Is it possible to eat rolls and sushi while losing weight?
Anyone who has encountered this traditional Asian dish at least once in their life knows what its main ingredients are. The rolls are boiled rice and sea fish in all its diversity wrapped in nori (a type of seaweed). It could be salmon, tuna, eel. Often added to rolls and seafood: shrimp, squid, crab meat.
There are also vegetable versions of the Asian delicacy with cucumber, avocado, and chukka seaweed. Sushi differs from rolls only in the method of preparation and shape.
Sushi
Benefits and disadvantages of the dish
Many people are interested in the question of whether it is possible to lose weight by eating only these dishes. It all depends on what is included in their composition. Rolls and sushi come in a variety of variations, and the calorie content is determined solely by the ingredients.
But it is worth noting that the main component of the exotic delicacy, rice, contains a lot of calories, which does not put you in the best mood. In addition, it is able to saturate the body for a short time, so very soon after a hearty lunch or dinner a person again feels the urge to snack. Nevertheless, you can include rolls and sushi in your diet if you eat them correctly. For them to be beneficial, you need to follow a diet.
What and how much can you eat?
It’s clear that you shouldn’t overeat on rolls and sushi. This is fraught with a feeling of heaviness in the stomach. But with their help you can diversify your menu when losing weight. If you eat only this kind of food, it is optimal to eat 20 - 25 rolls a day, while at breakfast it is better to eat the largest portion - 8 - 10 pieces. At dinner, on the contrary, there is no need to be overzealous; just four are enough, otherwise the stomach will not have time to digest everything, and excess fat will still begin to be deposited.
For lunch, a standard portion of 6 pieces is recommended. You can simply replace one of your meals with an “exotic” one.
The diet itself should be short-lived and take no more than three days, otherwise those losing weight risk stomach problems and poor health. As you know, a monotonous diet is harmful to health and leads to a lack of essential microelements and vitamins in the body.
When losing weight, you can eat diet rolls, the number of calories in which is minimal. In order not to harm your figure, you will have to give up some ingredients, such as avocado, cream cheese, mayonnaise.
It is also better to avoid rolls with smoked and salted fish, since they retain water in the body and prevent weight loss. It is recommended to use raw, lightly salted or steamed. But you need to be careful and choose only fresh fish, since poor quality or poorly processed fish can be infected with parasites.
Rolls
Shrimp and crab meat will not cause any harm to your figure; you can safely put them in rolls. For fish, those that contain little fat are suitable, for example, tuna or pink salmon. Before preparing the dish, rice should be washed several times and only then boiled. Some people recommend replacing regular rice with brown rice; it is considered healthier.
You should also diversify your menu throughout the day so that your body receives the maximum amount of useful vitamins and substances. To do this, you need to change the filling, combine rice with fish or shrimp, and with cucumber or chukka.
To find out whether sushi is possible for weight loss, watch this video:
Japanese cuisine: sushi makes you fat!
The example of slender Japanese people who live happy and healthy to over 90 years old turned out to be very contagious, so instead of rich borscht we began to lean on miso soup with wakami seaweed, fried cod and potatoes were exchanged for raw tuna, and we preferred sandwiches with red caviar rice with small flying fish eggs.
Most nutritionists do not approve of this diet. In their opinion, our food enzymes are evolutionarily adapted to digest local products or, in extreme cases, dishes from nearby regions - for example, German sausages, Italian pasta or Uzbek pilaf. The body can react negatively to exotic ingredients and spices, so experts advise not to abuse them. Moreover, it is not only the famous fugu fish that poses a danger, but also such seemingly harmless treats as salmon sashimi, tuna sushi or California rolls. Skip the sashimi
To prepare sushi and sashimi, Japanese restaurant buyers go to the fish market at 5 am, buy the freshest seafood, cover it with ice or transport it alive to their establishments. In the evening, the remaining fish are thrown away in order to purchase a new catch the next day. Alas, we cannot enjoy such excellent fresh products. Most sushi bars work with frozen products, and not always of high quality. “Sushi has such a rich microbiology that it’s simply scary: bacteria, helminths, parasites,” say experts who observed the fish under a microscope. If the infected sea creature had been thoroughly fried or boiled, nothing terrible would have happened, but in its raw form it is dangerous, and this is evidenced by sad statistics: there are a lot of poisonings from Japanese fast food.
