It appears to be pretty standard for the health nuts in your group of friends to push the idea of salad being one of the best foods you can eat. While the idea of eating salad for its rich vitamin and mineral content might have been overstated to you by these individuals, imagine if you were told that they were wrong? That eating salad is more or less pointless? Lets break down the reasons why this could be the case.
The bottom line appears to be, there is a group of nutritional experts that believe for all the pushers of rabbit food, salad, while not unhealthy, is certainly unsuitable for meeting the vitamin and mineral needs of your daily diet. Here are some pro’s and con’s of this seemingly healthy food.
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The vitamin and mineral content of salad might be slightly exaggerated
There have been any number of studies done that showcase how unless you eat a literal boatload of salad, you won’t be meeting your vitamin and mineral requirements for the day. While a typical salad will certainly give an individual heightened levels of folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta carotene, that doesn’t mean that one side salad with your steak dinner is going to provide enough balance to meet your nutritional requirements.
So that settles that, but what about the leafy greens found in salad. Whether it’s spinach or one of the many kinds of lettuce, leafy greens are one of the positives of the salad craze.
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Dark leafy green vegetables are a great source of iron, which people need, and often overlook. People who are at particular risk for having iron issues, are women, especially ones who have issues with their menstrual cycles. So if most women don’t think they get adequate iron, salad might be a good place to start. Not only this, but greens are known to aid in the digestion process, which is key to the maintenance of good health.
This one might seem obvious, but one of the downfalls of salads, are the rich and creamy dressings that you get (or buy) to go alongside them. Who wouldn’t want a flavorful dressing to accompany the bland vegetable taste? But while you are slightly upping your vitamin and mineral intake, as well as possibly even your iron levels, that cream based dressing, or the one loaded with salt, could be cancelling out the salad benefits in a hurry. So watch the calories, sugar and fat content of the dressing that goes with your salad, too.
