Salads are supposed to be healthy, but some items can be unhealthy
Tips to pick what’s best for you
Salad bars are good or bad for you depending on which foods you choose. The bad news is they can be junk-food minefields. Here’s how to get from one end to the other without detonating an explosion of bad fats, sodium, sugar, and refined carbs.
1. Go dark on greens
Build a vitamin- and fiber-packed foundation by starting with roughly one cup of spinach and romaine leaves (for more than half of your daily vitamin A and all of your vitamin K, plus some folate and vitamin C). Skip them: Lighter greens tend to offer less nutrition. Iceberg lettuce, for instance, delivers only about 7% of the A you need, some K, and not much else.
2. Go bright on veggies
Next, add about one cup of the most colorful crudités — think broccoli, carrots, cherry tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, and beets. Ounce for ounce, vibrant veggies give you more fiber, minerals, vitamins, and disease-fighting antioxidants than their paler companions, like celery and cucumbers. Skip them: Anything coated in mayo or an indefinable dressing, including carrot-and-raisin mixes, coleslaw, and potato salad.
3. Choose lean proteins
Aim for about 1/2 cup of these. Chickpeas and kidney beans are nifty sources of fat-free protein (6 grams each). Sliced hard-boiled eggs (8 grams) are another smart choice, just limit the yolk to limit the fat. Skip ‘em: Chicken, tuna, or crab salads — they’re usually made with high-fat mayo; three-bean salad, which typically is afloat in a sea of oil; and cottage cheese, which is high in aging (read artery-clogging) saturated fat.
4. Sprinkle on extra flavor and crunch
Like cheese? Add 1 tablespoon of Parmesan (22 calories) to punch up the flavor, or 1 tablespoon of walnuts or sunflower seeds for some healthy crunch. Both have good-for-your-heart fats that help your body absorb the nutrients in all those veggies. Skip ‘em: Cheddar cubes — you’ll quickly eat more than you need; croutons — they may look harmless but at 100 calories per 1/4 cup, they’re usually high-cal booby traps of refined carbs, sodium, and trans fats. Ditto for crunchy Asian noodles.
Now swirl on about 1 tablespoon of heart-healthy olive oil, a splash of vinegar, a grating of pepper, and toss, toss, toss. Ask any chef — it’s the secret to a perfect salad. Thorough tossing ensures that all the flavors and textures are evenly distributed and lets you use minimal dressing to maximum effect. Skip ‘em: Walk right past those vats of ready-made salad dressings. Even the low-fat or fat-free versions are usually loaded with salt, sugar, and additives. And just 2 tablespoons of regular blue cheese or ranch have about 160 fat-packed calories.
6. Prefer a fruit salad?
Go for whatever looks fresh — melons, berries, pineapple, kiwi — and top those fruits with 1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped walnuts or sunflower seeds for a sprinkling of good fats and crunchy flavor. Then buy a small container of low- or no-fat yogurt or cottage cheese for creamy protein minus the saturated fat in dairy foods. Skip ‘em: Syrupy canned peaches, apricots, pears, etc. They have far more calories and fewer nutrients than fresh fruit.
Here’s what RealAge.com has to say about nutrition from foods.
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