Healthy Sushi |
- Sushi with boiled shrimp
- Rolls with cucumber, avocado and crab meat
- Rolls with smoked eel
Harmful Sushi
- Philadelphia rolls
- Rolls "California"
- Sashimi and nigiri with raw fish
Therefore, if you decide to treat yourself to exotic cuisine, try to avoid cheap eateries, do not buy sushi and rolls that have been lying on the supermarket counter all day, and do not order such dishes over the phone. Doctors advise avoiding sashimi and other treats that contain raw fish altogether, and giving preference to delicacies made from processed ingredients: smoked eel, boiled shrimp, lightly salted salmon. Of course, there is little Japanese in such dishes, but your health is safe.
Is tuna not tuna?!
If in an ordinary sushi bar you are offered sushi with tuna of a rich burgundy color, it is most likely a fake. The valuable fish, without which the Japanese cannot imagine their lives, has become a rare and expensive delicacy. But its closest relatives - albacore, yellow tuna and other tropical species - are caught in large numbers. They are inferior in taste to the elastic and juicy red tuna, and their color is pale - from white to pink, so the meat is tinted. By the way, the same thing happens with flying fish caviar - any caviar that is turned into scarlet with the help of dyes is used for its production. Naturally, there is very little benefit in such a semi-artificial product.
Harm of soy sauce
Back in 1968, American doctors described the so-called “Chinese restaurant syndrome”, which manifested itself 15-20 minutes after eating, lasted up to two hours and was characterized by numbness of the neck from the back, gradually spreading to both arms and back, as well as general weakness and rapid heartbeat. The cause of the syndrome was identified as a high concentration of sodium gluconate in food, which is actively used in the preparation of oriental dishes, soy sauce, miso soup and fast food. The food additive enhances the taste of treats and is addictive, which is why people periodically want to eat a hamburger again or dip eel rolls in sauce. But sodium gluconate is a mere trifle compared to other harmful substances that a soy product may contain. The fact is that there are two types of sauce sold on our shelves - natural and chemical. If you want to buy a healthier option, pick up a bottle and read the list of ingredients. If it consists of water, soybeans, wheat and salt, then this means that this is a sauce prepared by natural fermentation over six months. You can safely buy it. If the composition contains any other ingredients (dyes, preservatives, flavors), then the sauce was obtained using accelerated technology using hydrogen chloride. It will be too salty, sharp, and bitter. Such a surrogate will make you thirsty and leave a chemical taste in your mouth. Moreover, as a result of artificial hydrolysis, a dangerous carcinogen, chlorpropanol, is formed in the product. Unscrupulous chemical manufacturers do not monitor its concentration, so its quantity can go off scale. According to the EU, the most harmful substances are found in unnatural products from Vietnam. A lot of chloropropanol has also been found in sauces from Tajikistan, China, Taiwan and the Philippines.
How to choose the right rolls and sushi
The decision about what kind of rolls you can eat while losing weight will depend on the type of diet you decide to follow. If it is aimed at reducing the consumption of proteins and carbohydrates, then Japanese cuisine is unlikely to be suitable. The culprit for this will be the main ingredient of the dish - rice. It contains a large amount of carbohydrates, so eating only rolls and sushi will not show good results with such a diet.
If the emphasis is on limiting the amount of food consumed, then this food will be an excellent aid in losing weight if it does not contain a large number of calories.
There are a number of tips suitable for both types of diets that will help you choose the right rolls. If you set a goal to lose weight, and your diet is based on Japanese cuisine, then you need to:
- Give preference to brown rice over regular white rice. It is much healthier, containing magnesium and selenium, which the body needs. Moreover, unprocessed brown rice is rich in fiber, which is very effective in weight loss.
- Avoid seasonings. Traditionally, a serving of rolls is accompanied by spicy wasabi and pickled ginger. Those who eat rolls for weight loss should not even look at these snacks, they will only whet their appetite.
- Don't go overboard with soy sauce. It prevents the removal of water from the body, so it is better to reduce its consumption or avoid it altogether.
- Do not choose rolls with cheese and mayonnaise. These ingredients contain a lot of fat and calories, which will definitely not reduce inches from your waist.
- Omit tempura (breading). Fried rolls are a calorie bomb because they are cooked in a lot of oil, which is unhealthy.
- Wash down your meal with green tea without sugar. This excellent source of antioxidants easily quenches the thirst that comes with eating salty foods.
