Creating Healthy Salads to Fit YOUR Needs

For many people, the word "salad’ carries the connotation of chopped lettuce, tossed or topped with a few other veggies and a salad dressing of some sort. Others see salad as monotonous bowl of bland endless chewing that deprives them of flavor more and more with each passing day, and still others cling to the school of thought that green foods, simply weren't meant to be eaten. It's not very often, however, that we give attention to the actual composition of the salad and how the ingredients can affect us personally, after all, each ingredient has a specific role to play in both the flavor and benefits of everything that we eat.

To be fair when it comes to green vegetables, (and even some lettuces), they can have a bit of an earthy or bitter finish, and finding ways to compliment this so that we can not only enjoy the experience but maximize the nutritional impact, isn't knowledge that we just readily understand. For example, most of us have no idea that bitter finishes in certain vegetables is actually working to improve our digestive health which impacts the way our neuro communications respond to external stimuli. Or that foods that are high in Magnesium can not only affect the way our body maintains bone health, but also how our muscles respond to sudden movements or relaxation when we're trying to be calm.

All of these experiences and more can be folded into a well-made, easy to eat, bowl of nutritional goodness, and the best part, when you know what you personally need in your diet, building a recipe to support that becomes so much more interesting, and easy to enjoy.

When it comes to making salads, learning to tailor our ingredients and the toppings by using items specific to our health needs will ensure that we get the maximum nutritional impact.

When it comes to salads, we don't have to be limited to just eating a head of lettuce, with the same ole ingredients in random combination, from day to day. There’s actually lots of little twists that we can do, to keep salads from being such a tired, and boring flavor experience. For starters, we can season the salad lettuce, which most people never even think to do. By adding a sprinkle of salt, pepper, chili flakes. garlic. spice blends, etc. to the lettuce itself, we've already increased the flavor exponentially, without ever adding any additional toppings.

When it comes to choosing toppings, one way to maximize the impact for YOU PERSONALLY is to take a mindful approach to how you're feeling. For instance, if you feel that your immune system is low, and that you've been extra fatigued for a few days, you'll likely want to consider adding toppings that are rich with antioxidants, B Vitamins, and antibacterial properties to help give your system a boost. The same is true in the scenario of feeling brain fog and lack of focus. By consuming ingredients that help to mitigate this, (Rosemary, Omega 3 fatty acids, etc.) you can begin to improve your body's response to these individual deficiencies.

It's also worth mentioning that despite your best efforts to eat better and "get right" if you're still consuming what we like to call "negative nutrition" or, foods that actually work against your efforts to course correct, then you can expect a delayed response in your overall improvement, it at all. Similar to the cliche of ordering a cheeseburger and fries with a diet soft drink to credit towards your healthy eating. Just as there are good foods that work towards helping you to improve your situation, there are also bad foods that do just the opposite. And knowing which is which can go a long way towards helping you feel and look your best, both inside and out.

But what do you do when it's time to dress your salad? Are all pre-purchased dressings as bad as they're rumored to be? Is there a simple way to make your own dressing, to save time, and money, while improving your nutritional intake that way?

We'll answer this in a separate post! But, for now, why not give a little thought to identifying symptoms that you personally would like to address with your individual food philosophy, to ensure that you get the best from your meals going forward.