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Community Corner

Not All Salads Are Created Equal

This week, our Community of Losers explores how to build a better salad.

Warmer weather and sunny days are here. Time to peel off the layers of clothing you are hiding behind and ditch the soothing winter comfort food for some fresh lighter fare. With a little creativity, salad greens can be transformed into culinary works of art that won’t weigh you down.

When building your salad, it’s good to keep in mind not all lettuce is created equal and two heads are not necessarily better than one! A head of iceberg lettuce has almost no nutritional value. One cup of romaine boasts the same 8 calories as iceberg lettuce, but packs in more calcium, vitamin C, vitamin K, and beta carotene than its equivalent counterpart.

Check out your local farmer’s market, or spend some time meandering around your grocer’s produce section for interesting varieties. Think Forest Gump: Butter Lettuce, Red-tip Lettuce, Leaf Lettuce, Curly Endive, Arugula, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Radicchio, and the list goes on.

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When planning your summer salads, don’t forget the fruit. It’s great to add seasonal options such as summer berries. This will not only add extra texture, flavor and color but increase your fiber and salad’s nutritional value without adding empty calories.

Often times, we think we are sticking to our diet by ordering up a salad instead of a fat juicy burger when we dine out. If you do not make careful choices when ordering, your salads you can often add more saturated fat and calories than a notably unhealthy meal.

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Consider asking that the bacon or cheese be left off, or request the chicken or fish be grilled instead of fried. Make it a pont to ask for the toppings to be served on the side so you are in control of the portions.

When ordering or making your own salad, definitely beware the dressing!  Commercially prepared dressings can turn your otherwise healthy salad into a bowl full of fat and calories.

The average bottled salad dressing contains 8-20 grams of fat per serving, which is usually only 2 tablespoons. Trying to find a bottled low-fat or non-fat salad dressing that tastes like something you’d actually want to eat can often be challenging. However, you are defeating the whole purpose if your dressing sabotages your salad. It's worth the challenge to experiment.

When shopping and dining at home, you have the option of reading the labels and making your salad dressing choices ahead of time.

If you are planning on dining out and know you’re going to choose a healthier salad option, why not plan ahead and bring your own dressing? It may sound a bit fanatical, but it can significantly reduce your fat and calories.     

Toby Smithson, RD, LDN, CDE, Community Dietitian and Spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association advises, "It's fine to choose a salad, just watch what you're putting in it." Smithson's advice:

1. Start with a base of dark, leafy grains, which are packed with vitamins and antioxidants.
2. Choose a salad heavy on plain vegetables. If you omit one of the higher-calorie ingredients, feel free to ask your waiter or waitress to load on more of the vegetables.
3. Be wary of add-ons like bacon, tortilla chips and even beans, which some restaurants prepare with lard (ask your server before ordering). Calorically speaking, regular nuts are better than candied ones and fresh fruit is better than dried.
4. Choose vinaigrettes over creamy dressings, which tend to have more calories and fat. Better yet, order your dressing on the side and do a fork dip: Dip your fork in the dressing before a bite instead of pouring the whole cup out onto your salad. And, “even though olive oil is the better choice, it doesn’t mean that you should have the whole bottle,” Smithson says. Each teaspoon is 45 calories, so use sparingly.
5. Not all fat is created equal. A bit of fat from sources such as avocado or plain nuts is healthy. So instead of focusing on the total fat content of a salad, look at saturated fat instead.

Go ahead, live it up, mix it up and let your lettuce bowl you over. Stay tuned for next week when we announce this month's challenge winner!

You are invited to join our Community of Losers. There are no fees. Please e-mail me for the details. As always, I hope to see less of you soon.    

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