- Enjoy all the variety of Japanese cuisine. In addition to rolls and sushi, various low-calorie salads and miso soup are suitable for consumption during the diet. It perfectly warms the stomach, fills it, dulling a strong appetite. In total, the soup contains 75 kcal - less than a serving of rolls.
If you choose all the ingredients correctly, the calorie content of a serving can be reduced to 200 - 300 kcal. But sometimes it doesn’t hurt to celebrate your stomach and eat some rolls with cheese and smoked salmon. The only thing is to do it better in the first half of the day.
Calorie content of sushi and rolls
Is the sushi diet effective?
Losing weight by eating these exotic dishes will not be difficult if you follow a number of simple rules. The sushi diet is comparable in effectiveness to any other diet aimed at proper nutrition and avoidance of sweets and starchy foods. If you eat only healthy foods, vegetables, fruits, and alternate fish with meat, you can be sure that the kilograms will begin to fall off.
But rolls and sushi themselves do not contain special substances that help burn fat. Therefore, you should not count on rapid weight loss if you adhere to such a diet. But rolls containing few calories can be used as one of the dishes of the selected diet.
Among the advantages of this diet, one can note the improvement in the condition of the skin, hair and nails thanks to the phosphorus contained in fish. Also, Japanese cuisine improves digestion and normalizes the functioning of the thyroid gland.
History of sushi
Sushi (by the way, the correct pronunciation of the hieroglyph is “sushi”) was originally a way to store fish. The Japanese soaked rice with a special fermented composition using koji yeast, covered the fish with it and put it under pressure - in this form it was preserved for up to several months. The rice itself was then thrown away.
In the 19th century, Tokyo chef Hanaya Yohei came up with a version of nigiri sushi: he served slices of raw fish on rice seasoned with sugar and vinegar. It is believed that he was inspired to do this by the problem of eating sushi in the theater: now there was no need to throw away the rice and it was much more convenient.
Gradually, this combination took root in Japan, fell in love with local shopkeepers, and so spread throughout the country and beyond. Today there are about 120 thousand Japanese restaurants around the world.
Photo: Free To Use Sounds / Unsplash
A few more interesting facts: the Japanese prefer to eat sushi with their hands and do not like to dip it in soy sauce - in good restaurants, the sushi master already prepares the dish with the addition of sauce in the amount that will fully reveal and not overwhelm the taste.
Opinions of experts and women about the product
Nutritionists believe that eating only rolls and sushi will not give good results. They advise using these dishes only to dilute the main diet - one serving 2 - 3 times a week will be enough.
If you build your diet exclusively on rolls and sushi, then there is a high risk of adverse consequences for your well-being: constipation, fatigue due to lack of necessary vitamins and substances, heaviness in the stomach. Also, you cannot sit on such a diet for a long time; it is best to arrange fasting days on such food.
Of course, experts note that this dish should be dietary, not containing smoked or salted fish, cheese, or mayonnaise. You should not get carried away with fried rolls, oil will only help you gain extra pounds.
Reviews from women who have tried this diet are varied. Someone was delighted with this diet and easily lost 2 - 3 kilograms in a week. It is especially noted that a positive emotional attitude in such a matter is important; it was thanks to it and the love for Asian food that women were able to achieve the desired result.
As another positive aspect, those losing weight called the quick saturation of the rolls, which allowed them to forget about food for a long time and not make useless snacks.
For others, dieting has become a real challenge. After eating rolls and sushi for several days, my stomach began to hurt, which discouraged any desire to continue holding on. Perhaps such effects arose due to non-compliance with basic recommendations, and above all, a monotonous diet.
We recommend reading about the Chinese diet. You will learn about what the Chinese diet is, its advantages and disadvantages, contraindications, menus, weight loss results.
And here is more information about the rice diet for weight loss.
It is possible to lose weight on a sushi diet if you approach it rationally. You shouldn’t focus only on rolls; you need to include other Japanese dishes, fruits, vegetables, low-calorie and healthy foods in your diet. If you follow all the recommendations, the extra pounds will easily go away, and your health will be excellent.
Is it possible to gain weight from sushi and which sushi is the healthiest?
In just a few years, a delicious and original sushi dish has become an integral part of our lives. Many simply cannot imagine their life without this dish, and this is not surprising, because sushi is also surprisingly healthy. Or not?
It is generally accepted that fish and other seafood make sushi incredibly healthy, because any products of marine origin bring undeniable benefits to our body. There are even a variety of sushi diets, and they look tempting, because no one will refuse to lose weight by eating their favorite food?