THE TRUTH ABOUT FAT FREE SALAD DRESSINGS The Truth About Fat Free Salad Dressings Salads! Nothing makes you feel healthier than a big bowl of raw vegetables and fruits. All those vitamins, nutrients, fiber, water--all the stuff your body wants and needs. Top it with some fat-free dressing and you’re truly the picture of health, right? Not really! It turns out that fat-free or reduced fat dressings can actually reduce the nutritional value of the salad to your body! It all had to do with something called carotenoids. Carotenoids are a class of nutrients found in colorful veggies like carrots, tomatoes, onions and a number of other foods. Carotenoids are fat-soluble, which means for it to dissolve in our bodies, it must be eaten with some kind of fat. So, while topping your salad with reduced fat dressing may reduce the calorie count, it will also reduce the nutritional benefit of the veggies you just spent all that time peeling and chopping! However, not all fats are the same! There are three main types of fats: saturated (i.e. butter), monounsaturated (i.e. canola oil), and polyunsaturated (i.e. corn oil). When it comes carotenoid absorption, monounsaturated fat is the most efficient at absorbing those nutrients. This means that you can absorb more nutrients with smaller amounts of monounsaturated fat than with other kinds of fat. What does that mean for you? Look for dressings that are based in monounsaturated fats. That includes olive oil, avocado, or canola oil. A quick Google search will reveal a ton of simple homemade salad dressing recipes. Sticking with homemade dressings will keep all of those preservatives and unhealthy saturated fats that are found in many store-bought versions off of your greens and out of your body. And if the nutritional benefits don’t convince you, we guarantee the taste will! Hanshi Serrano
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 20:06:05 +0000