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Most often when we think about a healthy meal plan for weight loss, one of the first foods to come to mind is salad. Rich in vitamins and minerals from fresh vegetables, you have the freedom to add whatever toppings you like to this meal to help bolster your protein intake, making it even easier to lose weight while staying full and satisfied.
But as you can compliment your salad with nutrient dense ingredients, it’s just as easy to overload your meal with unhealthy additives that quickly rack up calories, sugar, and fat while negating the actual benefits of your meal. Dressing is one of the worst culprits of this as many options are packed with preservatives and ingredients of little nutritional value that don’t move you towards your weight loss goals. While certain dressings can improve your meal and are conducive to feeling great in your body, there’s one dressing choice that should be avoided at all costs in order to truly reap the benefits of your salad.
Thousand Island Dressing
Creamy and rich, there’s no denying that Thousand Island dressing adds a distinctive and delicious flavor to any salad regardless of the contents. However, often packed with calories and an unhealthy amount of fat, if you’re aiming for weight loss, this is not a dressing which should be a mainstay in your daily eating routine.
“If I had to pick one salad dressing to stay away from, it would be Thousand Island dressing as the first few ingredients are soybean oil and sugar, warns nutritionist Heather Hanks. “Instead, use two parts of olive oil and one part freshly squeezed lemon juice or vinegar for a healthy homemade dressing. You can also add herbs of your choice to your dressing - such as oregano, garlic, sea salt, pepper, and parsley.”
Evaluating your dressings to determine their value to your diet is essential for maintaining a well balanced eating plan. Vegetable oil is one of the worst cooking oils for your health as it can be derived from a number of ambiguous sources, so if your dressing label says it contains this ingredient it’s best left on the shelf no matter if the calorie count indicates otherwise.
However, it is important to note that healthy fats are an essential macronutrient to eat regularly even for weight loss, so cutting out a food simply because it contains oil or fat will not help your overall progress, unless it’s trans fat. In fact, Hanks says, ingredients such as olive oil, avocado oil and coconut oil are all actually wonderful sources of fat that provide your body with the nutrients needed to support your overall health.
Fat content aside, Thousand Island dressing is also rife with sugar which has been known to wreak havoc on even the healthiest of diets. “Sugar - especially when coupled with trans fats - is a highly inflammatory recipe that can sabotage the health benefits of eating a salad. Most salad dressings contain empty calories, meaning that there is not a lot of nutritional value there, and this can lead to weight gain.”
While the reality is that you can eat most of your favorite foods in moderation and still lose weight, in excess, sugar can pack on calories and inflame the body making it more difficult to see the results of your healthy diet. Especially when you’re turning to a meal such as salad for the health benefits it can provide, loading up on a sugary, high-fat dressing completely negates the positive impact this meal choice could make.
Eating for weight loss doesn’t have to be a minefield of decisions, and keeping an eye on the ingredients list for most of your purchases is one of the best ways to ensure you’re getting the most out of every meal. Salads are a delicious and hearty addition to your diet to help reach your weight loss goals, so it’s important to be conscious of every ingredient in order to effectively maximize the health benefits. While delicious, Thousand Island dressing is better left on the shelf in favor of a more natural, homemade dressing. You can still consume foods which contain fat, but when combined with high sugar content as well you’ll feel better instead opting for a more nutritious dressing that can actually help to nourish your body.
