Does Salad Mean Healthy?

Having a refreshing salad during the hot summer makes you feel light and helps you stay cool throughout the heat. However, is salad absolutely healthy? Actually, there are many different kinds of salads. Some of them may turn out to be a health trap if we do not pay attention!

Garden Salad is High in Fat?

Garden salad consists mainly of green vegetables, along with some tomatoes, cucumbers, corn kernels, olives etc. Although salad is a good source of dietary fibre and vitamins, the seemingly healthy garden salad could be a hidden fat trap. For every 100 g of salad dressing, the fat content could be as high as 58 g.¹ If we add 2 tablespoons of salad dressing to a serving of salad, it already meets approximately one third of the recommended daily total fat intake of an adult. Therefore, we should pick the low-fat options when selecting a salad dressing.

For Every 100 g	Fat Content（g）¹
Caesar Dressing	58
Low- Fat Caesar Dressing	4
Ranch Dressing	51
Low- Fat Ranch Dressing	12
Thousand Island Dressing	35
Low- Fat Thousand Island Dressing	11
Italian Dressing	28
Low- Fat Italian Dressing	6

Fruit Salad is High in Sugar?

Fruit salads usually contain various fruits, e.g. strawberries, grapes, apples and oranges. Fruit is beneficial to our health; for instance, it provides us with dietary fibre, vitamins, and antioxidants. Nonetheless, fruit salads soaked in syrup or fruit juice should be avoided so as to prevent excessive sugar intake and hence the risk of obesity. Every 100 g (around 2/3 bowl) of fresh fruit salad (without added sugar) contains around 8 g of sugar, but fruit salad in syrup can contain as much as 12 g of sugar,¹ taking up about a quarter of the recommended daily sugar intake of an adult. So, when we choose fruit salads, we should opt for those made of fresh fruit or prepared in water.

Balanced Diet is the Key

Despite that vegetables and fruit are healthy, we should still base our diet on the principle of a balanced diet. Grains should take up the largest proportion of our diet, with lots of fruits and vegetables, and appropriate amounts of meat, fish, egg and alternatives and milk and alternatives.

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