Is that Salad healthy???? Maybe NOT

For many on a journey to lose weight,salads have become a main staple.Salads can be quite deceptive - while the vegetables are healthy, the dressing and other toppings can blow out a day's worth of calories in one sitting if you are not aware.Last week I had a Mc caesar salad at McDonalds for dinner and was very happy to have had something healthy.But after doing some study ,I discovered that the salad dressing that came along was packed with high levels of sodium and fat.If compared,a small pack of fries has fewer levels of sodium and fat.

Most people think that the salads offered at fast food restaurants are healthy choices.This may be far from the truth. While some salads are reasonable choices, many fast food restaurants douze up their salads with a variety of fatty and sodium laden items, such as fried chicken, full fat dressings, sour cream,lots of cheese, bacon, nuts, fried croutons, and taco chips or shells. Less prevalent or completely absent are the nutritious, high-fiber salad items such as beans, chick peas, and a wide variety of fresh vegetables.

While all of the fast food restaurants have nutritional information available on all of their menu offerings, some of the information can be a bit misleading. For example, some of the information only gives nutritional statistics on the actual salad, leaving off the information about dressing, croutons, cheese, or other packets of ingredients that are included with your salad. Make sure you read the information carefully.

Here are a few tips to eat your salad the healthy way:

• Choose more greens than plain old iceberg lettuce. Iceberg lettuce is calorie-free, but it’s also nearly nutrition and fiber-free. Worst of all, it’s essentially flavor-free, encouraging you to add more flavorful (and higher fat, sodium, and calorie) ingredients to your salad in order to make it more satisfying.

• The greater the variety of colors in the vegetables in your salad, the greater the variety of nutrients. Go for a wide variety of greens (including different types of lettuces, spinach, peppers), oranges (carrots), and reds (tomatoes and red peppers).

• Try ordering your salad without meat. Or, if you really want the meat, choose to have it grilled (not fried) and consider eating only half of what’s included with your salad.

• So if you want to avoid messing up your healthy eating plan, say no to those little packets of cheese, croutons, or Chinese noodles. These extras are a serious source of fat, calories, and sodium. Ask your server to leave them off of your order coz once you get them to your table, they’re just going to tempt you.

• Ask if there’s a low- or no-fat dressing available, and substitute that for the one that comes with the salad you’ve ordered. Use the smallest amount possible to flavor (not drench!) your salad. Some restaurants have plain packets of vinegar or lemon juice available; consider sprinkling these on your greens instead of dressing.

In the end, you can't trust restaurants to police your diet or to provide precise nutritional information. Portion sizes may vary, and servers often don't know what's in the food they serve.
Especially when it comes to salads and other supposedly low-calorie, low-fat dishes, it's a case of diner beware.