A Serving of Salad Everyone, from mothers to dieticians, recommends a serving of salad. Salads are easy to prepare, good for health and do not add to your weight. When we mention salad, the first thing that comes to one's mind is a blend of greens, raw vegetables and dressing. The list of ingredients that can be added to these is endless. Seasonal fruits, nuts, berries, boiled vegetables, seafood and lean meat are but a few of the many food items you can make salads of. In fact, recipes for salads do not even need to be followed to the "T". One can conjure up new recipes at will, allowing for a lot of creativity. While we cannot bring to you an exhaustive list of salad ingredients and the health quotient of each, we can try and scratch the surface of "Saladology" and see what makes a serving of salad so beneficial. The benefits of salad Raw leafy vegetables provide volume to our diet. They contain dietary fibres or roughage which provide bulk to stools and help in relieving and preventing constipation. Salads are filling and prevent us from overeating. Because they are low in calories, the end results could be weight loss! Eating salad before your main course will give you a sense of satisfaction and limit your calorie intake. At the least, it keeps us from putting on weight through eating. (And we thought gaining weight was inevitable!) Raw vegetables and fruits are the most alkaline foods. They held us balance the intake of acid-forming food which includes meat, fish, dairy products and grains. Most ingredients we use in salads are uncooked and hence, they retain most of their nutrients. Greens and raw vegetables are very rich in nutrients. Lettuce, cabbage, beetroot and tomatoes are rich in potassium. Leafy greens are also very rich in magnesium, as are peas, green pepper and onions. Broccoli and cauliflower are rich in calcium. Though they don't taste great when eaten raw, it is always a good idea to boil and add them to your salad. Raw vegetables and fruits are also very rich in vitamin A , vitamin C, beta-carotene and folate. Vitamins are necessary for maintaining good health, fighting infections, boosting immunity and carrying out most metabolic functions. Most of these nutrients are not sufficiently present in our normal meals and eating salads is a convenient way of meeting the necessary requirements. Our body also needs sufficient amounts of minerals such as iodine, iron, zinc, copper, phosphorus, manganese and sodium. Salads with raw vegetables, green leaves and added fruits are rich in minerals and complete our daily requirement of these minerals, which may be lacking in our regular diet. Raw vegetables and fruits also contain natural plant compounds called phytonutrients. These are not as necessary as minerals and vitamins are but are beneficial to the body in many ways. Examples of phytonutrients include Lutein, Zeaxanthin and beta-carotene, all of which act as antioxidants. Beta-carotene is converted to Vitamin A in the human body. Salad dressings contain fat. However, most of them have monounsaturated fats, which lower the levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) in the body and increase that of good cholesterol (HDL). Making healthier salads As mentioned before, there can be more varieties of salads than one can count. However, knowing the levels of nutrients in the ingredients helps us come up with healthier mixtures. Sodium is required for regulation of blood pressure. The daily intake of sodium should ideally not cross 2-3 grams a day. While most greens and fruits contain sodium, its richest source is common salt and other salts such as monosodium glutamate. Try to avoid adding MSG or excessive salt to your salad. Not only does salt add excessive sodium to your diet, it also robs the greens and fruits of their natural taste. Use dressings with oils that contain beneficial fats. Sunflower, soybean and olive oil are good choices since they contain a greater percentage of monounsaturated fats. Also, check the list of ingredients to ensure that they do not have hydrogenated fat or large amounts of total carbohydrates. Often, we tend to overuse salad dressing. A little bit of dressing is usually sufficient to coat the leaves of the salad. The trick is to use a small amount of dressing and to toss the salad really well. As far as picking your ingredients are concerned, remember, dark greens and red ingredients usually have more nutrients than light green ones. To avoid repeating your recipes, you can also vary the shape of vegetables you use. Dice them, cut vegetables into cubes or strips; make them look different and you will come up with interesting looking salads almost every day. Changing the dressing on the same ingredients will also give you new flavours to experiment with everyday. It is also easy to make your own dressings at home. The number of creative mixtures you can conjure up is countless. Salads don't always have to be vegetarian. If you have a liking for seafood, try making a salad out of prawns, shrimps or oysters, instead of frying or making curry out of them. Seafood is a good source of minerals and makes for tasty salads. You can also always add lean meat and fish to your salads. Make sure you boil the meat well before making a salad out of it. If you have hypertension, cardiovascular diseases or diabetes, keep a check on the things you add to your salad. Garden salads are safe, but keep a tab on the amount of salt and sugar that go into them. Try searching for new recipes on the internet. Salads are a favourite the world over and you will be surprised at the number of alternatives you will find.