Sushi is not okay

[colormist]

I could have sworn I wrote somewhere that Sushi was okay. I just wanted to retract that statement. I went to a sushi bar this weekend strictly to test and see if rice vinegar made me sick (this is what they use to make the rice stick). Rice vinegar is made from sugar, but (as some of us have learned) some vinegars are okay even though they're made from sugar-sources (red-wine vineagar, apple cider vinegar).

I tried a Philadelphia roll and was REALLY sick within an hour of eating. Of course, this also might have been due to the soy sauce, but I'm just avoiding it all together. No more testing sushi for me.

This is kind of bittersweet because it just so happened this was the same day that I finally managed to convince my husband to try sushi. Of course he fell in love with it. Go figure.

[sarahk]

Also, I've seen sticky rice recipes that use sugar as well as rice vinegar. Lucky for me, my neither my husband nor I like fish...

If you are looking for something to eat at a Japanese restaurant, try Shabu-Shabu---they bring you beef sliced very very thin, and a giant tray of cabbage, mushrooms, green onions, tofu, bean sprouts,.....you then drop the meat and veggies into a pot of boiling water (be careful--sometimes they uses a broth which may have sugar) for a short time, and eat over plain white rice. The pot of water is like a Korean boiling pot-with a chimney in the center.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabu_shabu

I believe Red wine vinegar is OK, b/c sugar is not included, unlike balsamic vinegar--wine is OK for some HFIers, b/c when alcohol ferments, it "eats up" the residual sugars--so, the higher the alcohol content of a wine, the less sugar.

Here is some stuff I found out on vinegars:

The commercial balsamic sold in supermarkets is typically made with red wine vinegar or concentrated grape juice mixed with a strong vinegar which is laced with caramel and sugar

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar#Wine

[julienc]

Sarah, thanks for the link on the vinegar discriptions. That was very interesting.

I lived in Japan briefly a few years back and actually did okay with most of their food. I can't do Sushi - the sticky rice was much too sweet for me, which now makes sense why. I also can't eat the nori (seaweed) that they often wrap Sushi in and tend to use as garnish on other foods. I don't think that's a sugar thing - I just do not care for the taste AT ALL.

Colormist, there may be hope for you eating out Japanese food if your husband likes it. I ate lots of sashimi - just the raw fish that wasn't wrapped up with the other things. I also ate a lot of soups with udon noodles, and sometimes the soba noodle platters. I also love the shrimp tempura, which is quite popular here in the US. The gyoza (fried dumplings) have also been okay for me.

Do some of you have problems with soy? I've heard that can be a problem with HFI. I eat the edemame beans like crazy and haven't had a problem with them. Very yummy, and often an appetizer at Japanese places.

[colormist]

I have some problems with soy. I can't handle non-dairy creamer, soy coffee, or soy creamer. I can use kikoman soy sauce, though. It just depends. I was thinking it might have been their brand of soy sauce. It tasted a little off (not the super-salty Kiko-variety).

I think I've had some udon soups. I'll have to try the soba noodle platters and gyoza next time (there's a sushi place next door to my office).

[sarahk]

Do you have a problem with pure soy--like tofu?
Most non-diary creamers-and the like- use some corn sugar-which though could be mostly glucuse, could contain fructose--and some just use pure sugar.

[lisa]

I would be interested to know how people do with these kinds of things as well. Nate can't tolerate soy milk and chicken nuggets containing soy protein isolate from what I've seen. I bet he would like tofu if he could have it, simply because it is fairly plain tasting. Seems like a great protein source and there aren't many of them in his current diet.

Nutritiondata.com was no help. Sugars were under 1 gram per serving, but they were not broken down.

Julie - how often are you able to eat edamame with no side effects?

[colormist]

sarahk said:

Do you have a problem with pure soy--like tofu?
Most non-diary creamers-and the like- use some corn sugar-which though could be mostly glucuse, could contain fructose--and some just use pure sugar.

Some soy things seem okay, others not so much. I think they're just not disclosing the full ingredient list. The soy coffee I tried was grounds, just like Maxwell House, etc. That's what I thought it was odd. I had never had problems with coffee before, but that one set me down hard.

The soy creamer I tried the autumn before I knew what HFI was. It made me feel "icky" and I didn't want to try it again. I didn't realize I had purchased soy until I tried it.

