If you know me, you know how much I love summer. It is by far my favorite season. And I LOVE a good summer salad. So, I’m sharing one of my favorite summer salads with you.
But, I don’t just want to share a recipe. I want to share why it’s nutritious and healing to your body. Keep in mind that with one little baby change, you can make your salads this summer even healthier.
Why is it Nutritious and Healing?
Besides spinach being full of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, fiber, and more, spinach is a rich source of quercetin. Quercetin is a natural pigment present in many fruits, vegetables, and grains. It’s an amazing antioxidant. Quercetin can help with infection and inflammation.
Spinach was also shown to be effective at lowering blood pressure and also as being protective against oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is an imbalance of free radicals and antioxidants in the body, which can lead to many health issues.
Another key ingredient – strawberries. Strawberries are a great source for vitamin c, even more so than oranges.
Strawberries may even lower your chance of having a heart attack. Harvard did a study on 100,000 women and found that those who ate at least 3 servings a week reduced their risk of heart attack by 32%. The researchers credited the effect to the antioxidants called anthocyanin.
The One Tiny Change You Can Make to Your Summer Salads
Swap your vegetable oil for avocado oil.
Corn oil, vegetable oil, canola oil are high in omega 6s. 60 years ago the average American’s omega 6 to omega 3 ratio was 1:2. Now it is 25:1, which is contributing to inflammation. Inflammation is the root cause of many common diseases today.(4)
Avocado oil is considered a hearth healthy fat due to the oleic acid which is a monounsaturated fat. Including a fat with vegetables was shown to increase the absorption of fat soluble nutrients. When added to salad, it increased the absorption of carotenoids 4-17 fold compared to salad with no fat included!
