How to Improve Health With Sushi

Sushi bars offer low calorie, high flavor food at a reasonable price. If you are unfamiliar with sushi it's much more than raw fish and seaweed. Sushi can contain cooked fish, shellfish or no fish at all. Although sushi is healthy fare you can increase the nutritional value of your sushi by choosing ingredients with a slant toward wellness.

Instructions

1. Prepare your sushi rolls with nori. This seaweed provides a healthy amount of vitamin C that helps your immune system function and repairs tissue damage.

2. Choose brown rice over white rice. White rice loses its fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants when processors strip the bran and germ from the endosperm. Whole grains such as brown rice ward off cancer, heart disease and hypertension.

3. Use fish low in mercury. Popular sushi ingredients crab and wild salmon are low in mercury, so enjoy them anytime. Shark, swordfish and yellowfin tuna are high in mercury, so enjoy them sparingly.

4. Deter cancer and tooth decay with wasabi sauce. Wasabi sauce contains isothiocyanates, which destroy the bacteria that cause tooth decay. Isothiocyanates also inhibit cancer causing carcinogens.

5. Eat with chopsticks because the extra dexterity you must engage to operate chopsticks means it takes longer to consume each bite. Eating slowly gives your body a chance to feel full before you overeat.

6. Add flavor with ginger. Ginger relaxes and soothes the gastrointestinal tract, relieving nausea and motion sickness. Ginger also contains powerful anti-inflammatory agents that can relieve pain associated with joint disease.

7. Curb eye problems with California rolls. California rolls contain avocado that is high in the carotenoid lutein. Some research suggests lutein plays a role in maintaining healthy eyes by reducing the risk of macular degeneration.