Then again, Tofu in japanese/chinese soups doesn't make me sick. Neither does kikoman soy sauce. I could see the sugar appearing in the creamer, but not the coffee grounds. It's very odd. I wonder if it has anything to do with how it's prepared? I should try plain soy beans sometime.

[ukbill]

Hi all,

Yes I too have a problem with Soya products even Soya OIL!.

However Kikoman Soy is always good.. I could not cook much without it!

Making your own Sushi is easy just use sticky short grain rice (pudding or paella rice is good)
If you need a sweetener or something more to stick it together use Lactose as this is a very sticky sugar and is used in the food industry to stick flavours onto all sorts of things like potato chips.

Anything with "none milk Fat" or Vegetable protein gives me bad wind! So I avoid otherwise everyone avoids me!

Plain Soy beans are not a good idea. They caused me enough grief when I tried them as do almost all beans only much worse with Soy beans.

Keep smiling

[julienc]

Jun 14, 2007 19:28:39 GMT -5 lisa said:

Julie - how often are you able to eat edamame with no side effects?

Sorry, just now seeing this question since this thread was brought up again. I don't eat the edemame (soy beans) as much now, but when I was in Japan I ate single servings of them a few times a week without trouble.

Perhaps one's reaction would be related to "regular" beans? UkBill mentions not being able to tolerate other types of beans or the soy, but I do fine on other beans (pinto, navy, lima, etc).

[ukbill]

I am able to eat a small amount of beans but always get digestion problems afterward.

Most been meals taste quite sweet to me. I like black eyed peas but they do not like me

The variety which cause me the least problem are Chick Peas and in their prepared form Humus.

I use them in their plain boiled state with Tuna and Feta Cheese with a tiny amount of finely chopped spring onion.. (yes I know I should not but it adds so much I can put up with a little "Gut Rot" the next day).
Add Hot Pita Breads and a "leafy lettuce" and that is a really nice meal.

It is not just Soy Beans but Soy Oil as well .. with me so perhaps I just have a "normal" allergy to Soy and beans in General? Soy Sauce is no problem however.

[colormist]

I've recently discovered an affinity for Soynuts. (Roasted soy beans, I presume). They're made with soynut halves and sunflower oil. I don't eat more than the serving size (if that). I haven't noticed a reaction.

Soy sauce I'm also okay with. I haven't tried too many soy products (I only tried roasted soy nuts when I received a free sample at the fair) since I had a violent reaction to soy creamer and soy coffee beans (not at the same time). I remember somebody somewhere saying there was a link in certain soy products to HFI.

[CJSculpts]

SO, forgive me spouting a ton of food facts but I geek out on stuff like this. Adam's knockname for me used to be Cheesewhiz because when we first met he could noly stump me with one fact (where tapioca comes from). Real soy sauce should just be the ingredients shown in Kikkoman. Fermented soy, grain (often wheat), water and maybe salt. Cheap soy sauce uses other ingredient like sugar or caramel coloring and sometimes even contains NO soy - just fake crap. Since I am still starting from zero, I have been using Tamari which contains no wheat. Most sushi restaurants in our area have Tamari on hand but you could bring it along if necessary. I think that it might me the fermentation in soy sauce that makes the soy beans safe but I am just speculating using what bits of food knowledge that I have.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_sauce

Sushi rice usually is made with both rice wine vinegar AND sugar. I have started order sashimi with a side of steamed white rice. I also ask for extra daikon which I think is safe but I ma not sure. : /

Apparently whatever puppeteer is running my life has decided that I was getting too cocky with the food knowledge and threw for a loop trying to figure out this new diet. So ...help please!!! : D

I am really confused about the vinegar situation. I have read ONLY champagne vinegar everywhere else but here I have seen a few other listed which ones are okay???

Now for the alcohol situation. I have always been a red wine drinker but some of our friends only drink white so I had been drinking more of that. Oddly enough, over the past year or so, white wine started to make me wheeze. Now I have read that only a small amount of dry white wine is okay. I have not read anything specifically about red wine or other alcohols like vodka. We have been making our own red wine over the past few years and I have to say that it is really yummy and I would really miss the taste. Why would dry red wine not be okay?? Vodka is made from potatoes usually so why would that not be okay??

