Sure, they say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but there is research to suggest that it is far more than a health connoisseur’s delight. Better yet, it is also a simple tactic for
maintaining a healthy weight while still loading up on nutrient-dense foods. Of course, there is a right way and a wrong way to prepare and consume salads, so it’s important to know the do’s and don’ts of them as well. So, if you’re ready, let’s run down the benefits of salads, how they should (and should not) be eaten, and some FREE recipes for you to get started! And all of this comes just in time for the warmer temperatures of spring and summer, so you’ll be ready to take on the new seasons with these tips! Hopefully, by the end, you’ll be ready to fall in love with salads!

Salads, According to Research

First of all, let’s quickly define what a salad is According to Oxford living dictionaries, salad is defined as, “A cold dish of various mixtures of raw or cooked vegetables, usually seasoned with oil, vinegar, or other dressing sometimes accompanied by meat, fish, or other ingredients.” [1] (Just wanted to get this definition out of the way in case someone assumes turkey or egg salad is the same as a green salad!) So, we know that a true salad is made up of some kind(s) of vegetables. This is important to note because science has actually looked into the possible benefits of consuming a daily salad.

According to research conducted at Rush University and Tufts University, up to 1,000 people were studied for their dietary patterns. These participants were asked to complete food-frequency questionnaires asking specifically the amount of food they’d eaten within the past year. While no one can accurately recount their diet (not to mention their diet for the year), their collective reports gave the researchers a good estimate as to the number of nutrients they’d eaten as a whole. On top of this, the participants were also tested yearly for their memory and cognitive function. By the end of the study, the researchers had found remarkable results.
Those who had eaten more foods like leafy greens from salads on a regular basis had lower levels of cognitive decline compared to those eating little to no amounts. The average number, by the way, was only 1.3 servings, so the participants reaping the benefits weren’t going crazy over their greens, either. But, statistically speaking, this simple habit enabled them to have brains that were 11 years younger. [2]

But why did this happen? According to the lead author of the study, “The findings suggest this benefit is likely from important nutrients found in these vegetables, such as folate, lutein, and nitrate, which were also associated with slower cognitive decline.” Simply put, it’s by nourishing your body with real, nutrient-dense foods found in nature, and not a lab. [2] Now, does it mean that a salad a day keeps the neurologist away? Time will tell. There are still other factors to keep in mind, too, such as the overall diet, lifestyle, age, and stress levels of these participants. We also shouldn’t ignore genetics, since many times despite our best investments towards our health we cannot completely escape our genetics. Certain diseases like cancer do not discriminate, no matter how healthy or sick your body is. But it’s simple actions like this that can make a world of difference. And as the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Here’s one more bit of research to note. This one has to do with weight management. A little vainer than the previous brain-health benefit, but for those of you looking again for a simple, doable tip, then read on. Research published in 2012 in the journal Appetite (I can’t make this up!) shows that consuming or “preloading” a salad prior to a bigger meal helps to increase satiety and reduce caloric intake. In other words, a pre-dinner, lunch, or even breakfast salad helps to offset your appetite, causing you to eat less of your main meal. As a result, you’re naturally cutting calories. As the study states, “The results of this experiment confirm previous findings that adding a low-energy dense food such as salad to a meal can reduce meal energy intake. This study extends these findings by providing information on the timing of consumption, which has implications for strategies to modify food intake at meals. If the goal is to increase vegetable intake, serving salad or soup as a first course in the absence of other foods is the most effective approach…. Compulsory salad reduced meal energy intake by 11% regardless of when it was eaten.” [3] After all, there’s only so much you can eat before getting full, and a simple, fiber-rich salad can take up a lot of the real estate from otherwise heavier, calorically-rich foods.

Salad Do’s and Don’ts

Let’s get something straight here. While a salad is most definitely healthy, it is still equally as capable of backfiring as any other food. It all depends on how you make or consume it. What you need to look out for are the condiments (i.e., dressing). Although a good tasty dressing can make or break a salad, it can most certainly cause the latter if it’s loaded with sugar, preservatives, and industrial seed oils like canola oil. Even a healthy, homemade dressing made with olive oil and vinegar can spell disastrous if you’re bathing the rest of the salad in it. As for toppings, once again, watch out. Croutons and mounds of cheese, dried fruits, croutons, and nuts or seeds can soon add tons of calories to a salad.

On the flipside, here is what you ideally should be doing with your salads. First, choose a base. Ditch the soggy iceberg lettuce (which is practically devoid of nutrients) for crunchy romaine or green leaf lettuce, spinach, kale, arugula, or other leafy greens. Next, consider adding sub-ingredients from vegetables or fruits like bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, berries, citrus, avocado, etc. (There’s no limit on how many sub ingredients you can add here! Get creative and paint with nature’s colors of the rainbow.) After that, it’s time to make the dressing. If you’re just making a single serving, 1-2 tablespoons is more than enough (you get away with a ¼ to a 1/3 cup if making multiple servings). After that, you can play around with different varieties of vinegar and herbs and spices. If you’re cooking with bitter or hard greens like arugula and kale, add a bit of lemon juice, “massage” the greens, and allow it to marinate overnight, along with the rest of the dressing. This makes the greens easier to consume and digest, and also allows them to “soak” the flavors of the dressing! When you’re ready to serve, sprinkle in no more than a ¼ cup of cheese, nuts, or seeds (once again, if you’re making multiple servings, then you can get away with a 1/3 to almost ¾ of a cup). After that, it’s time to dig in!

As for the occasion when you’re eating out, no worries, I’ve got you covered. Look for a house or chef’s salad on the menu. After that, ask either for oil and vinegar on the side, or the dressing on the salad. (Bonus, ask for a few lemon wedges as well!) If there are any croutons, chips or candied nuts, ask for those to be omitted (if they wind up being served anyway, just scoop them out of the bowl/plate). Once your salad is served, add the optional squeeze of lemon, and drizzle and toss the oil and vinegar. If you ordered dressing on the side, add a small drizzle, and once again, toss. Simple!

Get Started Now!

If you’re looking for some new recipes or a bit of inspiration, try out these recipes from the site:

Simple Baby Kale Salad (FM)
Red Cabbage Grapefruit Salad (FM)
Arugula Salad with Pomegranate (FM)
Anti-Aging Strawberry Summer Salad (FM)
Thai Salad with Ginger Lime Dressing (FM)

Sources:
[1] https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/salad
[2] https://wcti12.com/news/nation-world/eat-your-vegetables-nutrients-in-leafy-greens-may-help-prevent-dementia
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3264798/