Wake-up Call: Your Salads Could Be Making You Fat

Pearlyn Tham
Sun, 24 May 2020 00:00:00 Z

Bacon bits? Mayonnaise? Croutons? No. No. No.

Not as healthy as you think!Photo: Unsplash/Ryan Concepcion

Yes, they can. While you may think that you are doing your weight loss plans a whole lot of good by munching on bowls and bowls of arugula and spinach leaves, these are the reasons why your wholesome salad can turn into something bad.

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1. You pile on the croutons or/and bacon bits

They give those boring bland greens an extra crunch but they can add unnecessary fat to your bowl. For instance, just one tablespoon of bacon bits contains about 50 calories and unless you make your own, the bottled or frozen variety is made from processed meat with trans-fat and sodium. If you have your salad with lots of croutons, which are really fried dough, you may as well have a slice of bread. Because five croutons can easily bring in 100 calories.

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2. You pick the wrong (but yummy) dressing

Anything creamy makes your salad more delicious but a creamy dressing such as ranch or Thousand Island adds a couple hundred extra calories to your meal. Healthier dressing options include balsamic vinegar with extra virgin olive oil or red wine vinegar with crushed fresh herbs and lemon juice. Alternatively, buy a salad oil spray, which dispenses far less oil than a bottle would. If you use the latter, always use a teaspoon to spread the oil over your greens – you’ll use less than you would pouring the oil straight out of the bottle.

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3. You add a lot of meat… and fry it

Unless you are strictly vegan, you would want your salad with some meat toppings such as chicken or salmon. But if you have more meat than veggies in your bowl – and worse, you fry the protein – then we hate to break it to you, but that ain't a salad anymore.

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4. Then you add even more dairy

Salty moreish cheese cubes with crunchy fresh-tasting lettuce or spinach leaves? A wonder combo, if you ask us! But if you are heavy-handed with the dairy, you’ll be turning your salad into a bowl of sin.

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5. You choose starchy vegetables

Think leafy, not starchy. So a potato salad is not the type of salad you’d want to eat if you are hoping to lose the kilos!

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