My wife and I love to go to a local salad restaurant called Sweet Tomatoes. And I tell you at least once per visit I see someone I want to call the salad police on.
I see these people who are obviously morbidly obese, really NEEDING to eat healthier, THINKING they’re eating healthier, with this huge plate of salad drenched with bacon bits, cheese, and ranch dressing.
They don’t realize it but there’s probably more fat and calories in their salad than if they went to Carl’s Jr and ordered a Six Dollar Burger and extra fries.
I call these Junk Food Salads
Another example, who here doesn’t absolutely LOVE to go to Olive Garden and pig out on their bottomless Salad and Bread Sticks? Unfortunately, it’s the exact same thing. It’s a salad, and it LOOKS healthy, but it’s a heart attack waiting to happen.
That Olive Garden Salad packs on 350 calories, 26 g fat (4.5 g saturated), and a whopping 1,930 mg of sodium. And that’s for just ONE SERVING! (and who actually stops after just one serving – especially when it’s bottomless!)
The take away here is that not all salads are created equal. Salads ARE healthy, if they’re prepared right. I’m going to give you a few pointers here to help you make the most healthiest salads ever.
Of course the key here is all about the toppings.
Fat is Fat is Fat
I was reading one of my daily forums last week and saw a poster who complained that his total cholesterol was still at 249 after being on a plant-based vegan diet for almost 2 years. His LDL (bad) cholesterol was 162!
You really want that LDL number below 80 and your TC below 150.
He said,
I had a physical last week and received my “numbers” today and am in shock. I’m active, exercising regularly and haven’t had a bite of meat or dairy since August 1st, 2012. Even though I feel and look great, my lipid numbers are high.
It didn’t take a lot of investigative work to figure out that he was a cross state commuter who for the last 5 months was eating on the road a lot. And we all know that restaurant food, even if you try to eat Vegan, is full of 3 main ingredients:
Salt, Oil, and Sugar.
This really is the ultimate SOS because you’re going to need help! Here’s a list of what he was eating – (my comments in brackets)
- V8 Juice (SALT)
- Salads with dressing on the side. (I’m sure there have been some oils included) (OIL)
- Veggie sandwiches from Panera with no dressing or yellow mustard (OIL IN BREAD)
- Natural Peanut (OIL)
- Asian/Thai (SALT, OIL)
- Vegan Restaurant that does have some processed items (SALT, OIL, SUGAR)
- Mexican (I should probably completely cut out chips) (SALT, OIL)
- Occasional Chipolte (SALT, OIL)
- Veggie Pizza, no cheese or milk in crust (SALT, OIL)
Mystery solved – this guy was eating way too much salt and fat!
Olive Oil – Heart Healthy Disease!
I know some people will say, “But Olive Oil is Heart Healthy! “
Fat is fat is fat and will eventually show up around your middle, or in this guys case, your blood-work. Olive Oil is NOT health food! It’s the most calorie dense food you can eat and contains absolutely no fiber and very few nutrients. All in all, it’s just fat.
This is the reality: just like all other oils, olive oil is 100 percent fat, lacks a significant nutrient load, contains a whopping 120 calories per tablespoon, that’s fattening. Dr. Joel Fuhrman, MD
Next time you’re in the grocery store, look at the ingredient list of just about any salad dressing you can find. It’s usually nothing but oil, salt, and sugar.
Look at this label from a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch.
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons. That’s not much…..
- Calories: 140
- Calories from Fat: 130 (that’s 93% fat!)
- Sodium: 360mg
- Cholesterol: 10mg
Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons (how many of us actually use just 2?)
- Calories: 150
- Calories from Fat: 150 (100% FAT)
- Sodium:150mg
- Cholesterol: 0
- Sat Fat: 2.5g
- Vitamins, Iron, Calcium, etc. All 0.
- Remember, these numbers are for just 2 tbls. If you use 1/4 cup – that’s 4 tbls. So 600 calories and 10g of saturated fat. Yikes!
The BEST Salads
So what do you put on your salad if all the store-bought dressing are so bad.
Glad you asked.
- Make your own. It’s really that easy. Here’s a simple one made with ingredients you probably have in the fridge.
3 – 2 – 1 Salad Dressing
3 parts pure maple syrup
2 parts balsamic (or try any kind)
1 part Dijon mustard (or try other kinds)
There are tons of fat-free dressing recipes on the internet – experiment!
- Sometimes I just use salsa, think of it as a taco salad – without the taco meat.
- Vinegar (Balsamic or Red Wine)
- And lastly, there are some decent fat-free dressings on the market. One I like is from a company called Maple Grove Farms of Vermont. Make sure it says Fat Free – as they make different kinds. There will be some sugar and sodium, but not nearly as much as all the popular dressings.
Give it a try!