Salad bar do's and don'ts

by Rigel Celeste (Subscribe to Rigel Celeste's posts)
Jan 15th 2007 7:09PM

Categories: Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

Possibly the most famous of all diet foods: the salad. Popular restaurant order of dieters worldwide? The salad bar. The salad, and the salad bar, came by these stereo-types because they can be very low-calorie and full of nutrients. But like anything, they can easily go the other way if you're not careful.

I came across this article that covers pretty much everything you usually see on a salad bar, and has the pros and cons of each and whether you should be tossing some in your bowl or not. Some surprises for me included radishes and alfalfa sprouts being on the "don't bother" list while cottage cheese gets the green light -- I totally would have thought that was the other way around!

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Comments (19)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Nick 1-15-2007 @ 9:21PM

I find it funny that this article tells people to stay away from cauliflower while the one right before it tells people to try it for Vitamin C...

You nutritionists should come to an understanding on the cauliflower debacle.

Michael 1-16-2007 @ 2:25PM

One thing the article neglects to mention is that raw vegatables will fill your stomach with fiber and make you feel full. Mushrooms, iceberg lettuce, and cauliflower may be devoid of nutrients, but you can pretty much eat as much as you want without fear of taking in too many calories.

A better salad bar strategy is to load up on the veggies. Stay away from the salads with sauce (cole slaw, macaroni salad, etc), take a small amount of sunflower seeds, chick peas and cottage cheese for protein and lightly top with low fat dressing or oil/vinegar. Don't drown your salad in dressing or the benefits of the veggies goes right out the door.

Tisha 1-22-2007 @ 2:50PM

What is this guy talking about? You should eat all the veggies you can get! It doesn't matter what this person says if you like it eat it--at least you are not eating junk food! This guy is trying to get people away from veggies---is he really trained?? Where is his common sense? The only thing I agreed with was the mac salad and the slaw comment! This guy is talking out of his head!!! EVERYONE SHOULD EAT THEIR VEGGIES!!!!!!

Marie 1-22-2007 @ 3:31PM

What surprises me about this article is that the writer never mentions any other vitamins, other that the basics--A, C, etc. For example, it says to eat as much broccoli as you can stand. I wish I could! But as a heart patient, I have found out that broccoli is high in Vitamin K, a blood thickener. This is something I need to avoid. And if anyone else is on blood thinners, then a glass of red wine a day is a great help, but the broccoli counteracts that. Am I misinformed about this? If so, I would love to be corrected so I can sit down to a big plate of steamed broccoli with olive oil and a sprinkle of pepper and salt!

L. P. Walter 1-24-2007 @ 5:43PM

I thought the article was well written with a touch of humor. Though the writer made a few suggestions, they were after all, just suggestions. I found the body of information lighthearted as well as informative.

Carol 1-22-2007 @ 3:47PM

Why does he include his personal opinions on taste? Many people actually like raw carrots in "stick form". I certainly do. I also agree with some of the comments from readers that it is better to fill up on some of the less nutritious vegetables than to be hungry and go for higher calorie items.

Brooke 1-22-2007 @ 5:03PM

Was this the same "genius" that wrote an article last week that listed butter as a trans-fat heavy food.

SUZY 1-22-2007 @ 5:56PM

JUST EAT YOUR VEGGIES AND FILL YOURSELF UP WITH VEGGIE GAS AND BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS!

Rita 1-22-2007 @ 5:33PM

I recently did a diet under a doctor's supervision which involved getting a blood test for the metabolic panel to see what foods would be the best to eat. I was told I could have cauliflower, but not broccoli. I have a hypo-thyroid condition and I've read that broccoli inhibits the thyroid function to a degree. So I don't know why the author would make the comment about cauliflower that he made. Seems like a lot of his statements were thrown out there without some backed up evidence or quoted sources.

Everyone is an authority today and we get a lot of false information which may not be true for everyone. What works well for one person may just not work well for the next one. I do agree that fatty dressing will not promote weight loss as well as loading your plate up with cole slaw and macaroni and cheese or those muffins they put out for salad bar goers who fool themselves into thinking that because they're on the salad bar, they must be healthy and dietetic.

And I find cucumbers delightful, with or without salad dressing! Carrots, ehh! But I think the author should not put his own likes or dislikes into the mix (pun intended).

cj 1-22-2007 @ 5:38PM

A great low cal alternative to salad dressing, for me at least, is salsa. It's very tasty and avoids all the oils/fat in salad dressings.

