Today the sun is shining bright, and it seems like the perfect day for a delicious salad. The vegetables and delicate leaves in it are crammed with vitamins and precious minerals, and what’s more, they have very few calories. That is, of course, if you choose the right dressing.
Extra virgin olive oil is without doubt the best choice. An investigation carried out at the Purdue University and published in the “Molecular Nutrition and Food Research” journal reveals that you won’t get much benefit in terms of vitamin intake without the right type and amount of salad dressing; the authors found that olive oil and other monounsaturated fat-rich dressings required the least amount of fat to get the most carotenoid absorption. Italians perhaps have always subconsciously known this, but it is interesting to note that only three grams of olive oil are needed to absorb an amount of vitamins that would require greater quantities of other types of dressing. In the case of extra virgin olive oil, the amounts of health-promoting nutrients that can be absorbed is fairly dose-independent, hence if you feel you need more vitamins, you don’t have to pour a large puddle of oil onto your plate. Olive oil gives the perfect balance between calorie count and nutritional benefits.
Olives, tuna fish and mozzarella have a low fat content, and can be freely added to your salad, making it a rich, mouth-watering dish.
