We often feel that the sacrifices we are called upon to make in our lives must be for a good cause, for a reason. But, that isn’t always the case. For example, salads, containing green leafy vegetables and colourful fruits are an essential, nutrient-filled part of our diet, yes. They aren’t, however, a balanced diet in themselves. Despite that, every second person you meet, will admit to having attempted a full-fledged salad diet at least once in their lifetime. Deluded into thinking that it is “cleaner” because, as a concept, salad seems to be relatively free of oily spices, gravy, starches and heavy meats, people try salad diets. This may be a big mistake and the reason salads are famously called the most “unhealthy healthy food.” So, we tell you why salad diets can be potentially harmful for you.
The dressing and sides are often processed items with bad fats, sodium, and sugars.
Ordered a creamy caesar salad? This is because rich, thick salad dressing, made with lots of sugar, salt, and oil can be bad for your body. Plus, the grated cheese or crispy fried garnishing that is provided with salads, tends to be unhealthy.
Salads are often carb-filled.
Starving yourself of carbs is wrong, but you also cannot overdose on them if you aren’t going to burn those calories. Ordering a salad filled with noodles, croutons and other starchy additives, could derail your quest for a fitter body, because you will be loading your body with fuel you don’t burn, leading to fat deposits.
Such a diet tends to be unsustainable and can make your weight fluctuate.
The first question you need to ask yourself while going on a salad diet is: Can I only eat salads for the rest of my life, and nothing else? If the answer is no, a diet filled with only salads, may not be the best diet to follow. This is because salads don’t contain all the nutrients we need. So, even if we eat salads for two or three weeks, our body might eventually give up and make us feel the need to give in and eat other foods. This could lead to weight gain, because extreme diet changes affect our metabolism.
It may not have enough of the crucial nutrient, protein.
You can add an egg, or some boiled chicken to your salad, but that amount isn’t usually enough protein for replacing our fat with lean muscle. Not only that, the proteins in salads sold in restaurants often contain fried chicken, or bacon, or buttered, crispy meat to make the meal filling, thereby adding unnecessary carbs and oils to the meal.
One often ends up secretly snacking on other foods.
Most of us plough sorrowfully through salads, chewing away even though we’re tired of eating that healthy yet boring meal. That isn’t even the worst part. An hour after laboriously finishing that salad, many of us feel hungry again, and end up devouring a samosa with a soda.
Our body often can’t tolerate such a large quantity of raw vegetables.
Eating too many salads can lead to indigestion and acid reflux for many people, because our body finds it difficult to digest such a large quantity of raw fruits and vegetables. Moreover, the fructose in the fruits can be harmful to our body if consumed in excess, even if we aren’t intolerant to it. This is because that form of sugar (fructose) makes us feel less full than glucose, causing us to eat more. So, portion control is crucial. Hence, the safe and ideal way to go about it, is to start by introducing a small amount of salad into our diet, instead of jumping into a diet with only salads for every meal.