Melanie 1-22-2007 @ 6:24PM

This guy is just plain dumb. Of course you should eat your veggies. Like people are saying, it will fill you up, nutrition or not. And who gives a flip about what he thinks tastes good or not. He's sounds like he's trying to sound smart and funny at the same time. Not working!

Stephen 1-22-2007 @ 7:24PM

Use safflower, sunflower, corn, olive, cottenseed but not Canola oil unless it is cold pressed, organic. Regular Canola oil has some transfats (under regulations .5 grams or less per serving) and loses it's Omega 3s when processed (heated). Yuk! Most users make the mistake of thinking all oils are alike and they aren't.

Mushrooms have beneficial ingredients which aid the liver in filtering toxins. You want to eat your mushrooms in salads for its filtering functions. The author is partially informed and partially a jerk.

Broccolli and line caught salmon (from Trader Joes and Whole Foods Market) eaten three times weekly, no fast food, no sodas, plenty of vegis and fruit. My family eats more like a Jack LaLanne diet with fewer processed foods and more at home (5X weekly) whole foods, cooked and uncooked.

rich 1-22-2007 @ 7:04PM

marie, i normally eat broccoli every week a couple of times to help regulate my coumadin level, recently i lost a bunch of weight and don't have to eat as much vitamin k to help lower the dnr to the right level, because i am metabolising the coumadin so well i actually had to raise my coumadin intake. It all depends on your size and metabolism and what you regularly eat. when you establish an eating pattern of not eating a lot of vitamin k, then your dnr levels may react to a big helping of vitamin k broccoli or some other vitamin k source. but if you want to eat broccoli or some other vitamin k source it is okay to do so, just know that your thinners may have to be adjusted accordingly, i worked it out with my pharmacist a long time ago. soy, green tea, broccoli and most vitamin pills have k in them, plus some other green vegatables, i am sure you have the list by now, but that doesn't mean you can't eat those things, just in moderation, and if not in moderation, not many times a week, just a couple, you can easily get your levels adjusted by your pharmacist in about a 2 weeks, unless you have just stared blood thinners or have been off of them and just restarted, then it is hard to regulate that for a few months until your body adjusts again to the coumadin. i know how to regulate mine only because i have been taking it for so long, but i too have to adjust it when i lose weight or change my diet drastically, i don't adjust my diet to fit the medication, i have the medication adjusted to fit my diet, especially if the diet is healthy like a plate of broccoli!
good luck with you and yours
rich

nary b 1-22-2007 @ 7:07PM

My cousin, who is a heart patient, ended up in the hospital last year close to death, because he developed blood clots from having too much Vitamin K in his diet from such foods as broccoli, etc. He now has to watch it and avoid a lot of foods that are heavy in Vitamin K, which does thicken the blood.

Joey K 1-22-2007 @ 7:10PM

I eat all the Veggies cause it helps me to make doodie.

Bob Villines 1-22-2007 @ 7:39PM

Hey! Vitamin K is a blood thinner, not thickener, so
eating a diet high in K while on Rx blood thinners could
cause a bleeding episode. Bob

George 1-22-2007 @ 8:34PM

Remember, just because a comment is in writting does not make the author an expert. Just because the author has different qualifing initials following his/her name does not make him/her an expert in every subject. Many a teatment taken from "wives tales" is just as valid as treatments taken from medical journals. And, of course, almost everyone has heard the old saying, "Opinions, even informed opinions, are like A _ _ h _ l _ s ; we all have them.

rich 1-23-2007 @ 7:27PM

>15. Hey! Vitamin K is a blood thinner, not thickener, so
eating a diet high in K while on Rx blood thinners could
cause a bleeding episode. Bob<

Bob, Vitamin K is a blood thickener, not a blood thinner, it helps blood clot. Eating too much Vitamin K decreases clotting time, so eating a diet high in K while on RX blood thinners could and can cause a blood clot. Now if that clot happens to be in your brain or heart, it can burst and bleed, therefore your bleeding epidode can occur.

Too little vitamin K and too many blood thinners can also cause bleeding episodes.

I know because I have had countless explanations by doctors and pharmacists because I am on warfarin, a blood thinner for 2 DVT's. I have to watch that I don't eat too much or too little vitamin K.

rich

rich 1-23-2007 @ 7:35PM

i think my first message got wiped out, but
Bob, Vitamin K clots blood, It is actually given to high INR patients whose blood is too thin, to rectify the situation quickly.