Choosing the Healthiest Salad Dressing
Choosing a salad as a lunch or dinner menu is indeed a wise choice. Especially if you are on a diet or weight loss program. Both fruit and vegetable salads offer healthy calories but fill the stomach. In addition, the high vitamin and mineral content can also meet your nutritional needs for the day.
However, that does not mean that eating salad is a 100% guarantee of diet success. The reason is, the sauce you use to accompany your salad (known as salad dressing) not necessarily healthy, you know. If you choose wrong dressings, your efforts to control your nutrient and calorie intake by eating salads are futile. Then, what kind of salad dressing is the most healthy and safe for consumption? Here is the full answer.
Types of salads dressing
To compare which salad dressing the healthiest, first understand the four types of the most common and often encountered the following. Each dressing offers both advantages and disadvantages. So, you can adjust it to your own nutritional needs.
1. Mayonnaise
Be careful because mayonnaise is one of the salads dressing which is quite dangerous for your diet. One tablespoon of mayonnaise contains approximately 57 calories and 5 grams of fat. In fact, you will usually add two to four tablespoons of mayonnaise to your salad. That way, the calorie and fat levels will also increase. Not to mention the ingredients of your own salad, such as chicken, eggs, cheese, and various types of vegetables.
In one serving of this salad, you will consume approximately 150 to more than 200 calories or 10% of your daily calorie needs (for people whose daily calorie needs are 2,000). Burning 200 calories is equivalent to running about 2.2 kilometers.
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2. Thousand island
This salad dressing is pink and slightly orange in color and tastes a little sour. Thousand island is often used as dressing for salads because they can make bland and bitter vegetables even more delicious. The basic ingredients for making this sauce are mayonnaise, lemon or orange juice, vinegar, cream, tomatoes, and hot tabasco sauce. Because of these various contents, it’s no wonder that Thousand Island offers quite high calories and fat.
One tablespoon dressing it contains 65 calories and 6 grams of fat. Meanwhile, one serving of Thousand Island salad contains about 290 calories. If the salad you eat contains eggs, the number of calories can be up to 370. This number is equivalent to the calories you burn after walking briskly for about 45 minutes or running 5 kilometers.
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3. Caesar salad dressing
Caesar salad menu is offered in many restaurants. If you are on a diet or want to keep your calorie and fat intake down, you may immediately choose to eat a Caesar salad. However, do you know what the content is dressing for this salad? Dressing for Caesar salad made of egg yolk, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, garlic, pepper, mustard and anchovies. All these ingredients are then stirred together with olive oil and served with cheese.
One tablespoon dressing it contains 78 calories and 8.5 grams of fat. Eating one serving of Caesar salad is the equivalent of eating a meal with 200 to 330 calories.If it is served with grilled chicken, the calories can be up to 590.
4.Olive oil (olive oil)
For a fresher salad option, you can add olive oil which is also known as olive oil. In one tablespoon of olive oil, you will get about 130 grams of calories and 12 grams of fat. Eating a serving of salad with olive oil means consuming approximately 350 calories. Although the highest calorie and fat content compared dressing another, olive oil is rich in unsaturated fats which are good for digestion.
Salad dressing the healthiest
Among the four types dressing most frequently encountered, you might think that mayonnaise is best because it has the lowest levels of calories and fat. However, experts have different opinions. It’s the salad dressing the healthiest ones are oil-based. In this case, olive oil is the winner.
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Before you immediately eat a variety of other foods with high calorie and fat levels, first consider the reasons. According to a study conducted by nutritionists in the United States, you can actually absorb the maximum nutrition of a salad with help dressing the unsaturated fat is high enough.
Calorie and total fat content of mayonnaise, Thousand Island, and Caesar salad dressing it is not as high as olive oil. However, calories and total fat are deep dressing it consists mostly of unhealthy saturated fat. Meanwhile, olive oil offers calories and total fat that comes from unsaturated fats.
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Unsaturated fats are needed by the body to digest and absorb various important nutrients from vegetables, such as beta-carotene, antioxidants, and lycopene. Without the help of unsaturated fats, the vegetables you consume in your salad will not be absorbed properly.
In addition, research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also reveals that although it is a salad dressing oil-based high in calories and fat, dressing it contains no sugar or excess sodium. Meanwhile, dressing others are usually added with sugar and various additional flavorings to enhance the taste. As a result, you become excess levels of sugar and sodium. Excess levels of sugar and sodium are at risk of causing diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and obesity.
Maintain body fat levels
If you want to keep your fat and calories from consuming too much, focus on eating a balanced diet. Watch your intake of fat and calories in a day. Remember, this does not mean that if you have eaten your salad during the day, you can eat or snack as much at night as you want. You still have to keep the food you eat from morning to night so that you don’t get excess fat levels. You can also limit your dosage dressing in your salad to a maximum of two tablespoons.
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Don’t forget to exercise regularly. Eating salads or vegetables is not enough to maintain a healthy lifestyle. You still have to move and be physically active to burn fat and calories consumed. That way, you don’t have to worry about eating foods that contain unsaturated fats.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
