By Shereen Jegtvig, About.com Guide
Updated May 05, 2012
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board
A typical green salad is low in bad fats, low in calories and high in nutritional value. However, adding too many of the wrong ingredients can make a healthy salad into an unhealthy salad. Here are the things that happen to turn a good salad bad.
1. Using Only Iceberg lettuce
Iceberg lettuce has a nice crunch, but almost no nutritional value beyond being a source of water. Use a variety of darker greens like spinach, leaf lettuce, arugula, dandelion greens, kale, watercress and basil leaves. The darker the leaves the better, they're richer in folate, minerals and phytochemicals.2. Using Lots of Croutons and Bacon Bits
These extra toppings don't add any nutritional value, but they do add a lot of calories if you pile them on. One-half cup of croutons has about 100 calories and bacon bits are loaded with fat and artificial ingredients. There are better ways to add crunch to your salad. A tablespoon or two of chopped walnuts or flax seeds have omega-3 fatty acids for your heart and nervous system, plus they have fiber, which your body needs for a healthy digestive system.
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