Salad Sensibility

The next time you stand in a salad bar line or order a salad as a side dish, think carefully about your choices. While salad bars can help you meet the recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day, they also abound with foods high in fat and calories.

Take salad dressings, for example. Did you realize that pouring two tablespoons of regular dressing on your salad adds 100 to 200 calories, not to mention 12 to 20 grams of fat? (Compare that to the 9 grams of fat in a McDonald's hamburger.)

Most restaurants and grocery stores offer no-fat or low-fat salad dressings, many of which have improved in taste over the years. One note of caution: Beware of the word 'light'. Two tablespoons of regular blue cheese dressing, for example, contain 16 grams of fat. A 'light' version has seven grams, which is still a lot.

One other note on salad dressing: If you're ordering at a restaurant that doesn't have a no-fat or low-fat option, ask for Italian dressing on the side - and use it sparingly.

It's also a good idea to pass over mayonnaise-based items such as potato salad, which can contain 23 grams of fat per 1 cup serving, and tuna salad, packing in 10.5 grams of fat per 1/2 cup serving.

If you stick with fruits and vegetables, your heart (not to mention your figure) will say thanks! See the list below to evaluate your choices.

Food Item    Serving Size    Calories    Fat     Grams

Broccoli            1/4 cup                            6                0

Celery              1 stalk                             5                0

Cucumber        8 slices                             5                0

Red pepper      3 slices                             6                0

Olives              2 large                             10               2

Tomato            2 slices                              5                0

Mushrooms      2 tablespoons                     3                0

Cottage cheese 1/3 cup                           120               5

Cheddar cheese 1 ounce                          115             9.4

Croutons           1/4 cup                           100              6

Bacon bits      1 tablespoon                        35               2

Chow mein noodles 1/4 cup                      155              9

Sunflower seeds 1 tablespoon                    50               5

Sources: The Balancing Act by Georgia G. Kostas, M.P.H., R.D., and Food Values of Food Portions Commonly Used by Helen A. Church and Jean A. Pennington