People who try to get in shape in the summer often have a salad in restaurants. But many of those salads contain more calories, sodium and fat than you might want to eat.
There are two types of salads that are often high in calories and loaded with fat and sodium:
Chef Salads: often so-called “chef salads” are packed with different types of meat and cheese. The meats are often processed and contain nitrite preservatives that can increase the risk of cancer when consumed consistently. While cheese can be a good source of calcium and high-quality protein, it is also high in calories, saturated fat, and sodium.
Caesar Salads: A Caesar salad is usually quite simple:romaine lettuce with Caesar dressing and topped with parmesan cheese and croutons. The problem is that most types of Caesar dressings are heavy and creamy and add a lot of extra calories. Since Caesar salads usually come ready-made, you don't have much control over the amount of dressing.
Some solutions:
Read the salad description or list of ingredients, which can tell you a lot about how healthy the salad is or isn't. As a general rule of thumb, house salads and green salads are often quite simple—lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions—and a good option if you're looking at your weight or calorie intake. If cutting calories is a goal, be aware that the main source of calories in many "home" or "green" type salads will be the dressing, so ask for it to come off and take about two tablespoons.
Another idea to consider:Instead of pouring the dressing over the salad, dip your fork in the dressing before taking each bite. The amount of dressing on the fork is minimal and probably won't add up by the time you're done with the salad.
A simple olive oil and vinegar dressing will have about the same number of calories as other dressings, but will provide about 10 grams of monounsaturated fat — one of the "good" fats that promote cardiovascular health. So the amount of salad dressing may not be as important as the type in many cases.
