You think you’re being pretty healthy ordering that kale salad, do you? Daintily dipping each leafy morsel in that lite Italian dressing? Wrong. WRONG! Sure, it’s probably better than ordering a cheeseburger. But it’s not as healthy as it could be, and that’s because it might not have enough fat on it.
We’re not saying you should add a dollop of room-temperature lard — that’s not the move. We’re talking good fat, here: Olive oil, for example, a mostly monounsaturated fat loaded with antioxidants, is your friend.
In a study out of Iowa State University, researchers analyzed twelve women who each ate five salads with varying levels of oil. The more oil that was added to their salads, the easier it became for the women to absorb the salads’ nutrients.
“The best way to explain it,” said Professor Wendy White, who led the study, “would be to say that adding twice the amount of salad dressing leads to twice the nutrient absorption.”
Don’t add more than 32 grams — i.e., three spoonfuls worth — of fat to your salads, however: That number represents the point at which nutrient absorption reached its maximum. Anything over and participants began to experience diminishing returns, and probably oil-overload. Guess you really can have too much of a good thing.
So the next time you’re hitting the salad bar at Sizzler remember: Well-dressed salads are happy and healthy salads.
A few other things we learned about our bodies today:
- U-shaped travel pillows, huh, yeah. What are they good for? Absolutely nothing.
- Reason number 1,426,899 why climate change is very bad, not good: It’s leading to less nutritious crop yields.
- Bananas, bananas, they’re good for your heart. The more you eat, the less you… will have a heart attack and stuff.
- For all you ladies out there, stop wearing undies after sex, unless you like urinary tract infections.
- Want this season’s flu shot to take? See a therapist.
- In today’s “no, duh” news, drinking Prosecco will not leave you hangover free, unless you have like, a glass, and even then that’s true for one glass of anything.
Jeff Gross
Jeff Gross is MEL’s senior editor for social media and content marketing. His daily ICYMI column, which chronicles all things meta on the site, is the quickest way to catch up on MEL, and the funniest thing you’ll read all day. Follow him on Twitter.
