Sushi, Diet Soda, and Artificial Sweeteners

We continue our series of Two-Faced Foods with a look at sushi and diet sodas! This series is all about foods that can make or break your weight loss efforts depending on how they’re prepared or how they’re consumed.

Sushi: Sushi is one of those foods that can go both ways. The fish you get in sushi, especially tuna and salmon, is rich in heart-healthy Omega-3 fat, which is one of those fats that actually aids weight management, the seaweed is good for you because its full of vitamins and minerals, and the whole packaged is nicely balanced out with some fresh, raw veggies and steamed rice (some places even make sushi with brown rice!). You might be asking yourself, “Steamed rice, seaweed, fish, veggies – what could be wrong with that?” The health-benefits of sushi depend largely on the type of rolls you order and how they are prepared. For example, the popular “Spicy Tuna Roll” is made with mayo and the “Philadelphia Roll” is made with cream cheese. When reading a menu, steer clear of items described as:

Tempura = battered and fried
Katsu = coated with breadcrumbs and fried
Agemono = fried
Spider = fried
Dynamite = mixed with a creamy sauce, cream cheese, or mayo
Crunch = fried

It is important to note portion sizes when eating sushi. For example, there are about 60 calories in one piece of a California sushi roll so after just 6 pieces (a typical order) you’ve eaten 360 calories, which isn’t ridiculous, but how many of us stop at 6 pieces? The best tip here is to enjoy an order of your favorite, healthfully prepared roll and then spread out the rest of your meal by ordering light side items and appetizers like steamed edamame, a broth-based soup, and a salad. Enjoy the richer pieces of sushi in moderation and avoid the fried items completely. Remember that since sushi is usually prepared fresh per order, you can always ask your server to have your made with less rice, brown rice instead of white, without mayo or cream cheese, and so on, thereby making even the more decadent rolls, like the creamy Spicy Tuna Roll, figure-friendly! Finally, remember that some dipping sauces are high in sodium (i.e. soy sauce and teriyaki sauce) so if you are sensitive to sodium, treat them like you would a salt shaker and adjust your intake accordingly.

Let’s roll this tip up with some good news: wasabi and ginger, typical accompaniments to sushi, are really good for weight loss because they are “thermogenic foods”, which mean they stimulate your metabolism and help you burn calories! Also, any time you use chopsticks in place of a fork and knife you’ll slow down your eating and that aids in weight loss because it gives your brain time to get the signal from your tummy when you’re full and, in turn, it will give you the signal to stop eating.

Diet Soda and Artificial Sweeteners: There’s no denying that the obesity epidemic took off with the development of artificial sweeteners. While diet soda in itself doesn’t make you gain weight, what it does to your perception of sweetness and your body’s ability to regulate its response to the sweet sensation does. When you drink an artificially sweetened drink, you’re body perceives the taste of sweetness, releases insulin in response, and then starts looking for the calories that should be attached to the sweet taste. When your body finds no calories, it’s stuck with an increase in insulin that hinders your ability to burn fat. It also gets confused because it was expecting to digest something and now there’s nothing for it to digest. Overtime, your metabolism can become distorted as your body becomes less trusting of what you consume. You will have a harder time losing weight and, to top it off, your body may retaliate against the artificial sweeteners by making you crave more sweetness and prompting you to eat more calories throughout the day as it searches for the calories it expects when you drink something that tastes sweet. The moral here is: you can’t really fool your body.

In closing, remember the philosophy of this website: When it comes to weight loss, nothing is off-limits as long as you’re equipped with the right information. You’ve got the information now – so consider yourself armed and dangerous!

Two-Faced Foods: Part 1 CLICK HERE

Two-Faced Foods: Part 2 CLICK HERE

Two-Faced Foods: Part 3 CLICK HERE

Two-Faced Foods: Part 4 CLICK HERE

Two-Faced Foods: Part 5 CLICK HERE