Turn your salad into a complete meal

When the subject is healthy eating or diet, the first thing we think about is salads. They are allied ideas to reduce weight and gain health. The basis of every salad is the vegetables, but if you add other ingredients you can get a complete and nutritious meal.

Nutritionist Juliana Menezes explains that a full meal Must have food sources from all food groups. • You need to include carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and fiber in salads.


For example, a salad of lettuce, arugula, grated carrots, potato chips, shredded chicken and peas, seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, contains all food groups.

Fiber, vitamins and minerals are left to lettuce, arugula, carrots and peas. The carbohydrate is the potato. And the chicken, the protein. The fat is due to olive oil.

This combination is perfect for the salad becomes a complete meal. So the ideal is always to keep the food group, but not repeat the food, so that the meal does not become monotonous and soon the person becomes sick of it. The nutritionist even suggests that "the dish should be colored to ensure more nutrients in this meal."


The Salad Villains

Often some ingredients added to salads can turn it into a more calorie dish than usual. For the sauce, prefer extra virgin olive oil or fruit or yogurt-based sauces. Ready-made sauces, or sour cream-based mayonnaise should be avoided as it contains high calorie content.

When choosing salad protein, prefer the less fatty foods like shredded chicken, turkey breast, boiled eggs or white cheese.

For carbohydrates, if you choose to use bread or pasta, prefer the whole options, so it takes longer to process, which increases the feeling of satiety in our body.

To give the dish more flavor, use natural seasonings. "Parsley, oregano, coriander, mint, onion or basil are great options to accompany salads," explains the nutritionist. Be careful with the amount of salt that can increase your blood pressure.

The nutritionist explains that any unbalanced diet can be harmful to health. The lack of any food group can leave the body lacking in nutrients. What often causes the person to become unwell and without energy ?, concludes nutritionist Juliana Menezes.

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