Is Your Salad Making You Fat?

I look at a lot of food journals and one thing that I always want to dig deep into is that meal listed merely as "salad". Hey, I am always going to push you to eat more vegetables and deep green leafies are especially great - rich in folate, magnesium and potassium. It is what goes on top of these tender greens that can wreak havoc with your body composition.

You can quickly turn your salad into dessert if you add a sweet dressing (asian, peanut, honey mustard or raspberry vinegarette), dried fruit and glazed nuts. You can turn it into a pro-inflammatory fat cesspool by adding crunchy noodles, cheese, gooey "salads", and creamy dressings that can easily add another 500+ calories onto your plate. I have seen salads that exceed the calories, fat and sugar of a Big Mac and a soda and the healthy conscious eater thinks they are okay because they just had a salad.

Okay so how do you ensure that your salad is the healthy haven you were intending it to be?

1. Start with great greens - no iceberg for you, the deeper green the better

2. Add some non starchy veggies - carrots, cucumbers, radishes, peppers, mushrooms, etc., make your plate a rainbow

3. Toss on some clean lean protein (ie it shouldn’t be in a mayo bath)- turkey, grilled chicken, shrimp, wild salmon are all great choices

4. Add a little high fiber starchy carb - black beans, quinoa, garbanzo beans, sliced apple

5. Add some healthy fat - chopped nuts, avocado, olive oil vinegarette

How does this play out in real life:

Mock Waldorf - romaine and butter leaf lettuce, grilled chicken, apple slices, chopped walnuts, cucumber and celery, champagne vinegar & olive oil dressing

On the run at a fast food Mexican joint - romaine lettuce, salsa, chicken or shrimp, guacamole, black beans, peppers & onions

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