Why Salads are not as Healthy as we Thought
FreezingDan
Posts: 8 Member
One of the best features of MFP is that it lets you analyze your caloric intake in a very methodical manner. You can easily see areas where you're doing well and ones where you are not. To be sure, it'll take a little practice to be able to identify these but once you do the power of MFP increases exponentially.
One of the first things I realized was that I was consuming too many calories at dinner. My entrée of choice was a home-made Greek salad upon which I added grilled chicken. Sounds like a healthy choice yet the total calories were often close to, or above 800. That's kind of like sabotaging a whole day of good behavior in one fell swoop. But it wasn't until MFP "forced" me to itemize my meals that I began to identify the problem. And once I did, I realized that the problem is more endemic. The problem is with salads, in general.
Most of us have been conditioned, since an early age, to accept the fact that a salad is one of the most nutritious and diet-friendly meal you can eat. And it can be. But I propose that it rarely is. And I'm not necessarily referring to the egregious pseudo-salads at places like Chili's - you know the ones: the quesadilla explosion salad or the Buffalo Chicken Salad. I think we all know that these are just gargantuan meals posing as salads for those of us in a perpetual state of denial. What I'm really referring to is the health-conscious entrée salad, like my daily Greek salad with grilled chicken.
The problem is that after counting the calories from all the various ingredients (Kalamata olives, tomatoes, feta cheese, dressing, chicken, bacon? yes!, et al) it becomes a case of "death by a 1000 cuts." No single ingredient is the culprit (although I did realize I was eating 3.5 servings of chicken), when taken in aggregate this "healthy dinner option" was clocking in at nearly 800 calories!
While I'm grateful to MFP for opening my eyes to this "nutritional tragedy", I am also saddened to have to retire my beloved dinner staple. Now, don't get me wrong, I still plan on eating lots of salad, but I will have to do so with fewer ingredients, and primarily as a side dish.
So the moral of the story is that salads CAN be healthy. But watch out as you start adding more and more ingredients and toppings. Individually those may be acceptable choices, but taken as a whole it can turn into a caloric behemoth.
One of the first things I realized was that I was consuming too many calories at dinner. My entrée of choice was a home-made Greek salad upon which I added grilled chicken. Sounds like a healthy choice yet the total calories were often close to, or above 800. That's kind of like sabotaging a whole day of good behavior in one fell swoop. But it wasn't until MFP "forced" me to itemize my meals that I began to identify the problem. And once I did, I realized that the problem is more endemic. The problem is with salads, in general.
Most of us have been conditioned, since an early age, to accept the fact that a salad is one of the most nutritious and diet-friendly meal you can eat. And it can be. But I propose that it rarely is. And I'm not necessarily referring to the egregious pseudo-salads at places like Chili's - you know the ones: the quesadilla explosion salad or the Buffalo Chicken Salad. I think we all know that these are just gargantuan meals posing as salads for those of us in a perpetual state of denial. What I'm really referring to is the health-conscious entrée salad, like my daily Greek salad with grilled chicken.
The problem is that after counting the calories from all the various ingredients (Kalamata olives, tomatoes, feta cheese, dressing, chicken, bacon? yes!, et al) it becomes a case of "death by a 1000 cuts." No single ingredient is the culprit (although I did realize I was eating 3.5 servings of chicken), when taken in aggregate this "healthy dinner option" was clocking in at nearly 800 calories!
While I'm grateful to MFP for opening my eyes to this "nutritional tragedy", I am also saddened to have to retire my beloved dinner staple. Now, don't get me wrong, I still plan on eating lots of salad, but I will have to do so with fewer ingredients, and primarily as a side dish.
So the moral of the story is that salads CAN be healthy. But watch out as you start adding more and more ingredients and toppings. Individually those may be acceptable choices, but taken as a whole it can turn into a caloric behemoth.
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Replies
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well..
that's only if you add sauce, cheese, bacon, and other high fat content salads...
If we go with the classic salads with grilled chicken and vegetables only...
it's perfectly fine. I usually ate grilled chicken salad vegetables with very little ranch.
Maybe like a spoon or two.
But, yes. Depending on the salad, it can be your enemy.0 -
I was the same way...before MFP I would be eating things that I percieved as "the healthiest meals I could eat" until I saw the calorie breakdown and then
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Salads are great if you can control your portions and what goes in them. Usually I stay away from restaurant salads.0
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The healthiest salad will always be this pinnacle of German inventiveness.
Meat salad.0 -
It's not just salads. Turns out granola is 1.4 million calories per 100g. I was so happy when I discovered I actually like granola, thinking it's all good and healthy, then when I looked up how many calories it was I wish I'd never tried it.
