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Poke bowl craze -- How to keep it healthy

DETROIT – Photos of poke are blowing up on social media. 

The bowls are pretty enough to post on Instagram and they taste good too. Poke originated in Hawaii, but some health experts warn it could be a diet buster. 

The bowls are the latest food trend and shops selling it seem to have popped up overnight. 

What is poke?

Poke literally means to slice or to cut. Typically, it means to slice or to cut fish. It has the connotation of being a fresh, healthy, energetic on the go option.

Jessie Edison whips up poke bowls all day long at Urban Ramen on Woodward Avenue. 

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"We open at 11 a.m., close at 3 p.m. and reopen at 5 p.m.," Edison said. "Inbetween that time, we make the new rice. We go through two rices a day, so it's always fresh."

Poke refers to raw marinated, fish -- in this case, tuna -- which is then tossed over rice, topped with vegetables and different sauces.  

Nutritionist Stacey Goldberg said most people go wrong with their sauce choices.

"A lot of the proteins could be covered," Goldberg said. "Like a spicy tuna could be covered in a sugary, creamy, mayonnaisey sauce."

People often put spicy mayo and other add-ons on poke, which raises the calories significantly. Added with the empty calories of rice, many poke bowls can be around 1,000 calories. 

"You want to avoid the sauces that are going to be real high sodium and real high sugar," Goldberg said. "That can really start to make or break your bowl. Then you have soy sauces, which are very high in sodium, so you have to be careful there."

It's always important to ask questions when you are ordering raw fish, Goldberg said. Ask the staff when the fish came in and if it was ever frozen.

You can watch Sandra Ali's full story above.


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