Health & BeautyNutrition & Diet

Want A Healthy Salad? Avoid These 5 Unhealthy Ingredients That Will Sabotage Your Salad

If you ask almost anyone to name the best meal for a diet aimed at weight loss, one of the 1st answers is almost always a healthy salad.

And, why not? Two cups of mixed greens contain a mere 18 calories.

Loaded with nutritious vegetables, a salad provides everything you need for sound nutrition, while promoting weight loss. That is until you start adding some of the more desirable extras that add flavor, and a good supply of extra calories and fat.

eating-healthy-salad

Throw in half a cup of cucumber for another 8 calories, and a 22-calorie sliced tomato, and you have the start of the perfect meal — all for less than 50 calories!

If it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. Healthy salads are frequently wrecked by the unhealthy salad ingredients that we put on them.

If you want to keep your salads healthy, then you’ll want to avoid ingredients that can quickly turn the perfect meal into one of the unhealthiest.

 

Salad Ingredients To Avoid

Let’s face it. The basic lettuce, tomato and cucumber salad is boring. And when it comes to managing weight, boring is the kiss of death.

Of course, building a tasty, enjoyable salad is limited only by a lack of imagination. There are as many ways to turn a salad into a full, satisfying meal as there are people looking to curb their hunger in a nutritious way.

Here are 5 favorite salad ingredients that should be avoided if weight management is your goal:

 

#1 – Salad Dressings

If you’re anything like me, you want to have a dressing on your salad.

The blue cheese salad wedge is popular in many restaurants, but I’m not sure it would classify as a “healthy salad.”

healthy salad wedge

One of the easiest ways to enhance the flavor of any salad is with the addition of a creamy or oil based dressing.

Two tablespoons of dressing (which, by the way, is not a lot and is far less than you’re likely to consume) can add anywhere from 15 calories and zero grams of fat to a whopping 160 calories and 17 grams of fat.

Try making your own healthy salad dressings instead.

 

#2 – Fattening Proteins

If you’re having salad as a meal it should include a protein component.

healthy salad fried chicken

Trying to decide what protein is the healthiest to add? Instead of fried chicken, hard boiled eggs, or bacon, consider adding grilled chicken or shrimp.

A medium grilled chicken breast is around 150 calories. You can do a little better by choosing grilled shrimp.

Eating 1 medium grilled shrimp adds 6 calories — so you can indulge in a dozen for half the calories of the chicken breast.

 

#3 – Cheese

A favorite flavor enhancer on any salad is cheese.

With a significant shot of protein and calcium, cheese is a natural choice as a healthy salad ingredient.

healthy salad cheese crumble

Keep in mind, however, you can count on an additional 70 to 120 calories per ounce depending on your cheese of choice. That’s not even taking the grams of fat into consideration.

 

#4 – Dried Fruit

Seemingly super healthy… dried fruits are showing up on salad bars everywhere.

And they’re stocked in the produce section in grocery stores, too.

healthy salad dried fruit

Dried cranberries, apricots, or citrus can add a lot of flavor and color to a salad

But if you’re watching your weight and sugar consumption, you should realize that a quarter cup of any dried fruit will bring your calorie count up another 100 to 150 calories.

That’s not even taking into account the generous amount of sugar you will be consuming.

 

#5 – Avocados

The still somewhat mysterious avocado is also a popular salad extra.

Just so you know, that avocado might set you back an additional 120 calories and 10 or more grams of fat in a half cup serving if you choose to add that to your salad.

healthy salad avacado

In spite of its undeniable health benefits, the avocado is definitely something to approach with nutritional caution.

 

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If you make the right salad ingredient choices, then you can enjoy a healthy, substantial meal that won’t leave you hungry or nutritionally deprived.

But if you make a few wrong choices, expect to see your calorie count (and the scale) continue to go up and up.

 

More Healthy Salad Resources