Fats Help Keep Your Salad Healthy

I love salad. But not your regular 3 leafs of spinach and a slice of cucumber type of salad. Yes, my salad has lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers and all the "good vegetables", but I top my salad with mixed nuts and crumbled feta cheese. And instead of regular dressing, I add an olive oil/balsamic vinegar mixture. Think that adding all these fats to your salad cancels its benefits?

Many dieters think losing weight means you have to cut corners (which is true) by cutting out fatty foods like salad dressing (which is not true). While it’s a fact that when you leave off fatty salad dressings you may be reducing the total number of calories in your meal, you’re also reducing the total number of carotenoids you absorb from the phytochemical-rich assortment of veggies in your salad.

Carotenoids are a class of pigments found in vegetables. They make carrots orange, green peppers green and tomatoes red, and they also act as powerful antioxidants. These healthy compounds, however, are fat-soluble, meaning they need to be digested in the presence of fats in order to cross the intestinal wall and be absorbed into the body. That means if you’re not eating some amount of fat with your salads, whether from the dressing, shredded cheeses, avocado, or other source, you won’t be able to benefit from the all the fat-soluble nutrients, carotenoids and antioxidants found in the vegetables. How much fat do you need then? Research shows that you need to eat at least 6 grams of fat along with your meal in order to absorb these healthy, fat-soluble compounds. Check the label of your favorite salad dressings and opt for one that has a healthy amount of unsaturated fats, like an olive-oil based dressing. Or just add a quarter of an avocado to your salad for 7 grams of fat, 6 of which are heart-healthy unsaturated fats.

10 Diet Rules to Shed Pounds

Losing weight is frustrating. You’re hungry all the time. You even dream about food. Until that chocolate cake is yours, you simply can’t rest. Then once you’ve eaten it, you feel doomed. Will you always be tormented and overweight? Not necessarily. Researchers are learning that eating too much has little to do with lack of willpower. We’re wired to eat as much as we can when food is available and to undereat when it’s not. Trouble is, we’re not living in caves anymore, and our body’s conditioning hasn’t caught up to the fact that food is now available 24/7. In fact, the mere sight and smell of our favorite dishes set off brain signals that make passing them up unbearable. Saliva increases, our stomach muscles relax and the pancreas secretes insulin, causing our blood sugar levels to drop, says Susan Roberts, Ph.D., director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Energy Metabolism Laboratory at Tufts University and co-author of The Instinct Diet: Use Your Five Food Instincts to Lose Weight and Keep it Off (Workman Publishing). Scans of overeaters also show “that their brains are excessively activated by fat, sugar and salt,” says David Kessler, M.D., a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and author of The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite (Rodale). “Eating those [foods] activates the brain’s reward pathways — and that just keeps happening,” he says. So how do you fight your own brain chemistry? “The secret to dieting is learning to control those internal and external signals that get to the brain,” Roberts says.

1. Banish hunger. Hunger is the first problem dieters deal with. “Controlling it is a matter of what you eat, how often you eat and watching your calories,” she says. The combination of what, how and when is dynamite for weight control. To figure out how many calories to eat, Roberts recommends you focus on pounds first. If you weigh 120-160 pounds, start your diet by eating 1,200 calories per day; 160-200 pounds, 1,600 calories per day; 200-240 pounds, 1,800 calories per day. For two weeks, spread most of your allotted calories over three 300- to 400-calorie meals and two 100- to 200-calorie snacks. If you lose 6 or more pounds right away, add back 200 calories per day so you don’t get too hungry. Once you reach your desired weight, you can eat more but continue to keep track of calories and pounds, Roberts says.

2. Know what to eat. The best foods to nosh are low fat but high in fiber and protein. For a high-fiber cereal, try All Bran (which contains 10 grams of fiber per half cup) or Fiber One (14 grams of fiber per half cup). Eat lean proteins like white fish, which satisfies hunger better than any other protein food, Roberts says. For reference, a 200-calorie serving of fish is about the size of a checkbook. Lean, skinless chicken and vegetables and legumes, like chickpeas, are good sources of protein too. A 200-calorie serving of chicken is the size of a deck of cards. For your daily dose of dairy, swap out regular yogurt for low-fat Greek yogurt, which is higher in protein.

3. Clear cabinets of the bad stuff. “If it’s there, you’ll eat it,” Roberts says. “This isn’t just a willpower issue.” Remember, the sight and smell of food triggers metabolic responses that make you hungry. So throw away cookies and corn chips, and put healthy foods like fresh fruit and sliced red peppers, celery and carrots within reach.

4. Retrain your brain. Stop thinking of potato chips as your pals. “The way you take power out of a stimulus is to change the wanting,” Dr. Kessler says. “Food loaded with fat, sugar and salt is designed to make you want more.” You have to start saying to yourself, "I don’t want that food." “That helps you cool down the stimulus,” Dr. Kessler explains. By consistently telling yourself that sugary, fatty foods are no good, you lay down new circuitry in your brain that changes how you perceive the alluring food, he says.

5. Set up eating rules. It’s important to set boundaries when temptation tries to muscle in, Dr. Kessler says. So tell yourself: "No fried foods" or "I’m going to put half of my sandwich in a take-out box." But make sure you set rules you can follow, Dr. Kessler advises. If you think you’re obsessing and craving, stop the debate right away, so there’s no room for argument in your mind, he advises. Taking this approach means you won't feel deprived because you'll want to follow your rule, he says.

6. Eat healthful versions of favorite foods. Another urge we fight? Mom’s home cooking. Don’t ask yourself to give it all up. It just won’t work, Roberts says. “The best way to deal with those cravings is to cook more satisfying — and healthful — versions of the same foods.” That may mean adding fiber (think oats) to Mom’s chocolate chip cookie recipe or putting more mushrooms in your chicken Parmesan and less cheese. “Your brain gets the familiar taste and you get healthier food,” Roberts says.

7. Limit your choices. Stay away from buffets. The more choices we have at a meal, the more we’re driven to eat. A 2006 British study found that people ate up to 40% more when offered several foods instead of one. The assortment of foods, sight and smells stimulated people's appetites, delaying a feeling of fullness. So save the variety for fruits and vegetables, which can stimulate you to eat more of the good and less of the bad, fatty stuff. “That makes your eating so much easier to control than if you have an array of things,” Roberts says.

8. Enjoy treats — with restraint. Anyone who has broken a diet with a bag of M&Ms knows that deprivation doesn't work. “Food has to be pleasurable,” Dr. Kessler says, “but you have to control and plan [your cheats].” So leave room in your diet plan for an occasional treat — a small piece of chocolate or biscotti. Roberts' advice: Allow 100 calories a day of your favorite food. Just don't eat that goodie by itself. Roberts suggests “sandwiching” the treat between two low-calorie fillers. For example, if you’re craving a cookie, have a half cup of strawberries, then eat the cookie, followed by a cup of tea. “That makes it possible to enjoy the food without having a huge amount,” Dr. Kessler says.

9. Think of the rewards. Just cutting down or eliminating forbidden foods you overeat isn't enough. To break pleasurable food associations, create rewards. Maybe it's a picture of your slim self on the refrigerator, the boost of energy you get from daily walks or the delight of wearing new flattering clothes.

10. Forgive setbacks. Everyone succumbs to temptation sometimes, so don’t beat yourself up for binging on chocolate. That old brain circuitry is always there despite the patterns you've laid down, Dr. Kessler says. “If you get stressed or fatigued, it will [reactivate]," Dr. Kessler warns. "That’s normal and human. I go through a handful of chocolate chip cookies every once in a while.”