I was eating a salad and someone told me it was pointless
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MelissaPhippsFeagins wrote: »juggernaut1974 wrote: »Moral of the story: Stop listening to trainers at the gym (or "sports nutritionists" or whatever fancy-schmancy term they like to call themselves) for nutritional advice.
The sports nutritionist I listen to used to work with the Atlanta Falcons. She knows her sports nutrition, but she also has a masters degree in nutrition and human physiology.
Well she'd be the exception. Is she registered (RD)?
Juggernaut is referring to the majority of people these days claiming to be "sports nutritionists". That's great you found a good one but many get suckered in by people who took a 3-6 week course, got certified, and spout off every myth they read on the internet they think sells.0 -
MelissaPhippsFeagins wrote: »juggernaut1974 wrote: »Moral of the story: Stop listening to trainers at the gym (or "sports nutritionists" or whatever fancy-schmancy term they like to call themselves) for nutritional advice.
The sports nutritionist I listen to used to work with the Atlanta Falcons. She knows her sports nutrition, but she also has a masters degree in nutrition and human physiology.
Then I'm sure you'd agree that your friend is the exception that proves the general rule.0 -
tincanonastring wrote: »Plug the individual components into your food diary. Look at the protein, fats, and carbs you're getting with that salad. Check out the breakdown of the other nutrients using the full report. Print it out. Smack that person in the face with your salad's nutrition report for that person is dumb and deserves to be smacked.
^^^ Agree! That trainer needs a course in basic nutrition.0 -
I had a science teacher in jr high who insisted that what most called a salad was nutritionally void, as it would be iceberg lettuce with some dressing. That's not the kind of salad I eat, but perhaps your trainer has a similar odd understanding of what a salad is.0
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I eat romaine with spring mix all the time just for the vitamins.
I have no idea where that trainer got their information from.0 -
Items such as lettuce and tomato don't add much from a macronutrient standpoint, but they provide micronutrients. You've also got protein and healthy fats in there.0
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I think there was a miscommunication. The theory is that you need a salad dressing with fat to help you absorb the nutrients in the veggies and greens, so maybe he was talking about using a fat free salad dressing?0
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A "salad" could be a countless number of things, basically any combination of lettuce, vegetables, protein, dressing and whatever else you toss together in a bowl. There are also pasta salads and fruit salads. The person that said that to you should have asked the trainer to clarify exactly what type of salad they were referring to instead of just parroting bad advice. Way too much information missing here...0
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I think there was a miscommunication. The theory is that you need a salad dressing with fat to help you absorb the nutrients in the veggies and greens, so maybe he was talking about using a fat free salad dressing?
I had no idea, but surely if there's fat in your salad, even if it's not in the dressing, it would be fine?
About the 'iceberg lettuce is void of nutrients' myth though, I found a good article about it
http://www.raw-food-health.net/Iceberg-Lettuce-Nutrition.html0 -
It could be a game of telephone with a statement that started as true.
First, lettuce tends to be vegetable low in nutrients on a per gram basis. If the original statement was something like that, it is true. Of course, a salad usually has a lot more than pure, raw lettuce.
Second, a lot of people assume that since lettuce is low in calories per gram of food, a salad is always a healthy, low calorie option, but in fact, once you start covering it in salad dressing or adding other foods, it becomes less and less a low calorie option. That statement is also true.0 -
Your salad sounds delicious. I call that an automatic win.0
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Your salad-sounds great, and not pointless. The way some people (past me included) make salads, they end up having the same calorie/macro count as a bacon cheeseburger, and I would rather have the bacon cheeseburger in that case.
ETA: Even so, the salad would still have vitamins and nutrients. lol. Whoever told you that is a nut job.0 -
MelissaPhippsFeagins wrote: »juggernaut1974 wrote: »Moral of the story: Stop listening to trainers at the gym (or "sports nutritionists" or whatever fancy-schmancy term they like to call themselves) for nutritional advice.
