by Karon Brandt

Created on: July 06, 2008   Last Updated: June 28, 2009

For a nation whose population is growing in numbers and overall weight, salads can be a healthy variety of tasty, fresh foods that you can eat guilt-free.

Choose from the following categories: protein, cheeses, greens, vegetables, salad dressings and fruits. Mix them up for color and appeal; use a fat-free or low cal dressing and enjoy a truly flavorful meal or side dish.

Salads should not appear to be "rabbit food" only offered to weight watchers. They can be hearty, healthy, filling dishes.

By understanding food values and what your body needs, you will learn to read labels and discern which is the better, healthier product. There are many choices between good foods vs. junk foods.

By knowing the Percent of Daily Values (% DV = recommended daily allowances) you need to consume in an average, balanced adult diet, you can make a judgment about what to eat and in what quantities. Many labels now show the percentage values a particular canned or packaged food contains for 2000 and 2500 calories diets. These are valuable guides to making healthy choices.

For a 2000 calorie diet, total fat calories should be less than 65 grams; sat fat should be less than 20 gm.; cholesterol less than 330 mg.; sodium less than 2400 mg.; and potassium less than 3500 mg. You should eat a minimum of 300 mg. of carbs and 25 mg. of fiber daily.

For PROTEIN in your salad, add meat, fish, seafood, poultry, nuts, beans and/or eggs. Be sensible. A meat portion is considered to be 2 to 3 ounces. White chicken and white turkey add less fat and cholesterol than ham or bacon bits, but taste is important, too. A few nuts add crunch but also fat. Eating hard-boiled egg whites is healthier than eating the whole egg, because of cholesterol, but eating the yolk won't hurt once in a while. Seeds, sprouts and wheat germ are healthy choices, also.

Compare similar items and make the healthier choice. A 3.5 oz. serving of canned, white tuna in water vs. oil contains 118 calories vs. 190, 32 mg. of cholesterol vs. 21, 1.75 grams of fat vs. 10, and 371 of sodium vs. 385. Such choices will make a difference to someone on a lower-calorie or lower-fat diet.

If you choose a "less healthy" food, simply use less of it. One tablespoon of Hellman's Mayonnaise = 90 calories, all from fat; cholesterol = 5 mg. and sodium = 90 mg. Low cal mayo provides only 19 calories with very little fat or sodium. One tablespoon of Kraft's Miracle Whip contains 35 calories (25 from fat); cholesterol = 0 and sodium =

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