Builld Better Salad

The darker the leaf, the more vitamins it contains. Look for spinach, Romaine lettuce, arugula and chicory most folic acid and beta-carotene - an antioxidant that helps the body get rid of disease-causing chemicals to protect your eyes and skin. Love your iceberg? "Mix dark green with lighter tone down their bitter taste," says Jackie Newgent, RD, a nutritionist and culinary instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City.

Junction Produce: Fruit and vegetables

The more colorful your mix of vegetables, the more nutrients you eat. Fill your plate with these nutritional superstars first - they offer the most vitamins and minerals per bite. Cherry Tomatoes are rich in lycopene and may help prevent cardiovascular disease in women. Broccoli has vitamin C, beta carotene, fiber and calcium.

If you are a rainbow selection of peppers, green means stop: Red and yellow peppers contain more than two times more vitamin C than the green face, are really just immature versions of the more colorful varieties. You can never go wrong with carrots, one of the best sources of beta-carotene.

All fruits are not equal. Place with no water, dried fruit packs a high calorific punch, especially if you use a large serveringsske. Avoid large areas of dried cranberries (108 calories for 1 / 4 cup) raisins (92 calories for the same size portion).

Stick with fresh fruit such as berries, pears, or orange slices. These offers will make your salad fresh without too many calories (22 calories of oranges 1 / 4 cup) and their high water content will help keep you full.

Fat Facts: Adding Extra

Limit yourself to a healthy, unsaturated fat per salad (except dressing), such as nuts, seeds, olives, or avocado. Ten olives or 1 / 4 cup nuts (about the size of a golf ball) is surprisingly good.

Cheese is rich in saturated fat and sodium, and is not the best source of calcium for the calories, says Lisa Young, Ph.D., RD, an assistant professor of nutrition at New York University and author of the Teller Part. If you cannot lose the cheese, be limited to 1 ounce (about four dice worth) and go for lower fat versions like goat or mozzarella instead of cheddar or blue. Or mix half low-fat with half regular cheese. "In our study, women did not taste any difference if we are low fat cheese on a regular basis," although the number of calories has been almost halved, says Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University and author of the amount of weight Eating Plan.

Dress to impress: salad dressings

See the portion size when you click the dressing: Even honey-mustard dressing weighs more than 200 calories per quarter cup. One scoop (about 1 / 4 cup) of full-fat ranch or Caesar packs 300 calories. Two ladles corresponds to two hot-fudge sundae. If you choose low fat dressing, you can double. A plastic takeout container dressing contains about two tablespoons, so fill in accordingly.

Walk right past that fat-free French. A recent study showed that people who ate salads with fat-free dressing absorbed essential nutrients than those with less fat in their salads and low fat dressing stimulated absorption of good-for-you nutrients like beta-carotene and lycopene in relation to fat Fri little fat is necessary to help your body process vitamins.