Life is too short, and even stressful, with everyone trying to cope with personal and professional commitments. But in our conquest to get fit, we try to adopt as many healthy practices as we can. We control our food portions, take up yoga, hit the gym and what not. Unfortunately, we sometimes tend to follow a few practices blindly. Thanks to the Internet, we even believe these will work.

Having only salads for lunch is one such trend that is now making the rounds. And a lot of people swear by its ability to help them lose weight. However, not only is this practice unhealthy, it is also not helpful to lose weight. Here’s why:

A Salad isn’t always healthy

Sure, it sounds healthy. You happily go pick a salad, thinking you’ve made the right choice. But, how many of you specify that you don’t want mayo, cheese/fatty dressings in it. Reality check, you are eating calories as much as someone sitting next to you and relishing a vegetable sandwich or a paneer wrap. To top it up, you are consuming way more calories from fat.

Lacks Protein

What fruits and leafy green salads fall short on, is the protein content. You need protein in your diet to build and maintain healthy tissues and boost your immune system. Upping your protein intake can help you lose body fat and also help you feel fuller after meals. Eating only salads means you’ll make it more difficult for your body to lose weight; since the muscle tissues will be metabolically active. Losing muscle tissue reduces the number of the calories you burn each day.

Missing Nutrients

Relying on salads and fruits means that you’ll also miss out on important nutrients like Omega-3 fatty acids, Calcium, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D that are abundant in wholesome meals. This may cause various deficiencies in your body and can affect both physical and mental health.

Encourages Wrong Food Choices:
You may feel full after a bowl of salad for  1 – 2 hours! But, what happens after a few hours is that you feel extremely hungry, your blood sugar level drops and you tend to reach out for anything that you can lay your hands on. This is because salads are low (almost zero) on carbs, which means low on energy.

Remember that 50% of your diet needs to consist of carbs.

Being low on energy means you will have food cravings, especially for junk food, thereby resulting in bad food choices for the rest of the day. Eating a salad for lunch and binging on fried or sugary foods during the course of the day makes no sense at all. So, you might as well avoid yourself the disappointment and trauma, and eat a well-balanced meal instead.

We say you put the dal, sabzi, chapatti, pasta, sandwiches back on your plate, have a fuller meal for lunch, and save the salads for dinner. Your body’s metabolism rate is much higher during the day than it is at night. And if you just have to eat salad for lunch, make sure you combine it with lean proteins, healthy fats and whole grains for a more filling nutritious meal. Add tuna or shredded chicken, and nuts and seeds.

Now, enjoy your wholesome Lunch because it’s right, and also the right of your body and soul.

We want you to be happy with your food choices. Download the bon happetee app that helps you eat what you love.

– by Team bon happetee