Ditch the (Bottled) Salad Dressing

Lovely photo, thank you Lisa

I have a longtime client who has maintained a 20-pound weight loss for almost ten years. She’s savvy when it comes to food ingredients,  she orders wild salmon from Vital Choice and knows to BYOC (bring your own chicken) so she doesn’t have to eat the antibioticy option at the salad bar at work. She was in my office for a check-in recently and we reviewed her daily routine. “Speaking of that salad, how are you dressing it?” I asked.  “I use Newman’s,” she answered. I raised my eyebrows and told her “you can do better than that.” “I know most dressing is bad but even Paul Newman’s”?

I mean no disrespect to the deceased and truly admire the charitable work Newman’s Own has done. Yet their dressings have up to two teaspoons of sugar (1 teaspoon= 4 grams) per two tablespoon serving. This isn't meant to single out any one brand, this holds for all salad dressings. I’m sure some of you will say that one to two teaspoons of sugar isn’t that big of a deal. The issue is that sugar doesn’t have to be there. Furthermore, this is really an example of a food that could be two to three real ingredients and instead has 20 scary ones (to be clear, Newman's steers clear of the scary ingredients). Sugar, HFCS or artificial sweeteners aren’t the only issues; salad dressings are preservative playgrounds.  

Here are some of the ingredients you'll find in salad dressing. I can always tell a troublesome ingredient because spell check doesn't recognize it.

• Natamycin: acts as a preservative or antifungal
• Calcium Disodium EDTA: preservative; prevents air from spoiling food products, known to cause skin reactions and GI upset. It us currently under investigation by the FDA for mutagenic or reproductive effects.
• Carmel color: food coloring known to be a carcinogen and immunosuppressive
• Autolyzed yeast extract: texture, taste
• Sulfur dioxide: preservative
• Sodium Benzoate: preservative, one of the ones research links to hyperactivity and behavior problems in children
• Soybean Oil- much of the soybean oil used in dressings is genetically modified
• MSG
• Xantham gum: used to add volume and viscosity; it’s not necessarily harmful carbohydrate used in a lot of gluten-free products, but do we need to be adding carbohydrate to our salad dressings?

I’m just not sure why anyone would want to ruin a perfectly healthy meal pouring junk on top.

How much dressing do people typically use? 

The serving size listed on bottles is two tablespoons. Most people report using one to two tablespoons but are these people really measuring? A pour could end up being double that amount especially with the gargantuan salads many places serve. Also, some people think they are doing themselves a favor by ordering the dressing on the side then using the “dipping” technique. While this does allow you to control how much dressing you use on your salad, be careful not to dip the entire amount they give you on the side as it often exceeds what they would have otherwise put on the salad to begin with!

Tasty Alternative

When I embark on a mission to get clients to DIY with food, I know I’m going to have to engage in the time debate. When it comes to dressing, I’m going to win with debate. Go into your kitchen or work cafeteria, pour some olive oil and squeeze a lemon wedge or two. If you say that took more than a minute you’re lying or live in a much larger house than I do.

Easy Lemon Vinaigrette

1 small jar (I use leftover Zoe tuna jars)

1 lemon (lemons produce three to four Tbs. juice)

Olive Oil (double the amount of lemon juice)
Salt (optional) and Pepper 

Squeeze lemon juice in jar, add oil and shake. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. That’s it.

You can add lemon zest, Dijon mustard, parsley or basil or a minced clove of garlic. I also love experimenting with vinegars (fig, apple cider, balsamic). The point is that’s it’s easy, tastes better and saves you from ingesting sugar and preservatives.

At restaurants you can ask for olive oil and lemon on the side or olive oil and vinegar. To quote Kelly Clarkson, whose salad dressing habits I know nothing about, “oh sweetheart put the bottle down.”

Do you own bottled salad dressing? Would you consider ditching it? How is your salad dressed?

10 Sneaky Sources of Salt

We all have a friend or family member who, like my husband, often reaches for the saltshaker even before tasting their food. Perhaps this person is chided for their overzealous shaking; perhaps not. But the truth is that even the most serious salt-lover isn’t in danger of approaching the recommended one-teaspoon-a-day of salt from that habit. Instead, have you ever considered criticizing the amount of spaghetti sauce someone uses? Maybe you should.” Here are ten sneaky salt sources lurking in your food from a post I wrote for Blisstree.

 Chicken Breast

And I’m not talking about fried chicken or chicken tenders, either. Most supermarket chicken breasts are injected with a sodium solution. One serving of that can contain 400 mg of sodium (raw!), while less than 100 mg of sodium are naturally found in chicken. I first learned about this from Janet Helm’s Nutrition Unplugged post and have been disturbed ever since.

Medications

You have PMS, so you pop an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) to help relieve your cramps. But many NSAIDS (like ibuprofen) are high in sodium, which is a concern for those with high blood pressure or high “bloat.” A salt pill won’t likely help improve your moodiness once you realize that.

Baked Goods

Muffin with your salt? A Starbucks low-fat red raspberry muffin contains 500 mg of sodium, but at least that’s 400 mg less than the 900 mg in its egg white, spinach, and feta wrap. Either way, go easy on the baked goods.

Tomato Sauce
You may obsess about the carbs loaded in your bowl of pasta, but have you contemplated the sauce? Tomatoes are full of lycopene, a powerful antioxidant; tomato sauce also contains lycopene – and a lot of salt. A cup of tomato sauce (no meatballs) contains almost 1,500 mg of sodium. For less salt, make the sauce yourself using fresh tomatoes (yes, less convenient).

Deli Sandwiches

It’s no surprise that processed meats are salty. However, at delis, the meat, bread, and “extras” also contribute salt. A 6” Subway turkey breast sandwich has 910 mg of sodium. American cheese adds 200 mg and pickles another 125 mg, for a grand (or not so grand) total of 1,235 mg of sodium. How’s Jared’s blood pressure doing?

Canned Beans

You’ve probably considered the serious salt in canned soups, but what about your beans? Those that come from a can will run you more than 700 mg of sodium per cup (or 1/3 of your daily allowance). If you eat beans at home, give them a rinse in a colander or buy low-sodium beans. Better yet: Soak and cook your own.

Raisin Bran Cereal

You know that fiber is a good-for-you whole grain, and we all need more of it in our diets. Problem is, salt and sugar are often added to processed whole grains to spice them up. One culprit is raisin bran cereal, with 342 mg sodium per cup (plus a whole lot of sugar).

Bottled Salad Dressing

Just two tablespoons of bottled Italian salad dressing contain almost 500 mg of sodium. (And two tablespoons is not a lot.) Pair that with the aforementioned beans, plus some olives or roasted peppers and now you know why you feel bloated after hitting the salad bar. Foodtrainers’ favorite dressing olive oil and lemon juice.

Cottage Cheese

When you mention “diet” foods, many people’s heads fill with images of cottage cheese, Melba toast, and Kellogg’s Special K cereal. But cottage cheese is certainly not a low-sodium diet food. Just one cup contains 900 mg of sodium, so you may want to rethink breakfast (just not with raisin bran).

Ketchup

Those cute little packets look so harmless, especially compared to the fries next to them. But just one tablespoon of this adorable condiment means 190 mg of sodium. Add the fries, and you’re well over 500 mg.

The moral of the story is to read labels and check out the sodium. You don’t want your day’s food composed of many serious sodium sources, the same can be said for your children’s food. Which of these items was the biggest surprise? Do you consider yourself salt sensitive? Any strategies, other than making yourself to cut salt?