Is Sushi Good For You?

I finally satisfied my sushi craving the other day when I went out to eat with several friends. It was actually a funny meal because I had just spent the whole afternoon at the hospital getting some tests done and then met up with my friends for dinner. While gorging ourselves on the delectable pieces of sushi that the chef whipped up, we found ourselves talking about the health benefits of sushi.

Does sushi really have health benefits or is it just good to eat?

Well if you think about it, sushi is simply rice and fish. Of course, different varieties would have vegetables, other kinds of seafood, and sometimes sesame seed. Whether the fish is cooked or not, the fact that sushi has very low fat content remains the same. More so, sushi also has low cholesterol and caloric content. That is good, isn’t it?

In addition to these things, having seafood as the main ingredient implies another healthy reason to eat sushi. Certain seafood have a healthy does of Omega-3 fatty acids. Technical term aside, this simply means that seafood is good for your heart! As such, sushi is not only low in fat and other “bad” stuff, but it also has something good for your body!

Last, take a look at vegetables and the seaweed that is used to wrap the sushi in. These ingredients are definitely high in nutrients and other healthy things (notice that I cannot enumerate them). Cheryl Koch over at Yahoo Health says that phytochemicals are present as well.

I guess I have presented my argument quite convincingly, huh? Sushi is indeed good for the health.

Photo courtesy of breezeDebris

Sushi Safety: Parasites?

Alright, mercury I can take, but parasites? I have heard stories of people getting sick because of parasites but I have always thought that they were merely urban legends. When I ran across Ross Christensen’s series of posts on “How Safe Is Your Sushi?”, I realized just how serious this issue can be. In the course of my research, I also ran across other articles with opposing views.

Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, encourages others to go ahead and eat sushi. She states:

• Order sushi from reputable restaurants, where the restaurant and fish provider follow food safety standards. You can ask if the fish has been previously frozen.
• Completely cooked is always the safest way to eat fish
• The FDA recommends that you don’t risk eating raw fish if you’re pregnant or have a compromised immune system.
• Don’t make your own sushi with raw fish unless you can freeze the fish for more than 72 hours at 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

On the other hand, Michael Vaughn is strongly opposed to eating raw fish himself:

It’s not that I’m opposed to it; I’ve just been working in the seafood industry for too long that the thought of eating sashimi and raw-form sushi gives me the willies.

That’s not to say that he discourages others from doing it. He has some nice tips in his article as well.

So it’s up to you. Should you eat raw fish? I personally think that if you like it, go ahead. You should just follow the suggestions provided by experts. The Japanese have been eating sushi all their lives – how many people do you know have had cases of parasite infection because of it?

Photo courtesy of Giant Gingko

Sushi Safety: On Mercury

As you can probably surmise by now, my craving for sushi has not abated. This is due to the fact that I haven’t had the chance to get me some! In any case, I thought that it would be apt to talk more about sushi in the next few posts.

Did you know that there have been safety concerns regarding sushi? I suppose this issue is inevitable – raw fish, hello? If you do a search on Google or any other search engine using the term “sushi mercury” you will get a lot of results. This is because early this year, a lot of fuss was made over the levels of mercury that can be found in raw tuna, which is one of the most commonly used ingredients for sushi.

As recent as January of this year, MSNBC published an article detailing the potential dangers of this wonderful food:

Lab tests commissioned by the New York Times found so much mercury in tuna in 20 Manhattan restaurants and stores that eating six pieces a week would exceed acceptable levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency, the newspaper reported.

So should we be concerned? I don’t think so:

Sushi tuna is most often linked to high levels of mercury, but don’t panic if you’ve eaten a lot recently. According to the Food and Drug Administration, one week’s consumption doesn’t change the level of methylmercury in the body much at all. If you eat a lot one week, you can cut back the next week or two and you’ll be fine.

So there! The media sometimes makes too much of a fuss over a simple thing that shouldn’t really cause concern. The Japanese eat sushi A LOT and are they being poisoned by mercury? I think not!

Photo courtesy of Giant Gingko

Taspo Card Lent To Teenager

Do you remember the entry we had in April about the smart card that will, ideally, deter teenagers from purchasing cigarettes from vending machines? One of our readers, Jacl, commented on that post:

The only thing is … the machine will not “see” who is actually using the taspo card. If a minor is truly serious in trying to buy cigarettes, it wouldn’t stop the teenager from “borrowing” the taspo card from an adult and using it or finding some other creative ways around it.

Was he right! I was browsing Japanese-related news today when I ran across an article talking about a mother who lent her taspo card to her 15-year-old son! The article from AP goes:

Japanese police are demanding charges against a woman who allegedly lent her 15-year-old son an identification “smart card,” which is being introduced to prevent minors from buying cigarettes from vending machines.

The mother, 41, whose name was not disclosed because she has not been charged, lent her taspo to her son Monday so he could buy cigarettes to smoke in their home, a police official in southwestern Fukuoka prefecture said Tuesday.

Police have sent papers to prosecutors demanding charges of violating the law banning minors from smoking, he said on condition of anonymity because he was merely reading from police records. The maximum penalty is a 10,000 yen (US$96; €62) fine.

If parents themselves do not respect the rationale behind the taspo card, then I suspect that the Japanese government’s campaign may not be as effective as they had foreseen it. Then again, with prosecution as a possibility, then parents might think more than twice before doing something like this.

Miso And Its Health Benefits

While we are on the subject of miso, let me share with you the health benefits of this wonderful soup. Though, of course, its primary purpose (at least for me) is to satisfy my tummy and make me feel better, miso does have potential health benefits. I ran across this article from Associate Content written by Scott Kessman. In it, he details the benefits that miso soup can give to our health.

