The worst salad dressings for weight loss are typically loaded with sugars, unhealthy fats, and high in calories. Creamy dressings tend to be the least healthy option, as they are often made with mayonnaise, sour cream, or cheese. It is important to which salad dressings to stay away from when trying to lose weight and make informed dietary choices to avoid excess calories and unwanted fats.
10 Salad Dressings You Shouldn’t Be Using If You’re Trying to Lose Weight
1. Caesar
Caesar salad is a popular and tasty salad dressing, but it is loaded with everything that leads to weight gain. With 20 grams of fat per two tablespoon serving, it will go right to your hips.
The fat in Caesar salad dressing mostly comes from cheese, Dijon, and Worcestershire—all fats that are bad for your heart, so it’s better to avoid the dressing completely.
2. Ranch
Ranch is delicious, but made from buttermilk, sour cream, and mayo, all ingredients that are horrible for weight loss. Just one small serving of ranch has 145 calories and 13 grams of fat, so say no to this dressing when trying to slim down.
3. Thousand Island
Thousand Island dressing is made from a mix of mayonnaise, sour cream, ketchup, sugar, and some spices, making it high in sugar and salt content. Looking at a bottle in the fridge might even reveal sugar as the top ingredient, making it one of the worst salad dressings for weight loss.
4. Blue Cheese
Similar to Ranch, blue cheese dressing is made with a mix of mayo, milk, and blue cheese, all of which are loaded with unhealthy fats. Plus, because of its thick consistency, it is highly likely you will pour more than one serving on a single salad.
One serving of blue cheese dressing has 120 calories and 12 grams of fat, so while it isn’t as bad as Caesar dressing, it isn’t doing you any favors either.
5. Italian Dressings
Italian dressings can vary widely, but most of them are much unhealthier than you realize. Made with unhealthy oils, these dressings have high-calorie content, even though they look thin on your salad.
It is possible to make your own Italian dressing at home, which is healthier, but skip this dressing at the store and in restaurants.
6. French Dressing
Similar to Thousand Island, French Dressing is packed with sugars and fats that will throw off any weight loss goal. Ketchup, sugar, and spices are the only ingredients, and usually, sugar is close to the top, making French dressing one of the worst salad dressings for weight loss.
7. Red Wine Vinaigrettes
While some vinaigrettes are good for weight loss, others hold sneaky ingredients that can prevent the pounds from falling off. Always read the label of any vinaigrette, looking for the sugar content.
Many popular red wine vinaigrettes have sugar as the first ingredient, which will lead to weight gain. It is a better idea to make homemade vinaigrette at home, where you can control the ingredients.
8. Honey Dijon Dressing
Dijon dressing, while tasty, often carries a lot of sugar, especially if the word honey is on the label. Not only that, while some of these dressings promote that they are fat-free, they are often packed with sodium, sometimes containing 10% of the daily value in a single serving.
9. Balsamic Vinaigrettes
Many people are under the impression that balsamic vinaigrette is one of the good ones, but this sneaky dressing contains 100 calories per serving, with quite a bit of sodium. Because it's so thin, it's common to add two portions to your salad. Additionally, it has quite a bit of sugar for a vinaigrette.
10. Green Goddess
Green Goddess is a popular dressing because it has avocados in the recipe. Despite this healthy addition, the base for Green Goddess dressing is sour cream and sugar, two ingredients that should be avoided while trying to lose weight.
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