12 Steps to Whole Foods
Dressing Up Your Salads Dangerous Ingredients in Commercial Salad Dressings Bottled salad dressings are a danger to your health. Virtually all of them, including the expensive refrigerated kinds, contain one or more of the following dangerous ingredients that your fresh, homemade salad dressings will not contain. Monosodium glutamate (MSG). This chemical is purchased under the brand name “Accent.” It is also hiding in hydrolyzed vegetable protein and dozens of other food additives, so you may not recognize that it’s in your bottled dressings, especially nonrefrigerated types. MSG makes you crave more of the foods it is in and thus has been linked to the obesity epidemic. Perhaps even more importantly, it is a neurotoxin that has been linked to brain damage, central nervous system damage, and dozens of other major health problems. Chemical additives and preservatives. These include propylene glycol, sodium laureth sulfate (SLS), and other chemicals whose names you cannot pronounce. Although PG and SLS are known by the FDA to cause liver and kidney damage, the FDA approves these chemicals and many others if they are “food grade,” which means that the rodents and droppings are strained out. Refined oils. These are oils such as soy, safflower, canola, and other vegetable oils which are heated above 400° and made rancid and, therefore, carcinogenic. Everyone knows trans fatty acids (TFAs) are deadly, but even refined oils that are not manufactured and bombarded with hydrogen atoms like TFAs are very harmful to our health, damaging every cell they come into contact with. Despite the claims of soy product manufacturers, who have been very successful at promoting soy in the past two decades, soy oil and other refined soy products are thyroid suppressants. Since millions of American women are walking around with undiagnosed lowthyroid (hypothyroid) problems, we would be wise to stay away from all refined soy products, which are in many foods. High-fructose corn syrup. The very worst of all the refined sugars, it is linked to diabetes, tooth decay, and obesity, among dozens of other health risks. This is what dietitians call “added sugar,” because it is totally unnecessary topping a salad. Craving a treat and eating a piece of chocolate is one thing. But no one will miss cheap, refined sugars in their salad! You should recognize most of your favorite dressing types in this chapter’s recipes, but none have chemicals or ingredients that will damage your health. All feature lipase-rich, antioxidant-packed ingredients that will make a dramatic difference in the longevity and health of every cell in your body. 76 12 Steps to Whole Foods © Copyright Robyn Openshaw
Dressing Up Your Salads High-Nutrition Ingredients to Use Instead The best salad oils to use are olive oil and flax oil, as they are highly nutritious, are liquid (unlike coconut oil, which is solid above 76°), and have flavors that complement raw vegetables. Feel free to experiment with grape seed and other seed and nut oils as well, also highly nutritious—but buy extra virgin, unprocessed versions. Olive oil. Always buy organic, extra virgin—the greenest olive oil you can find. The greener it is, the higher in antioxidants it is. “Extra virgin” means that the oil is raw and comes from the first pressing of the olives. Subsequent pressings become more bitter, less nutritious and, more importantly, require more heat processing to extract. Flaxseed oil. Flax seed and, in particular, its oil are the richest source of Omega-3 fatty acids of any food. These “essential fatty acids” are critical building blocks in the human body, and the body cannot manufacture them from other elements, as with so many other things. Buy flax oil in dark, refrigerated bottles at the health food store—and always keep it in the fridge, as it breaks down and goes rancid more quickly than other oils. Sprouts. I add a couple of tablespoons of alfalfa sprouts to many of my salad dressing recipes, simply because they are the most high-nutrition food on the planet (greens being in second place), and we can easily sneak them into dressings. We will focus on sprouting and live foods later, in Chapter 7 (page 199). If you have never sprouted, you can wait until Chapter 7 to start incorporating sprouts into your dressings (or purchase organic spouts if you can't wait). © Copyright Robyn Openshaw 12 Steps to Whole Foods 77
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Dressing Up Your Salads<br />
Dangerous Ingredients in Commercial Salad Dressings<br />
Bottled salad dressings are a danger <strong>to</strong> your health. Virtually all of them, including the expensive refrigerated<br />
kinds, contain one or more of the following dangerous ingredients that your fresh, homemade salad dressings<br />
will not contain.<br />
Monosodium glutamate (MSG). This chemical is purchased under the<br />
brand name “Accent.” It is also hiding in hydrolyzed vegetable protein<br />
and dozens of other food additives, so you may not recognize that it’s in<br />
your bottled dressings, especially nonrefrigerated types. MSG makes you<br />
crave more of the foods it is in and thus has been linked <strong>to</strong> the obesity<br />
epidemic. Perhaps even more importantly, it is a neuro<strong>to</strong>xin that has been<br />
linked <strong>to</strong> brain damage, central nervous system damage, and dozens of<br />
other major health problems.<br />
Chemical additives and preservatives. These include propylene glycol,<br />
sodium laureth sulfate (SLS), and other chemicals whose names you<br />
cannot pronounce. Although PG and SLS are known by the FDA <strong>to</strong> cause<br />
liver and kidney damage, the FDA approves these chemicals and many<br />
others if they are “food grade,” which means that the rodents and<br />
droppings are strained out.<br />
Refined oils. These are oils such as soy, safflower, canola, and other vegetable oils which are heated above<br />
400° and made rancid and, therefore, carcinogenic. Everyone knows trans fatty acids (TFAs) are deadly, but<br />
even refined oils that are not manufactured and bombarded with hydrogen a<strong>to</strong>ms like TFAs are very harmful <strong>to</strong><br />
our health, damaging every cell they come in<strong>to</strong> contact with. Despite the claims of soy product manufacturers,<br />
who have been very successful at promoting soy in the past two decades, soy oil and other refined soy products<br />
are thyroid suppressants. Since millions of American women are walking around with undiagnosed lowthyroid<br />
(hypothyroid) problems, we would be wise <strong>to</strong> stay away from all refined soy products, which are in<br />
many foods.<br />
High-fruc<strong>to</strong>se corn syrup. The very worst of all the refined sugars, it is<br />
linked <strong>to</strong> diabetes, <strong>to</strong>oth decay, and obesity, among dozens of other health<br />
risks. This is what dietitians call “added sugar,” because it is <strong>to</strong>tally<br />
unnecessary <strong>to</strong>pping a salad. Craving a treat and eating a piece of chocolate<br />
is one thing. But no one will miss cheap, refined sugars in their salad!<br />
You should recognize most of your favorite dressing types in this chapter’s<br />
recipes, but none have chemicals or ingredients that will damage your<br />
health. All feature lipase-rich, antioxidant-packed ingredients that will<br />
make a dramatic difference in the longevity and health of every cell in your<br />
body.<br />
76 <strong>12</strong> <strong>Steps</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>Whole</strong> <strong>Foods</strong><br />
© Copyright Robyn Openshaw