Slim Your Sushi Order

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written by The Nutrition Twins,

Light and refreshing, sushi is an ideal warm-weather meal that serves up a healthy dose of omega 3s. The wrong order, however, can set you back nearly 600 calories. Sharpen your sushi smarts with these five tips to slim down your order.

Start with fiber: Getting enough fiber is one of the biggest challenges at sushi restaurants. Though fish contains omega-3s and protein, it doesn’t deliver fiber, and white rice also lacks fiber. To make up for it you’ll want to opt for a fiber-filled appetizer. Oshitashi (steamed spinach with a light mirin sauce and soy sauce), a green salad with dressing on the side, or edamame in the pod (one cup has 6 g of fiber) are all good bets.

If you like sashimi: You’ve made a good choice. You can eat between four and nine pieces of sashimi (1- to 3/4-ounce servings of raw fish) for 225 calories. Keep in mind that some fish—salmon and eel in particular—have more calories than others such as scallop, tuna, and yellowtail. For a complete 400-calorie meal, order a half-cup of brown rice (120 calories) on the side.

Calories in fish per ounce

Sea bass: 25
Octopus: 25
Scallop: 25
Shrimp: 30
Tuna, yellowfin: 30
Yellowtail: 40
Salmon, wild: 40
Tuna, bluefin: 40
Salmon, farmed: 50
Eel: 65

If you want a sushi roll: Choose nagori. Nagori is wrapped in cucumber rather than rice, and most restaurants can accommodate this order, even if it’s not on the menu. The average sushi roll is made with roughly 3/4 cup of rice, which accounts for nearly 200 calories per six-piece serving. You can also ask for your roll to be prepared with “light rice” (less rice), or request nutrient-rich brown rice instead of white.

If you prefer traditional sushi rolls: Keep your meal below 400 calories by ordering a basic sushi roll (any fish with rice and vegetables), a few pieces of sashimi, and a salad. To calculate the calories in an average piece of a sushi roll, add 30 calories to the counts above, which accounts for the rice. (So a piece of eel sushi would have 95 calories, yellowtail would have 70, and so on).

If you upgrade to a special roll: Stick to just one sushi roll without any sides to limit yourself to 400 calories. And keep it simple! Avoid menu items marked spicy (means “contains mayo”), crunchy (code for “contains tempura”), and fried. Each tablespoon of spicy mayo packs 100 calories and 11 g of fat, and a tablespoon of cream cheese adds another 50 calories. A tuna roll has 190 calories, while a spicy tuna roll has 290. Most of all, steer clear of tempura—one shrimp tempura roll comes loaded with more than 500 calories.

TELL US: What do you order at a sushi restaurant?

Edamame Hummus