Salad is known as healthy food provide many benefits forbody. However, eating salads can also be unhealthy if the way is wrong. There are several important things that must be considered in choosing and preparing a saladso that the maximum benefits and riskshis can be avoided.
Salad is a type of food made mainly of fruit or vegetables which are generally raw. Eating a salad can provide the intake of vitamins, minerals, and fiber that are needed by our bodies. With the fulfillment of daily needs for various nutrients, our risk for heart, lung and liver disease, digestive disorders, stroke, obesity, cataracts, macular degeneration, and cancer can be reduced.
In addition, eating raw vegetables and fruits in salads can also maintain mental health and improve mood or mood mood.
Risks of Eating Salad
Although eating vegetables and fruit is highly recommended, you need to be careful. Sometimes raw fruits and vegetables carry harmful germs, such as Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli, which can cause food poisoning.
Pregnant women, the elderly, and patients undergoing chemotherapy, taking corticosteroid medications, or taking immune system-suppressing drugs are more susceptible to infection, so it's best to avoid eating raw salads.
On the other hand, dressings or salad dressing, such as mayonnaise, ranch dressing, blue cheese, or Thousand Islands; and toppings salads, such as cheese, bacon, beans, potatoes, or crusty bread will add to the number of calories in the salad. Eating salads with lots of additions dressings and toppings can cause weight gain.
mayonnaise and dressings Salads contain lots of saturated fat, calories, and salt. To illustrate, one tablespoon of mayonnaise contains about 94 calories and 10.3 grams of fat, while one tablespoon of sauce Thousand Islands contains about 60 calories and 5.5 grams of fat.
How to Make a Healthy Salad
So that the salad you consume provides maximum benefits and does not actually cause disease, there are several important things that must be considered, namely:
1. Selection of vegetables and fruit
For salad ingredients, choose fresh fruits and vegetables that don't look deformed. If the fruit or vegetable has been chopped, choose one that is stored cold or placed on ice. Separate vegetables and fruit from meat, fish and seafood raw in a basket or shopping bag.
2. Cleanliness vegetable and fruit
Wash fruits and vegetables under running water while scrubbing with your hands, to remove dirt and adhering soil. If necessary, use a brush to scrub the tough skins of fruits and vegetables, such as cucumbers or melons. Cut and discard the fruit and vegetables that look deformed. For lettuce and cabbage, remove the outer leaves.
3. Kcleaning during salad making
Wash hands and kitchen utensils, including cutting boards and countertops, before and after making salads. The goal is to prevent the salad from being contaminated with harmful germs. To process vegetables and fruit, use a different cutting board, knife, and cooking utensil from the one used for processing meat.
4. Storage
Fruits and vegetables that have been peeled or cut should be put in clean containers, and immediately stored in the refrigerator for less than 2 hours, or less than 1 hour if the air temperature is quite hot (>32°C), if the salad is not consumed immediately. Do not place the salad near raw meat, so as not to be contaminated by bacteria.
5. Toppings and dressings salad
Limit quantity toppings salads, such as cheese, salami, sausage, ham, or dry bread; as well as the amount of mayonnaise and dressings, as ranch dressing, blue cheese and Thousand Islands added to salads.
For dressings healthier salad, use it balsamic vinegar, yogurt or vinaigrette, which is a mixture of vinegar or lemon juice with olive oil or canola. In addition to adding flavor, adding oil to salads can help absorb fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E and K.
Although it has some risks, eating salad is still highly recommended because it provides many health benefits. By applying the methods above, the risk of eating salad can be avoided. To find out more about the mixture and how to make a healthy salad according to your health condition, don't hesitate to consult a nutritionist.
Written by:
dr. Michael Kevin Robby Setyana
