Why Sushi?
As has been widely reported, fish contains Omega-3 fatty acids. Nutritional experts recommend that adults should each eat two to three servings of fish dishes like sushi every week to achieve the necessary levels of Omega-3 intake.
Amongst these Omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA are particularly known to be good for our health and are known to be effective in controlling heart disease; to alleviate rheumatoid arthritis; cancer and stroke prevention; brain and nerve system development; and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and depression.
Results of Omega-3 Intake by eating Sushi
Eating sushi or other fish dishes every week is the tastiest solution to improving your health as follows:
- Heart Disease: medical research shows that eating fish regularly can prevent heart attacks and cardiac arrest.
- Rheumatoid Arthritis: patients taking Omega-3 supplements have less joint pain and less morning stiffness; eating fish dishes like sushi on a regular basis will also help with joint pain.
- Cancer: tests show that Omega-3 suppresses tumour growth. In fact, one in three of Japanese women are less likely to suffer from breast cancer compared to their American or European counterparts. This is because supplemental fish oil can change the ratio of fats in breast tissue.
- Strokes: the EPA fatty acid in Omega3 helps to make the platelets in blood less sticky, preventing the build-up of plaque, which triggers stroke and heart disease.
- Brain/Nerve system development in children and young mothers: the DHA fatty acid is required for the optimal development of the nervous system particularly for young children. DHA is associated with good memory and the development of brain cells, promoting positive activity in the brain. DHA is also essential for the growth and functional development of the brain in infants and for normal brain function in adults. The inclusion of DHA by eating fish in the diet can improves people’s ability to learn too.
- Alzheimer’s Disease: a study or more than 1,000 people, with an average age of 75, and demonstrating high blood levels of the Omega-3 DHA acid, were more than 40% less likely to develop dementia (including Alzheimer’s) for the following nine years of their lives than those with low DHA levels.
- Depression: because the brain is the richest source of fatty acids in the human body, and because proper nerve cell function is critically dependent on membrane fluidity, alterations in membrane fluidity impact behaviour, mood and mental functions. As a result, a lack of Omega-3 acids may contribute to depression.
Different Types of Sushi
Sushi is becoming increasingly popular around the world due to its health benefits and a growing understanding of the benefits of eating fish. Despite people’s perceptions, sushi isn’t raw fish, that’s Sashimi and the most popular ingredient in sushi.
Sushi is a type of rice seasoned with vinegar with added ingredients to make a whole host of sushi dishes including:
- Nigiri-zushi are hand-pressed mounds of rice with a dab of wasabi and various ingredients on top. Popular nigiri-zushi dishes include tuna, yellowtail and shrimp.
- Maki-zushi are sushi rolls wrapped in nori seaweed to create dishes like tekkamaki (tuna rolls) and kappamaki (cucumber rolls).
- Inari-zushi are deep-fried tofu pouches stuffed with sushi rice which are brown and oval in shape.
- Chirashi-zushi are sushi served on a plate or bowl with different ingredients on top of the rice.
The key seasonings used in sushi are soy sauce and wasabi (Japanese horseradish). Soy sauce is used as a dipping sauce, and wasabi is put into nigiri-zushi and is sometimes mixed with soy sauce for dipping.
Pickled ginger called gari, is commonly served with sushi while green tea (agari) is the best drink to enjoy with sushi.
Tenkaichi Sushi & Noodle Bar
At Tenkaichi Sushi & Noddle Bar in Cardiff, we serve a range of delicious and nutritious sushi dishes as well as a selection of other traditional Japanese dishes with a British twist, including the very popular Bento Boxes.
To find out more, check out the menus on our website:
