Salads and Nutrients: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (2024)

Salads can be a great way to hit those important pointsvitamins, minerals and fibers. However, not all salads are healthy or nutritious. It depends on what's in the salad. It's fine to add small amounts of dressing and toppings, but if you overdo it with high-fat or high-sugar additions, your salad could cause you to exceed your daily calorie needs and contribute to weight gain.

Prepare salads with colorful vegetables. If you have plenty of fresh vegetables in the salad, you'll get healthy, disease-fighting nutrients.

Be mindful of the extra things you add to your vegetable salads; these can contain a lotSaturated fat,sodiumor sugar.

• You want to include some fat in your salad. Mixing vinegar with olive oil or another vegetable oil is a good base for homemade dressings. You can also add nuts, seeds, and avocado to include healthy fats. This will help your body get the most out of the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K).
• Use salad dressing or added fat in moderation. Prepared salad dressings can be high in fat and sodium and are often a hidden source of added sugar. Large amounts of prepared salad dressing or toppings such as cheese, dried fruit and croutons can turn a healthy salad into a high-calorie meal.
• Pieces of cheese, croutons, bacon, nuts and seeds can increase the amount of sodium, fat and calories in a salad. Try choosing just one or two of these things for your colorful vegetables.
• At the salad bar, avoid additions such as coleslaw, potato salad and creamy fruit salads, which can increase calories and fat.
• Try using a darker salad. Light green iceberg has fiber, but not as many nutrients as dark green varieties such as romaine, kale or spinach.
• Add variety to your salad with fiber-rich products such as legumes (beans), raw vegetables and fresh fruit. Dried fruit is also a fiber-rich addition, but use it in moderation as it also contains a lot of sugar.
• Add a protein to your salads to make it a filling meal. Examples include beans, grilled chicken breast, canned salmon or hard-boiled eggs.