Color me red, white, and confused.

[colormist]

I have no idea on alcohol. I usually just stick to my safe list of beers.

As for sushi, I think I found something satisfactory. Sashimi or Tataki (without sauce--I got into a huge broken english discussion over NO SAUCE with the waitress about this) is delicious. Preference for Tuna tataki as it's seasoned a bit with spices. I get a bowl of rice and some edamame with my meal.

[ukbill]

OK.. alcohol is a hobby of mine.. well a masochistic one anyway..

Red wine or any wine.. if I drink it (I love the taste of a good dry red!) I go straight to a really bad hangover, on little more than 1 spoonful I get a really bad kicking from it so CJSulpts I am envious

Any drink or vinagar made from Fructose or mainly fructose causes me problems. No matter how dry (lacking in sugar) the end product is.

I also cannot tolerate beer made form Maize.. ie all American beers and Australian too I have to stick to German Purity standards or beers made from just Malted Barley or Wheat seem fine.

A lot of the micro- breweries in the UK now use only good stuff although the very small operations use Glucose and Maltose as the brewing sugars and do not boil malted barley to get the maltose directly so I find I can drink much less of their beers before feeling the side effects coming in.

Usually its the Alcohol luckily that gets me before the sugar

However I have found I get really bad acid heartburn late at night if I drink too much none German Purity standard beer.

The German Purity standard is water, hops, barley, and yeast. That's it NOTHING else allowed.

I can also report Never a Hangover no matter how much I have drunk of good German beer, and I have drunk silly amounts at times.. (when in Germany)


Pure distilled alcohol made from any variety of sugar is OK if well distilled.. however all versions of Vodka, Brandy, Rum and American Whisky (Bourbon) sold in the shops have stuff added and very frequently sugar or Caramel.

Southern Comfort has 136 grams (27 heaped tea spoons full) per 700ml (1.5 Pints) of added sugar!

Good quality Scotch Whisky (single Malt) is fine.. its always the alcohol that gets to me first!

So my advice is buy a Still and make you own drinks .. Sorry that should read "water purification device"

Good quality Soy Sauce is fine for me but anything else made from soy is a problem.

I avoid all beans / nuts so I will not be trying the toasted Soy nuts I think its due to the high digestible fibre in them that causes me problems.

The only type of pulse (seed) I can take any amount of is Chick peas.

Hummus made from ground chick peas and ground sesame seeds.

In Greek Restaurants they add plain yoghurt and usually chilli or Lemon is to die for.. (in a good way not an HFI way )

I eat it in hot pita bread mmm yummy but I do get bad wind for a few days afterwards.. which is from the digestible fibre again I suppose..

[anastazya]

I can eat sushi....but I get the fish, white rice, and sea weed sushi. There is nothing else on it or with it. Maybe it has to do with where you eat it as much as what you eat.

[esmee]

So, from what i gather in this thread, it appears that sushi from a restaurant is NOT okay because the rice is cooked with sugar and vinegar. But if we were to make it ourselves with long grain white rice and raw fish with a touch of some safe seasoning, then it should work, right?

esmée ♥

[julienc]

Yep, I would agree with that.

[colormist]

I've noticed Sashimi and Tataki is okay as well (in restaurants) and you can always get plain white rice. Be sure to tell them no sauce (sometimes they drench things in ginger sauce). And always check the soy sauce before using it. Kikoman is okay, but a lot of the other brands are really, really sweet.

[tikitavi]

Yes, I agree, I like to have sashimi, when I can afford it! Although mackerel (saba) is not necessarily safe, because it is marinated. I don't have any sauce, soy sauce, or even rice because I don't trust them. And definitely avoid the pickled ginger! (I thought a little would be OK - well, I was wrong!!)

[ukbill]

I would not ever concider eating raw Mackerel!

I have done a lot of sea fishing and caught a lot of Mackerel in my time.

We always gut them straight away, defiantly before going home.

The reason is, sorry if this turns your stomachs, but Fresh Mackerel are FULL of worms!

As you gut them the intestines of the Mackerel are writhing literally! if you leave them un-gutted even for a short time, the worms make their way into the flesh of the mackerel.. hence why we gut them straight away!

The thought of eating Mackerel raw would have me booking an Emergency appointment to see the Doctor for anti Worming tablets!