Your salad diet is making you fat!

You may think including salads in your diet is a smart way to lose weight but eating just a salad for lunch could be sabotaging your weight loss goals. Here’s how:

• The greens in the salad may be low in calories, but they cannot knock down hunger. Salads are a low-calorie option but eating only salad in your meal may increase the production of the hunger hormone, ghrelin, which can stimulate your appetite and make you feel hungry[1]. As a result, you may be more likely to crave for refined foods.
• Plus, the vegetables and fruits in a salad may fail to provide all the essential nutrients your body needs to perform at its best. The deficiency of the essential nutrients in your body can slow down your metabolism[2].
• Salads do not provide you with the necessary carbohydrates and protein, and it’s not a good idea to starve your body of these nutrients. Carbohydrates and proteins are the main sources of energy which aid in the breakdown of fat in your body. Here are 5 sources of carbohydrates which actually help you lose weight.

Your bodies need a proper balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat along with the necessary vitamins and minerals to maintain weight. So balance your fruit and vegetable salad with healthy carbohydrate and protein-rich foods such as whole grains, avocados and nuts, as well as beans and lentils. Eat the salad but make sure that you eat a whole grain roti or a sandwich along with it or team your salad with some soup. If you are eating salad to lose weight, you also need to pick the right veggies.

You may also like to read:

• 6 healthy salad dressing recipes for weight loss
• 5 tasty salad recipes to keep you in good health

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References:
[1] Roe, L. S., Meengs, J. S., & Rolls, B. J. (2012). Salad and satiety: the effect of timing of salad consumption on meal energy intake. Appetite, 58(1), 242–248.

[2] Gimenez, M. S., Oliveros, L. B., & Gomez, N. N. (2011). Nutritional Deficiencies and Phospholipid Metabolism. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 12(4), 2408–2433.

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