For women, consuming a bowl of miso a day can help keep breast cancer at bay. The reason for this lies in the inherent nature of the main ingredient, which is fermented soy bean. Another thing about miso is that it is supposed to regulate the production of estrogen in women. This, in turn, helps keep tumors from developing.

Miso also contains a whole lot of other nutrients such as Vitamin E and Vitamin B12. These vitamins help in increasing our immune system. In addition to these, miso contains antioxidants. We all know how antioxidants have come to the forefront because of their anti-aging and anti-cancer properties. Of course, miso contains protein, making it a good alternative to other protein-rich food such as beef and pork.

How about the other ingredients in the soup? The seaweed that is normally included in the dish is purported to have the effect of lowering cholesterol levels. Combine the seaweed with miso paste and what you get is something to help combat problems related to nicotine.

Indeed, miso soup is not only food for the soul but for the body as well!

Get Rid Of The Common Cold With Acerola Berries

Oriental medicine has become big even in the world market. When conventional western treatments do not work, many people turn to cures from the east – and Japan is one of the main countries which offer leading cures. Surprisingly enough, one of the most popular cures in Japan today is not indigenous to the country. I am talking about the acerola berry, which is used widely across the country to cure the common cold.

The acerola berry is a small red berry which is native to the West Indies. It is also known as the Barbados cherry or wild crapemyrtle. Products based on the acerola berry are very popular in Japan today. In fact, if you were to visit Tokyo, or any other major city in Japan, you would see bottles and bottles of acerola berry products. Drug stores, supermarkets, and even convenience stores carry these products.

Why is the berry so popular? Because it is quite effective in keeping one healthy and keeping the common cold away. More than that, the acerola berry (or its products) can make your cold go away faster. The concept is nothing new, really. The reason behind the effectiveness of the acerola berry is its high vitamin C content. It also contains a lot of flavanoids.

How potent is the acerola berry? According to some studies, a drop of acerola juice can contain the same amount of vitamin C that an 8 oz can of orange juice has! So, if you are interested in something healthy and novel (at least for us in the west), you might want to check out acerola berry products.

Robots taking care of senior citizens

In Katsuhiro Otomo’s anime Roujin - Z, caring for the elderly has become such an issue that a robotic bed system was developed in order to take care of them.

Now, in what looks like another case of life imitating art, the Japanese are beginning to use the help of robots in caring for the elderly and the sick.

These robots may not look as sleek as the humanoid like drones developed by Honda or even as technologically advanced as the bed system in Otomo’s Roujin Z, but nevertheless, this system is helping in giving care to the elderly in their own unique way.

The robot, a product made by the Business Design Laboratory Co., is called Yorisoi ifbot and it can “talk” to its users. The 604,800 yen priced device’s main purpose is to help entertain children but it has gained a lot of demand from senior citizens and families who take care of a senior family member.

The robot cannot only respond to greetings by the owner, it can also ask riddles or sing songs as a way of stimulating the brain functions of the elderly.

Another robot that is in the market is the Chapit, developed by Ray Tron, Inc. This robot actually helps the elderly in operating various equipment inside their homes. The robot eliminates the confusion that the elderly feel when trying to operate so many different devices at home.

Japanese Gov’t urges support for suicide victims

One of the most disturbing and definitely saddest facts about Japan is its high suicide rate. Many experts give different views about this phenomenon, but personally, whatever the reasons are, the alarmingly high number of lives lost in the country is very alarming and dampens Japan’s national spirit.

Today the Japanese government issued a statement about this subject, urging that there is a need to take on the issue as a society especially with the number of suicides exceeding 300,000 again for the ninth straight year. The World Health Organization actually ranks Japan as the country with the ninth highest number of suicide victims.

The announcement is part of the first counter suicide white paper that has been released this year. The governement is calling for more care for suicide survivors and support for the families who lost loved ones through suicide.

In its first “counter-suicide white paper” for 2007, the government recognized suicide as a death of a person driven to desperation and someone who is at the end of their rope and said it is necessary to provide care to survivors of suicide attempts as well as the bereaved families of those who have killed themselves. The white paper reflects the government’s concerns over the findings of the World Health Organization, which ranked Japan as the ninth highest in the world for the number of suicide victims per 100,000 persons.

Baby Hatch

Despite much controversy and opposition a hospital at Kumamoto, Kyodo has installed the first ever baby hatch in Japan. The baby hatch is placed in the first floor of the Jikei Hospital and built into the wall. It is accessible outside through a door, which the parents can open to be able to pace the baby on a small specialized bed that maintains the same conditions as an incubator does. The hospital staff is alerted by an alarm and a surveillance camera pointed at the baby’s bed automatically starts capturing images once the door of the hatch is opened.

Taiji Hasuda, the hospital director, says that the baby hatch is a last resort meant to save the lives of babies who would otherwise be left to die. They however hope that parents will instead seek help from the hospital instead of leaving their babies in the hatch.

Kapuseru Hoteru (Capsule Hotels)

A capsule hotel is a type of hotel accommodation popular mostly among travelers stranded for the night and those who are on a tight budget. Capsules are usually about 2m by 1m by 1.5m in dimension and so is unsuitable for those above six feet tall and, of course, for a claustrophobic. Despite the very limited space you will be surprised at how well equipped these hotels are. Each capsule usually comes with a built in mini TV, radio, and alarm clock, plus fresh bedding of course. You can also use the hotel’s lockers, shower rooms, laundry facilities, restaurants, vending machines, and clothes shop. An overnight stay costs ¥2000-4000 while an afternoon nap is usually even cheaper.

Capsule hotels have been around since 1979 and is pretty common in Japan. However the concept still hasn’t spread to other countries despite the convenience they bring.