The small size of the fish means it’s low in mercury. It is also a high-protein fish; there are 25 grams of protein in a 4-ounce serving, and only 160 calories. This healthy sushi choice also contains selenium, which works along with omega-3s to neutralize free radicals. Read on to find out about unhealthy sushi... Want To Lose Weight? Master These Three Simple Tricks To Eating Better Health & Sports News Trending News: Wait, Bagels Can Give You Lung Cancer? Trending News: Paleo Diet Is 'Dangerous And Increases Weight Gain' Tony Horton's Laws Of Nutrition: Sleep It Off Real Women Dish About Their First Times, And Yikes!You are hereHomeJapanese food and beverages for diabetics and low-carb eaters Japanese food and beverages for diabetics and low-carb eaters health and weight lossThe glycemic index is a way of measuring how fast a particular food is digested and the effect that it has on your blood sugar levels.

White bread is assigned a value of 100 and other foods are compared with that. White rice and brown rice have similar glycemic index levels, but other factors make brown rice a healthier choice for your menu. Carbohydrates are an essential part of your daily nutrition. Carbohydrates give your body the nutrients it needs to support your body's functions and provide you with enough fuel for energy. Carbohydrates are found in many foods, in the form of starches, sugars and fibers. Grouped into two categories, carbohydrates include complex carbohydrates, which are starches and simple carbohydrates, which are sugars. The starches and sugars are digested and broken down into glucose, your body's primary fuel. Fibers, both soluble and insoluble, are not digestible and pass through your digestive system. Fiber is necessary for digestive health even though it does not supply nutrients. All carbohydrates are not digested by your body at the same rate. A better way to measure the digestibility of carbohydrates is the glycemic index.

This index measures the changes in blood sugar levels after you eat a particular food. Foods that cause large increases in blood sugar levels have a high glycemic index, while those that don't cause large increases have a low GI. Typically, foods that contain sugars rapidly boost blood sugar levels and so have a high GI. Starchy foods are digested more slowly and tend to have a lower GI. Although the GI is a good guideline, it only measures the effect of a small amount of food, usually 50 g of carbohydrates, over a period of two hours. The glycemic load takes into account the GI of a particular food and also its portion size. The rationale is that a small amount of high-GI food would have the same effect on the body as a larger amount of low-GI food. The glycemic load is calculated by taking the GI of a food, multiplying it by the amount of carbohydrates in grams and dividing that number by 100. Understanding the glycemic load is useful for diabetics and others needing to monitor the quality and quantity of food that they eat.

White rice is the same plant as brown rice, but white rice is actually only the inner part of the rice grain. A milling process removes the indigestible outer hull and the bran, leaving only the starchy white endosperm. Because the milling process removes vitamins from the rice, in the U.S. most white rice has B vitamins added back into it. The glycemic index of white is 44 for converted rice, 56 for long-grain white rice and 72 for short-grain white rice. Brown rice is less processed than white rice. The rice grains have the outer hull removed, but the underlying bran and germ layers are left on the grain. The bran layers are what make the rice brown. Brown rice is more nutritious than white rice because the bran contains vitamins, minerals and oils. It also has more fiber than white rice. Brown rice is sometimes called whole-grain rice. The glycemic index of brown rice is 55, putting it about equivalent to long-grain white rice. However, brown rice is a better food than white rice because of the additional fiber and nutrients it contains.

Since a larger amount of fiber contributes to fullness, you may eat less and thus have a lower glycemic load from brown rice. Substituting brown rice for white rice increases the amount of fiber and other nutrients in your diet and may be healthier for you. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health investigated the effect of consuming white rice or brown rice on the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The study, led by Qi Sun, appeared in the June 14, 2010 issue of the "Archives of Internal Medicine" and used questionnaires about lifestyle and diet to follow 197,228 study participants. The study concluded that replacing white rice with brown rice would decrease an individual's risk for developing diabetes by 16 percent. Gain 2 pounds per week Gain 1.5 pounds per week Gain 1 pound per week Gain 0.5 pound per week Maintain my current weight Lose 0.5 pound per week Lose 1 pound per week Lose 1.5 pounds per week Lose 2 pounds per week