And orange juice. I can have a whole meal for the calories in one glass of orange juice.
Though whenever I've made salads myself they've always been really low in calories cause I always thought of salads as being leaves and a bit of meat, I never knew people put so many ingredients in them. Lettuce and chicken is the sort of salad I make. I'm not a very adventurous cook.0 -
Totally dependent on what you add to it. I like salad. And it has a lot of volume which makes it filling if you do it right.
Also, you're just saying YOUR salad isn't as "healthy" as YOU thought. And you're equating healthy with low calorie.0 -
lcooper327 wrote: »Totally dependent on what you add to it. I like salad. And it has a lot of volume which makes it filling if you do it right.
What? the right way?
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Your over all point, that calories can add up fast even eating so called healthy food, is good.
However I must disagree that 800 calories for dinner is a "nutritional tragedy." Even on my 1590 calorie goal an 800 calorie dinner isn't hard to fit in. I'd have to plan for it and maybe earn some exercise calories. As a guy, you should have a higher calorie needs than I do unless you're really short or a lot older than you look in your profile pic. What I'm saying is you might want to look at your daily calorie goal. Its possible you could be eating more and still losing.
You don't have to totally give up on your salad. You could cut down the amount you use of some of the calorie dense ingredients in your salad and still enjoy it. Use half the cheese, fewer olives or cut down on the dressing. Eat 4oz of chicken rather than 6. Add more of the lower calorie ingredients to make up for the lost volume.
Eta, just looked at my diary. Last night's dinner was 746 calories. I was 197 calories under for the day after I'd earned 300 exercise calories.0 -
A salad, like anything else, is only as healthy or calorie appropriate for you as you choose to make it. I disagree with the supposition that salads aren't healthy. It's just that you're now more aware of what choices you are making.0
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Salads are nutritionally dense, HEALTHY, and totally *awesome* Bro.
The problem is same-same as everything else, and has nothing at all to do with salads, per se, and absolutely everything to do with overeating.
Don't blame the awesome salad for our overeating, mmm-kay?0 -
I agree with you conceptually, however 800 calories is a pretty reasonable meal when it's loaded with amazing healthy foods. I always make super salads for dinner (easily 600-900 calorie meals) when you have 4-6oz of lean meat, healthy fats like avocado, nuts/seeds and olives and tonnes of veggies, you cant go wrong.
Of course restaurant salads are absolutely problematic, as are store bought dressings, but if you are making them with carefully chosen ingredients you don't need worry. Quality and source of calories (ex from protein/fat vs sugar) is far more important to health and achieving healthy weight then calories alone.
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How true!!! and I am grateful to MFP too for opening my eyes too...
I remember watching an episode of the Biggest Loser where a nutritionist took the contestants to the grocery trying to explain the importance of knowing the nutritional information in what they're eating. I still remember one of the contestants saying something to the effect of: "I tried to keep from ordering a cheeseburger, but ordered a salad to be healthy. So by the time I put all the extra ingredients on there, I might as well have had the cheeseburger?" The nutritionist said, "Exactly."
My husband has said the same thing too - that before MFP, there were so many things he ate that he THOUGHT was reasonably healthy, and after looking at the info on MFP, he couldn't believe how bad it really was.
Awesome insight!!!0 -
okay maybe not always, but easily 50-60% of my dinners or lunches weekly fall under the "super salad" category.0
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yopeeps025 wrote: »lcooper327 wrote: »Totally dependent on what you add to it. I like salad. And it has a lot of volume which makes it filling if you do it right.
What? the right way?
and the heated debate begins
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and here I thought salad was green leaves a tomato chopped up and tossed in and a little oil and vinegar dressing.
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yopeeps025 wrote: »lcooper327 wrote: »Totally dependent on what you add to it. I like salad. And it has a lot of volume which makes it filling if you do it right.
What? the right way?
and the heated debate begins
Maybe every time you question something you turn it into a heated debate0 -
Well... okay. Who knew that calorically dense ingredients made a dish higher in calories?
My vegetarian taco salad dinner today will be 400 some odd calories. I'll manage.
Sorry for the sarcasm, but I think it's just common sense that things like cheese, dressing, and olives pack a caloric punch.
When you say salad, I think of the vegetables, not the toppings.0 -
melanieliving wrote: »I agree with you conceptually, however 800 calories is a pretty reasonable meal when it's loaded with amazing healthy foods. I always make super salads for dinner (easily 600-900 calorie meals) when you have 4-6oz of lean meat, healthy fats like avocado, nuts/seeds and olives and tonnes of veggies, you cant go wrong.
