Healthy Food Choices: Salad Dressings

Salad dressings take a variety of forms and are used to complement the flavors of salads. Learn some tips for buying salad dressing in this healthy shopping video.

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Oil or mayonnaise based
Oil based dressings are healthier
Try low versions

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Michelle Cooper has been a registered dietician for more than 10 years. She currently works for the state of North Carolina for the New Hanover County School District in the Child Nutrition Department as the supervising registered dietician on staff. She specializes in child nutrition, child fitness and overall child health. She enjoys her job because it allows her to be a pivotal piece of child development.

MICHELLE COOPER: Next, we're going to talk about salad dressings. There are basically two types of salad dressings. One is your mayonnaise-based and the other is your oil-based. Oil-based salad dressings tend to be a little bit healthier than the mayonnaise-based. Number one, they're made with vegetable oil like soybean, canola or safflower which tends to lower your LDL or your bad cholesterol. They are also lower in calories than their mayonnaise counterparts. However, you can find a mayonnaise salad dressing in a light or a low-calorie version. Because it has eggs in it or it's made from mayonnaise, it does have a little bit of the animal fat in it. So you're not going to get as much as a protective heart benefit as you would from the oil dressing. However, if you like to have salad and you prefer this, it's much better to eat your salad and even if you do use the mayonnaise-type dressing; although, the oil dressing is just a little bit healthier and a little bit lower in calories. What I would recommend is having either one but look for the lower calorie, lighter versions of either. Just remember, when choosing your salad dressing, the oil brand tends to be a little bit healthier because of its cholesterol lowering benefit. However, you still might want to look for the lighter version of this because it does add calories to your salad, especially, if you're trying to watch your weight or maintain your weight. If you do choose the mayonnaise-type, remember to also get the lower-fat or light versions.

Healthy Food Choices: Salad Dressings Video

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