Salads - Beware!!!

I recently wrote an article reminding you to eat your veggies.  It's something that we all know and generally want to put into practice.  One of the easiest ways to get in your vegetables is with a salad.  What's easier than tossing a bunch of raw vegetables into a bowl, tossing in a small amount of dressing and going to town? 

But BEWARE!!!  A couple wrong turns can turn that healthy bowl of nutritious goodness into a diet-busting bomb of fat and sugar.  Go into your refrigerator and take a look at the label for your salad dressings.  The serving size is a mere 2 tablespoons, and realistically how many of you measure that out?  Then take a look at the ingredients.  A single 2 Tbsp serving of Kraft ranch salad dressing packs 148 calories and 15.6g of fat, 2.4g of which are saturated.  A typical Caesar dressing, again 2 tbsp (and again who only has 2 tbsp) is 100 calories and 4 g of sugar.  Even a healthier option such as Ken's Steakhouse Light Balsamic Vinaigrette has 60 calories per 2Tbsp serving with 5g of fat and 2 g of sugar.

Unhealthy Salads

I recently came across an article from Men's Health listing 20 Salads Worse Than a Whopper and it was an eye opener for me.  Here are a couple highlights that stuck out to me.  Applebee's Grilled Shrimp and Spinach salad sounds great; grilled seafood and spinach, but here's the details - 1,010 calories, 69 g fat (12 g saturated), 2,650 mg sodium.  The worst salad on the list is the Cheesecake Factory Santa Fe salad -
1,720 calories, 17 g saturated fat, 2,636 mg sodium.  That's nearly a day's worth of recommended calories for an average person

Take a look at those bag salad "kits" that you see in the grocery store.  The average serving is 1/4 to 1/3 of the bag.  I recently had an Asian Kit salad.  It was very tasty, with mixed greens, wonton strips, dried cherries, and a ginger vinaigrette.  The downside is that the whole kit was 360 calories, with 52g carbs, 16g fat, 4g protein, 32g sugar, and 1240 mg sodium.  Like I said, it tasted great, but not exactly healthy.

How to Make a Healthy Salad

First start with lots of greens.  Don't just use iceberg lettuce.  There's really nothing in there.  Experiment with different things from the product aisle.  Next, add the rainbow.  I've discussed how eating the rainbow of colors from the produce aisle will get you a huge variety of vitamins and minerals.  The more variety in your salad, the more visually appealing it is, the more variety you will get in texture, and the healthier it will be.  If you can add some protein, great.  Grilled chicken, tuna, black beans, chick peas and salmon are all good options.  Add some good fats such as avocado, almonds, walnuts, or cheese.  Don't add too much though, or it will become a fat bomb.  Finally, add a little bit of dressing.  1 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and a couple splashes of vinegar or lemon juice will do the trick.  If you want to go with a packaged dressing, measure out 2 Tbsp and put it on the side.  Dip your fork in the dressing, and then get a fork-full of salad.  You get a taste of the dressing without drowning all the nutrition out.


We know the vegetables aren't the problem.  It's the extra toppings that add texture and flavor that mess it up. Next time you want to order a salad, think about what is in it and what potential pitfalls it might have to your diet.  Maybe the grilled chicken and steamed veggies is the better way to go.  If you're making your own, stick to the rules above and you'll be good to go!

Enjoy Your Salads!!!

But BEWARE of the Hidden Nutritional Pitfalls!!!