The sports nutritionist I listen to used to work with the Atlanta Falcons. She knows her sports nutrition, but she also has a masters degree in nutrition and human physiology.
The trainer who shared the 'nugget of wisdom' with OP's friend is a trainer at Planet Fitness, LOL. I highly doubt that a chain gym which makes fun of people who are in shape and do anything beyond light cardio attracts "trainers" who know anything beyond how to sell more memberships, restock the bowl of tootsie rolls and put trays of pizza on the counter every Friday. I have no problem whatsoever with taking advice from trainers who know their stuff and base it upon science, research and common sense rather than broscience and personal agendas - there just seems to be so few of them.
As to the OP - while a salad can be low-density in terms of both calories and nutrients (depending on how it's made and how much dressing, etc. is put on it), saying that it's "pointless" completely ignores the context of its place within the overall diet. Eating nothing but salads all day every day wouldn't be a good idea. Eating a salad to help with satiety, get some veggies into your diet and keep you within your daily calorie goals (along with the rest of a varied, well-balanced diet) is perfectly fine.0 -
Pointless? Absolutely ridiculous and ignorant comment. First of all select high quality ingredients. Second, get some good vitamins and protein supplement. Unfortunately everything that we eat has a diminished nutritional value due to the over exploitation of natural resources. Your body will thank you for adding greens to your diet.0
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The trainer who shared the 'nugget of wisdom' with OP's friend is a trainer at Planet Fitness, LOL. I highly doubt that a chain gym which makes fun of people who are in shape and do anything beyond light cardio attracts "trainers" who know anything beyond how to sell more memberships, restock the bowl of tootsie rolls and put trays of pizza on the counter every Friday. I have no problem whatsoever with taking advice from trainers who know their stuff and base it upon science, research and common sense rather than broscience and personal agendas - there just seems to be so few of them.
I think PF varies wildly, as mine is nothing like that. But I think the takeaway here is, QUESTION EVERYTHING, even what a qualified trainer says, with your own research.
Anyways, salads are my life in summer, and yours, OP, sounds delicious, nutritious, and balanced. Whoever told you that is completely misinformed. They made an assumption and we all know what happens when someone does that...
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Sounds like either a one upsmanship statement, or an idiot.
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47Jacqueline wrote: »Sounds like either a one upsmanship statement, or an idiot.
I vote fot idiot.0 -
Protein from the chicken and the Spinach, micro vitamins, anti oxidents from the veg and healthy fats from the oil. Everything has to be seen in context with the overall numbers at the end of the day (IIFYM).0
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As everyone else here has stated, that person is wrong and you shouldn't listen to them. Salads can be extremely nutritious depending on what's in it. The only way it may be "pointless" would be if you took only iceberg lettuce (which still provides some nutrients, just in smaller amounts) and drowned it under a ton of dressing, which someone could see as empty nutrition.
But as long as you have more than just lettuce (which you do), you get nutrients and the lettuce will provide fiber. A little bit of dressing helps provide fat so your body can absorb some of those fat soluble vitamins (such as vitamin A), but even if you go for fat free your body will still absorb the water soluble vitamins so it's not a waste, so to speak. Either way, a salad (with moderate dressing, or other delicious toppings if dressings aren't your thing), is much more nutritious than eating a donut or muffin, plus you'll feel much more full. Absolutely not a waste!0 -
I think there was a miscommunication. The theory is that you need a salad dressing with fat to help you absorb the nutrients in the veggies and greens, so maybe he was talking about using a fat free salad dressing?
I had no idea, but surely if there's fat in your salad, even if it's not in the dressing, it would be fine?
About the 'iceberg lettuce is void of nutrients' myth though, I found a good article about it
http://www.raw-food-health.net/Iceberg-Lettuce-Nutrition.html
Yes, that is true, but some people are so fat-phobic that they have no fat source in the salad, and then use fat free dressing on top of that.0
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