Some sushi has more calories than a Mars Bar

by Chris Sparling (Subscribe to Chris Sparling's posts)
Jan 3rd 2008 5:32PM

Categories: Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

Here's something I learned yesterday, which made me regret all those times I went to a Japanese restaurant and thought I was eating healthy when I ordered sushi. It turns out that those tasty, little rolls pack quite a wallop in the calorie department. I'm talking a real wallop -- like more calories than a Mars bar!! Surprised? Yeah, so was I.

I of course was aware that sushi is wrapped in white rice, which by itself isn't exactly the healthiest food choice. In fact, it's probably wise to avoid simple sugars of this kind altogether, if possible. Instead, reach for brown rice sushis, the healthier option. Still, whether the rice is brown or white, there are some serious calories to contend with. For example, an eel and avocado roll has 372 calories and 17.5g of fat!! Granted, much of this is "good" fat, but still, that's a whole lot of calories for a damn roll of sushi. And, if you make the mistake of getting something fried, you're in even bigger trouble. Remember that shrimp tempura roll you ate? Well, I'm sorry to break the news to you, but it had 544 calories and 13g of fat in it!!

This is not to say that you should avoid eating sushi. But, you may want to give more thought to what it is you're actually eating. Oh yeah, and another bit of bad news regarding sushi -- it's typically very high in mercury. Go to www.gotmercury.org and you'll see for yourself. Again, this does not mean that sushi is the enemy. Just try to be more discerning when it comes to what kind you eat. If you're still not sure, click here for a good article and caloric breakdown of the different types of sushi.

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Comments (10)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Brian 1-04-2008 @ 11:25AM

I really could've told you that!

dean 1-05-2008 @ 3:12PM

Counting calories is for dumb-asses. Normalise your metabolism, and (most people, as there are some with genetic anomalies) can just eat. Your body is smarter than you!

SKW 1-05-2008 @ 3:14PM

Yeeaah, that's common knowledge. Sushi with avacado or cream cheese is pretty bad for you. Try the nigiri types (fish on a bed of rice) rather than maki types (fish and stuff rolled in rice and nori (that means California roll!)). You have a bit more rice normally, but there's never any of the fattier fillings.

aspegne 1-05-2008 @ 4:05PM

I lived in Japan for 8 years - sushi is not an everyday food there. The Japanese diet tends to be heavy on deep frying (croquettes, fried oysters, fried shrimp, chicken and pork "katsu") and also ramen as well as slightly healthier food like soba. Dishes like curry rice (a football sized plate of rice with curry sauce with little itty pieces of meat) are common. Also okonomiyaki (fried egg omlettes with odd fillings), omlettes filled with rice and topped with ketchup, pizza toast, hamburger steak, etc. which don't come to mind as typical Japanese foods.

The Japanese tend to be thin in spite of it all because they don't overload with sucrose and high fructose corn syrup - they do not have a sweet tooth. Asians in general find the sugar content of some of our foods repulsive. Cookies in Japan, as well as candy, tend to be way lower in sugar than ours.

However, the high amount of carbs does not bode well - Japanese tend to have poor bone structure and frail bones which is evidenced by the frequency of crooked legs, bowed legs, pigeon toes, knock knees and other phenomena (bad teeth, bird like overall bone structure) which are quite evident if you live there for any length of time. Koreans tend to eat way more protein in the form of beef (they're more turf, the Japanese surf) - which results in sturdier bones.

Healthwise, the Japanese as well as the Chinese have very high rates of stroke. We tend to get heart attacks, they get stroke. There is also a very high rate of stomach cancer in Japan and Korea, and this may be due to the addition of talc in the rice to keep it from sticking in storage.
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Doctor Bob 1-05-2008 @ 3:49PM

Oh, SPARE ME!!! They've taken away my cigarettes, my booze, my whole milk, my cheese, my steaks and chops, my creamy salad dressing, my salt, my sugar, my dessert, and my butter. NOW they want to take away my SUSHI??? What's left to eat? Ground tree bark? Screw this! If you need me, I'll be down at the sushi bar, pigging out. And I'm specifically going to order WHITE rice!

aspegne 1-05-2008 @ 4:18PM

I forgot to mention - Japanese women tend to overuse water pills - the humidity in that country tends to have an effect on women in terms of water retention - it is not unusual for foreign women to gain 10-15 lbs w/o trying. The water pill thing got notorious because of the predominance of gout which accompanied it. Japanese women were also buying Comtrex (sp?) which is a type of French water that has a lot of dissolved minerals. I used to think it was for health reasons, but I found out that they were buying it as a diuretic/laxative (weight loss again)
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Lose up to a lb a day without hunger, cravings or special foods.
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denise 1-05-2008 @ 4:32PM

Well said Dr Bob. Besides, a Mars bar doesn't have that many calories for a dinner serving. The last report I heard is that avocado is very healthy and shoud be eaten at least once a day. Now they are telling us that its fattening. They don't even know what they are talking about. They make themselves look foolish with these contradicting reports. Moderation is key!

Calicaveman 1-05-2008 @ 4:37PM

Ugggg... OK im not caling you idiots just misled minds, like lets see what would happen if we put someone on an all Mars bars diet vs.someone eating only sushi, I wonder who would be fat and gross, who would last longer, Im an American in Europe, France even, people eat tons of fat!!, and Im sure the calorie intake is on par with the average Americans!!, but for some reason the average individual over here isnt as obese as in America, hmmm? Maybe the quality of ingredients has something to do with it, I wonder, your eating messed up hormone/antibiotic fed foods that arent even close to anything organic, artificially flavored flavorless processed foods pesticides poured all over em and you think you have a big ol belly because youve eaten something fresh and vital, with enzymes even, like sushi, go screw yourself in to an Atkins induced heart attack, the energy it takes to burn food in a measurement like calories is an important piece of the puzzle, if your eating more than you can possibly use on a regular basis it isn't a good idea, and imagine that your waist line would get bigger, but there are still many degrees of health among heavy set people. Take care of yourselves, quit counting calories, and support the people who care about the quality of the produce and livestock in America!!!

Howard 1-05-2008 @ 7:25PM

It's true that a lot of foods are unhealthy, and bad for people (whether it's calories, fat, cholesterol, etc.). But come on, we need to stop saying "This has a certain amount of calories, so I'm not going to eat it" and tackle the real problem: exercise. If you exercise enough everyday, it will balance out the bad stuff that you take in when you eat. The problem with the American lifestyle right now is how much unhealthy food that we eat, and how little we exercise. Trying to avoid unhealthy foods is useless; once one food is proven unhealthy, people will start looking for others until we have about five things that we can eat without gaining weight. Not eating the food won't solve problems; exercising will. If you can burn off what you eat, then go ahead and eat whatever you want!

Belle Starr 1-05-2008 @ 8:49PM

Read the facts . A Mars bar is all sugar and fat . ( Yet Yummy ) Sushi is more protien . ( Also Yummy )
There is a difference between useless calories ( fat buliding ) and working ( energy making ) calories .