5 Ways You Can Get Fat From Eating Salad

Photo credit- Taste.com.au

1. Creamy Dressing
OK, everyone knows creamy dressings like ranch and bleu cheese aren’t exactly health foods, but if they help you get down a salad, they can’t be all that bad, right? Wrong. Order one of these dressings in a restaurant and you could wind up topping your greens with more than 340 calories and 5 grams of saturated fat, says Sharon Palmer , R.D.N., author of Plant-Powered for Life. Vinaigrettes are generally a safer choice, but if you absolutely cannot stomach a salad sans ranch, try this trick: Order your dressing on the side, dip your fork spears into the dressing, and then stab up some leaves. You’ll end up using less dressing than you would if you dipped your salad into the side dish and way less than if you poured the whole thing on top of your salad.

2. Fat-Free Dressing
Even if your dressing is fat-free, it doesn’t mean you will be. Fat-free dressings actually tend to be more processed, and higher in sodium, high-fructose sugars, and carbohydrates compared to their full-fat counterparts. That’s because when food manufacturers remove fat from their products, they have to replace it with something to keep it from tasting atrocious, explains Jim White, R.D., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics and owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition StudiosOpens a New Window. . For instance, fat-free Hidden Valley Ranch contains three times more carbs and sugar than the full-fat version. What’s more, even with all of that extra sugar, many low-fat dressings still taste pretty “meh” and leave you unsatisfied, so you end up following up your salad with a second lunch, he says.

3. Tex-Mex Bowls
From taco shell bowls and tortilla strips to shredded cheese and sour cream, Mexican-inspired salads can be caloric bombs. Just a half a cup of cheese (how much is on your salad) can contain 250 calories and almost 20 grams of fat, says Rebecca Lewis, R.D., nutritionist for HelloFreshOpens a New Window. healthy grocery delivery service. The next time you opt for a taco salad, keep the beans, cilantro, tomatoes, avocado, and nix just about everything else.

4. Bacon Bits
Bacon bits are just as bad—actually, they can be even more processed, calorically dense, and packed full of sodium than fresh-off-the-grill bacon, says Lewis. One tablespoon of bacon bits contains about 50 calories, not to mention 500 milligrams of water-retaining sodium and a not-so-healthy dose of trans fat, adds Palmer. Trans fats have been linked to a higher risk of weight gain, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.

5. Candied Nuts
Nuts are a great source of naturally occurring healthy fats and protein, and can add staying power to any salad, Sharon says. But when they’re candied, they’re just about as much sugar as they are anything else. Stay away at all costs.