298154 Sat Aug 14 15:10:13 -0700 2004 5 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1647695 In a search for an acne-free life, I've seen lots of weird and crazy food related, quasy-scientific solutions. However, a dermatologist recently told me something that made me go...HUH WHAT HUH ?!?! He told me that there's been some research showing that a diet high in iodine seems to exacerbate acne. He gave me the list of food that I should avoid, and the number one food was sushi. Since I love it and eat it all the time, I was a little perturbed. He claims the reason that the fish in sushu is high in iodine is because its treated with kelp (which IS very high in iodine) in order to be sushi-grade. I asked him if he means rolls, which are actually wrapped in seaweed and not fish, but he definitely was talking about fish itself. I've never heard this before and can't find any releveant info online. In my limited research its seems like the only thing you have to do in order for fish to be sishi-grade is to freeze it immediatly after catching. Can anyone help me with this? Is sushi-grade fish in fact high in iodine? What other foods are? Is this all hog-wash? Sat Aug 14 15:10:13 -0700 2004 0 Veronica 1 1647696 That's nonsense about the fish being treated with kelp. Makes me wonder how good a dr he is. Some varieties of fish have higher iodine levels than others. Of course the nori in rolls is high in iodine. There are many foods high in iodine. Here's a partial list. Strawberries Cantaloupe Iodized salt, sea salt, and salty foods All dairy products (milk, sour cream, cheese, cream, yogurt, butter, ice cream) Margarine Egg yolks Seafood (fish, shellfish, seaweed, kelp) Fresh water fish have much lower iodine, but aren't used for sushi. Foods that contain carrageen, agar-agar, algin, or alginate - all of these are made from seaweed Many prepared and/or cured meats (ham, bacon, sausage, corned beef, etc) Fresh chicken or turkey with broth or additives injected Dried fruit Canned vegetables Commercial bakery products Chocolate Molasses Soy products (soy sauce, soy milk, tofu) Any vitamins or supplements that contain iodine FD&C red dye #3 - this appears in many foods or pills that are red or brown, including colas Sat Aug 14 15:55:55 -0700 2004 1647695 0 The Rogue 1 1647703 I have an old recipe for sushi (from the Time-Life series of cookbooks). The rice itself is first cooked with kombu (kelp, a seaweed). Seaweed is very high in iodine; how much gets into the rice I don't know. I also don't know whether this is common practice. The "dashi" broth used in Japanese soups, including miso soup, usually has kombu as part of the base. Sushi wrapped in seaweed (roll-type) is obviously going to be a good source of iodine. Sushi fish are mostly salt-water and therefore rich in iodine(however I think unagi, eel, is fresh-water). I can't believe that the fish in the sushi is especially enriched in iodine by the sushi-making process. There was a thread on one of these boards about people taking the fish out of the sushi rolls and leaving the rice behind (on a platter at a buffet!). People speculated that these were ill-mannered Atkins folk, but perhaps they were merely ill-mannered acne sufferers. Sat Aug 14 17:04:40 -0700 2004 1647695 0 Joel Teller 2 1647817 When I was a sushi chef, my boss used to put a small piece of kombu in the rice cooker, but to be honest, I never noticed a difference in the rice. Of course, she also used to add a LITTLE bit of sake to the rice water, too...about 4 oz, IIRC, and this was for a 40-cup rice cooker. *shrug* Mon Aug 16 14:01:00 -0700 2004 1647703 0 ricepad 3 1647829 The next step is to make the rice with double the kombu and see what happens. Double the sake, too, to boot. Mon Aug 16 14:33:52 -0700 2004 1647817 0 mirror 1 1647821 I dunno about a lot of stuff your doctor claimed, but I do know this: fish used for sushi is NOT "treated with kelp". Mon Aug 16 14:16:24 -0700 2004 1647695 0 ricepad