5 Lightened-Up Salad Dressings to Keep You on Your Weight-Loss Game

Our go-to lunch when we are watching what we eat is a salad, but between the toppings and the dressing, that salad may not end up as healthy as we hope for it to be. Choosing the right ingredients and eating the right serving size of each can go a long way toward keeping our healthy intentions.

The key to keeping salad healthy is to keep an eye on what we are putting in it, starting with healthier dressings. First of all, avoid dressings that say "fat-free" or "creamy" on the label. "Fat-free usually means they compensated for the lack of fat by adding a ton of sugar so that consumers aren't able to taste the lack of fat," said Charlotte Martin, MS, RDN, CSOWM, CPT certified specialist in obesity and weight management. Plus, healthy fat in salad dressing is a good thing!

"Fat helps us absorb the fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E, and K) that can be found in the produce and proteins in our salad," Martin said. The word "creamy" usually indicates an unnecessarily high amount of fat, usually in the form of saturated fats.

Go for a short and sweet ingredient list. "I read the ingredient list to make sure there aren't any artificial colors, ingredients, and preservatives, as well as ingredients that aren't easily pronounceable," Martin said. That includes less than two grams of sugar per serving. "Many salad dressings will have a little bit of sugar, and that's OK. But I'd rather save the sugar for a salad topper like fresh sliced fruit or unsweetened dried fruit."

To put this into perspective, one teaspoon of sugar has four grams of sugar. So half a teaspoon sugar max per serving of salad dressing (which is typically one to two tablespoons) is plenty!

Of course, keep calories in mind as well. "Some salad dressings can run upwards of 100 calories per one tablespoon serving, which is just too much for such a small serving size. Since I'd rather spend my calories on more salad toppers, I look for dressings with more bang for my calorie buck," Martin said. "I usually won't buy a dressing with more than 150 calories per two-tablespoon serving. However, I usually stick to around 100 calories per two-tablespoon serving because there are so many options available that fit this criteria!"

Check out these prime options next time you're at the supermarket.