Of course restaurant salads are absolutely problematic, as are store bought dressings, but if you are making them with carefully chosen ingredients you don't need worry. Quality and source of calories (ex from protein/fat vs sugar) is far more important to health and achieving healthy weight then calories alone.
Yep. 800 calories is my lunch, on a light lunch day. I usually eat a big-*kitten* salad with a whole grilled chicken breast on it to help me hit my protein goals.
A 1,000 calorie salad isn't the issue. It's the 1,000 calorie salad PLUS whatever else you want to eat that day.0 -
High calorie doesn't mean unhealthy. A salad (or a lot of other foods) can be very nutrient dense and also be very calorie dense.0
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yopeeps025 wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »lcooper327 wrote: »Totally dependent on what you add to it. I like salad. And it has a lot of volume which makes it filling if you do it right.
What? the right way?
and the heated debate begins
Maybe every time you question something you turn it into a heated debate
Sweetie...I did not question anything. As usual you got it all wrong BUT posted snotty comments anyway! ugh
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The idea behind this post can be generalized out to most foods. Know what goes into what you are eating. Look up the individual ingredients. If you don't know what something is, ask the server, the cook (if you're at somebody's house), or Google it. Most of us have enough resources at our fingertips that we shouldn't be surprised when logging our food after eating it.0
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mamapeach910 wrote: »My vegetarian taco salad dinner today will be 400 some odd calories. I'll manage.
I'm not a vegetarian but that sounds Yum
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See, my Greek salads come out to 160 calories. I add Romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, feta, grilled chicken and use a 45 calorie Red Wine Vinaigrette (use 2TBSP, weighed out). I just don't use HUGE amounts of each. Enough to fill me up. I think you are doing it wrong, bro! LOL It's all about appropriate serving sizes.0
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well..
that's only if you add sauce, cheese, bacon, and other high fat content salads...
If we go with the classic salads with grilled chicken and vegetables only...
it's perfectly fine.
This. I don't eat lots of salads, because I don't tend to crave them in the winter (I'll eat more in the summer). I find them mostly useful when buying lunch, and I know a few local lunch places that have salads that meet my needs (they have protein and reasonable calories and a good mix of veggies plus sometimes additions like quinoa that work for me).
My home salads sometimes include olives (but I love olives, so long ago realized they were high calorie, so add them sparingly), sometimes feta (which isn't high cal at all for a cheese--guess I just don't have the same ideas about the right amount to include), lean meat or hard boiled egg, and usually some cooked veggies on top of the raw ones (just my preference). For dressing I usually make my own with red wine vinegar and mustard or balsamic, plus often a small amount of olive oil.
They are usually one of the lower calorie dinner options I might have.0 -
It IS the high calorie items (toppings and/or dressings) that add the calories. I love salads. Use a variety of raw veggies, Tbsp of cheese, and low calorie dressing. In the 3 years I have been on MFP, I have lost 160+ pounds, and been maintaining for almost 17 months, and I eat salad everyday. Choose your toppings and work it into your daily calorie allotment. It can be very low calorie.0
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OP you really need to define what you mean by healthy. It seems calorific might be a better description. In that case you are better learning portion control, its just food. Eat a smaller amount and its still as nutritious as it ever was.0
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I never would have expected Buffalo Chicken Salad to be light on calories. And I think the words 'Quesadilla Explosion' are also fair warning that big calories lie ahead. I hope no one out there ever confused those menu items with actual salads!
That said, I don't think 800 calories is necessarily 'sabotaging a whole day of good behavior in one fell swoop'. I have lots of dinners/lunches between 800-1200 calories. I feel good about eating them.0 -
Just depends on what goes into your salad. I am eating loads of salad now but they're still pretty low-cal. I use green leaves of various kinds, cucumber, carrot, tomato and peppers, sometimes a little onion. I don't even log those carefully. But I DO log cheese, sweetcorn, tuna, meat or tofu properly. And since I don't really TASTE the oil in the dressing, I just leave it out and dress my salad mit a mild vinegar and fresh herbs.0
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yopeeps025 wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »lcooper327 wrote: »Totally dependent on what you add to it. I like salad. And it has a lot of volume which makes it filling if you do it right.
What? the right way?
and the heated debate begins
Maybe every time you question something you turn it into a heated debate
Sweetie...I did not question anything. As usual you got it all wrong BUT posted snotty comments anyway! ugh
Sure.
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This discussion has been closed.
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