Test Your Salad Smarts

How are your salad smarts?  Despite popular belief, many salads aren’t waistline-friendly and can pile on more calories than a fast food burger and fries. 

Here’s how to make sure your salad satisfies without becoming a diet disaster. Eating salad can be a great way to boost important nutrients in your diet. One study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, found that just one salad serving per day boosted blood levels of folic acid, vitamins C and E, lycopene and carotenoids in the bloodstream and another study found that eating a large salad as your starter can reduce the overall calories you eat in that meal by 12 percent! But salads aren’t always the best choice when watching your weight. You can easily build your own salad from a salad bar that tops 1,000 calories and many restaurant salads are drowning in dressing, sending calorie counts sky high. Consider: An Applebee’s Grilled Shrimp ‘N Spinach Salad has 960 calories and 65g fat and California Pizza Kitchen’s California Cobb with Ranch Dressing carries 940 calories and 72g fat. Toppings that make salads rich in calories and unhealthy saturated fat include full-fat dressing, cheese, croutons, and mayo-rich options like tuna or egg salad. The best choices are obvious: salad greens, any raw or cooked veggies; beans; lean proteins like chicken or turkey and a light (not fat free) dressing. Let’s compare two salads created from the same salad bar. Each contains the same portion of salad greens, six different toppings and dressing. [sws_divider_line]   Calorie-Rich Salad 2 cups salad greens, 16 cals, 0g fat Croutons, ¼ cup, 50 cals, 2g fat Black olives, 5 pieces, 25 cals, 2.4g fat Cheddar Cheese, ¼ cup shredded, 114 cals, 9.4g fat Sunflower seeds, 2 Tbsp, 100 cals, 9g fat Bacon bits, 2 Tbsp, 50 cals, 3g fat Sliced almonds, 2 Tbsp, 100 cals, 9g fat Ranch dressing, ¼ cup, 218 cals, 23g fat Totals: 673 Calories, 58 grams fat Build a Skinnier Salad 2 cups salad greens, 16 cals, 0g fat Tomatoes, 5 cherry, 15 cals, 2g fat Cucumber, ¼ cup sliced, 5 cals, 0g fat Yellow bell pepper, 5 rings, 15 cals, 0g fat Red kidney beans, 2 Tbsp, 24 cals, 0g fat Carrots, ¼ cup shredded, 11 cals, 0g fat Mushrooms, ¼ cup sliced, 4 cals, 0g fat Ranch dressing, reduced-fat, 2 Tbsp, 59 cals, 3.7g fat 150 calories, 6 grams fat

Clearly, the toppings make a heavy difference. Salad #1 stacks up with over four times as many calories and almost ten times as much fat as Salad #2!

Use this salad toppings guide to choose leaner choices to build a better salad.

–Janet Franklin Janet Franklin is a dietetic intern from San Francisco State University.