Nowadays, people understand the importance of maintaining a good diet. Which is why, many people prefer consuming salads than heavy meals. However, some of them end up gaining weight due to these salads. The only possible explanation here is that they are going wrong in preparing their salads the correct way. Here are some mistakes you may be making with salads due to which a person may experience weight gain due to salads:
Plant sugars:
Plant sugars such as raffinose and stachyose are present in many vegetables. The small intestine is not quite suitable for digesting these sugars. The bacteria present in these vegetables ferment the sugars, which later lead to bloating. These sugars are present in many veggies including lettuce, onions, broccoli, cucumber, celery, and chickpeas.
Ideally, salads must be able to satiate you while providing the best nutrition in terms of both quality and quantity, but people often face bloating and digestive issues due to salads. If your salad is the reason for your intestinal cramps due to plant sugars, it is best you stay away from it. Preferably, it is advised to keep your salad as healthy as possible by avoiding plant sugars that is one of the main causes of weight gain due to salads.
Toppings:
You may not realise the mistakes you may be making with salads. People forget the obvious that too many toppings can lead to a considerable increase in the fat as well as the calorie content of your salad. It is advised by nutritionists to stick to a particular cuisine style when it comes to preparing your salads. If you prefer a Mexican salad, make use of veggies like tomatoes and cucumbers with some bell peppers.
For toppings, you can use mozzarella cheese but only in limited amounts. In order to avoid weight gain due to salads, make sure to keep away from whole cheese since they are loaded with fat. Choosing a cuisine style and sticking to it ensures that all your requirements are met in proper quantities without swaying from your daily needs.
Nuts and fruits:
Dried fruits contain sugars; so it is necessary to measure them before adding. Keep a check on the intake of your dry fruits in the salad. Take care that it does not exceed a certain limit lest you want it to add to your health issues instead of minimising them. This is also because dried fruits like cranberries can increase your sugar levels instead of keeping it in check. If you are a diabetic, the best you can do is skip dry fruits altogether to avoid weight gain due to salads.
There are healthier options to fruits and nuts
There are healthier alternatives to nuts and fruits, which you can consume apart from the sugary ones. You can use them to address the common salad mistakes people make. Nuts like walnuts or almonds have a lot of fat in it. True that may add flavour to your salad, but you need to let go of them if you are intending to benefit health wise from your salad. Speaking of dried fruits and nuts, chop them coarsely and just sprinkle a bit of it onto your salad so that the flavour is maintained while not adversely affecting your health condition.
Protein:
When health is considered, the protein intake is also important. For this, you can add pieces of grilled chicken to your salad. Some people prefer tuna as it has good protein content and does not contain too many calories. If you are a vegetarian, you can add protein to your salad by adding chickpeas or other lentils, as they are full of fibre. These help in reducing weight gain due to salads.
Salad Dressings:
Pre-made salad dressings are loaded with sugar and fats and are one of the most common salad mistakes people make. You can keep your dressing at the side of your salad and add a bit of it at one time. It is neither good for your waistline and nor for your overall health regarding cardiovascular disorders and cholesterol issues. Olive oil, lemon, or vinegar are extremely good alternatives as far as the dressings of your saladare considered.
A note of advice while choosing salad dressings
Try to stay as much away from dressings such as mayonnaise, cheese, and fruit cream since they may cause weight gain due to salads. While they may be super amazing as per your taste buds, they are not at all healthy. Adding them to your salad will be nothing but ironic since your salad is considered healthy and nourishing instead of adding to your health issues. If you are experiencing bloating and digestive issues due to salads pay attention to your dressings.
Avocados and cheese:
Avocados, when used in moderation, are the healthiest stuff that you can have in your salad. But some salads are fully loaded with avocados to the brim which does a great job of turning your salad into a calorie bomb. A similar condition arises with using cheese. Most salads that contain cheese use full-fat cheese. A bowl of such cheese-filled salad consists of 18g fat and 225g calories. This is more than enough to negate your efforts of eating only healthy and clean food for the entire day.
However, you can substitute avocados with some kind of spicy salsa. It will only enhance the flavour of salad while keeping the calorie count under control. Speaking of cheese, make sure you don’t overload your salad to the brim with cheese. 1-2 spoonful of low-fat cheese is enough to improve the flavour of your salad and won’t end up upsetting your fat and calorie intake. You will end up consuming 170 calories and 18g fat less with this tactic and not fall prey to weight gain due to salads.
Conclusion:
Filling up your salad with ingredients that increase your fat and calories is the primary reason behind weight gain. Bacon bits, croutons, crispy noodles, breaded chicken, bacon, dried fruits etc. must be tried to be avoided. Try not to use tortilla bowls and pre-made salads since there are many more things that you can add to the list. It is recommended to keep your salads limited to leafy vegetables, simple dressings and toppings which are bound to help in keeping you fit and healthy and avoid weight gain due to salads.