I don't view raw fish or other sea creatures as "healthy" due, in part, to the contamination, parasites and such.
Mercury, PCBs, toxic metals such as cadmium, lead, chromium and arsenic and radioactive substances like strontium are commonly found in fish used for sushi.
Sushi rolls and accompaniments are often high in fat, simple carbs and sodium too.
As others have said, it's possible to make your own and control what goes into ti, or order very carefully and get what you want when out to make sushi a better choice.
Well, I've gone out for sushi about 3 times ever in my life... not very often because my hubby doesn't like it and it can tend to be a bit pricy. I have to say though, that hands down, my favorite is a tempura eel roll with cream cheese and eel sauce. Kind of a bummer because it's just about the worst one you can get. I am interested in making my own sushi though -- there's a restaurant near where I live that has a sushi making class for $30, and I'm very interested in taking it.
When I do go for sushi though, I usually go with a group of friends, and we all get several rolls to split, and I would say they vary from being healthy to like the eel tempura roll, not so healthy. The last time we went we ordered 2 rolls per person, and could NOT finish all of it! If I went with another person I think we would order 2-3 rolls and it would be just about perfect.
I definitely think that everything in moderation and using a little common sense would be the best way to make sure anything you're eating works for your diet. I don't eat sushi on a regular basis, but I don't think I will ban some of my favorite rolls forever, I will just have to plan for them, just like I might plan for some chocolate or whatever. They key is that eating something like that once in awhile is not what got me to my highest weight at 300+lbs. It was consistently eating more calories every day than my body burned. But who knows, maybe as I get further down my journey the eel tempura roll will no longer appeal to me. I'm open to it!
Look, Sushi comes from the country with one of the longest life spans in the world. Most of the people are very slim, too. If you like eating it I wouldn't stop. If you count calories I would just keep the sushi that contains rice to a minimum. You can look at this next time you eat sushi to make sure it fits into your diet plan.
The raw fish sushi has a nice dose of Omega 3 fatty acids and be low in fat which is very healthy. As everyone said we just need to watch out of "Western" sushi with fried anything, cream cheese, or creamy sauces. I really just wish I could find a place around where I live that serves sushi with brown rice. That would be lovely!
With raw fish there is a risk of mercury poisoning or parasite infection. Though I prefer fresh fish sushi some parasites can be killed in freezing so the use of once frozen fish might not be such a bad thing in some ways! (I will say that I ate fresh fish sushi once a week at least for about five years and never got sick from it.)
Thanks to those who posted the links on how to make sushi. I love sushi and I really miss the quality of sushi on the west coast. (I'm stuck in the Midwest right now. The sushi in understandably sub-par.) I'm a bit intimidated but I hope to give it try!
I live in Japan... if the people here are any indication sushi is incredibly healthy . I have to be careful not to eat 40 plates of Nigiri and I'm good to go. A lot of the time I'll have one or two plates of 2 nigiri and then eat salad and sashimi. MMMM this is making me want to go out for some right now! The fish itself is wonderful you just have to watch out for all the starch and carbs in the rice and the fat that may be lurking in the toppings.
ETA:
I keep seeing people bringing up the risk of parasites... I mentioned this to a Japanese friend of mine and she laughed at me. "Food poisoning" is pretty much unheard of here and they/we eat a LOT of raw fish. None of it has been prefrozen. I'm not sure if it's just that Japan is so much more careful about food handling or if the risk isn't as big as it appears. It was an interesting conversation... but parasites don't seem to be a concern here at all.
I have never been sick off sushi here in Colorado, but I can tell when it's not fresh. Holy God I love sushi. If I could eat it every day I would. It's weird because I can't stand cooked fish.
While food poisoning may be unheard of in Japan, mercury poisoning is certainly not.
We talked about that too... and she hasn't heard of anyone actually getting mercury poisoning... just anecdotal stuff. Her father is a doctor so I dunno... Like I said, interesting conversation .
. I have to be careful not to eat 40 plates of Nigiri and I'm good to go. A lot of the time I'll have one or two plates of 2 nigiri and then eat salad and sashimi. MMMM this is making me want to go out for some right now! The fish itself is wonderful you just have to watch out for all the starch and carbs in the rice and the fat that may be lurking in the toppings.
