We eat salads to add healthy nutrients to our diet. Not only is it a light and refreshing meal, it can pack healthy phytonutrients, beneficial fiber, and powerful antioxidants to protect heart health, support digestive health, improve vitamin & mineral absorption, and help manage weight and appetite. However, the salad dressings you use with your salad makes a significant difference as well. Ready-made, commercial salad dressings might actually be detrimental to your health, negating your healthy intentions of eating salads.
Check the labels on the store-bought salad dressings you have in your fridge. Chances are they’re made with vegetable oils, soybean oil, or canola oils – all of which are highly inflammatory polyunsaturated oils.
Polyunsaturated oils (Omega 6) are found in meats, dairy, and vegetable oils. While Omega 6 is essential for health, too much can cause inflammation and result in health issues like heart disease, cancer, and arthritis.
Polyunsaturated fats contain two or more double bonds. Double bonds are weak and unstable. This means the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) break down easily, making them highly vulnerable to oxidation and free-radical formation. So, PUFA fats like corn oil, vegetable oil, or soybean tend to go rancid when exposed to air, light, or heat.
Unfortunately, most vegetable oils used in commercial salad dressings are highly processed and refined to minimize fatty acid breakdown while on the shelves. Eating these unstable, oxidative polyunsaturated oils used in store-bought salad dressings can lead to oxidative stress within your body, making it more prone to inflammation and cellular damage.
Instead of reaching for store-bought salad dressings, you can super-charge your salads with fresh, homemade MCT oil salad dressings. Making your own salad dressing is a great way to enrich your salads and stay healthy.
We recommend making your own salad dressings with coconut oil (specifically healthy MCT oils) for an amazing fat-burning, keto-friendly MCT oil salad dressing. Studies have shown that coconut oil dramatically raises the protective HDL cholesterol without affecting the LDL or so-called "bad" cholesterol. Researchers found that coconut oil lowered the cholesterol ratio and risk of heart disease more than either of the other two fats studied. This finding indicates that coconut oil is even more heart-friendly than extra virgin olive oil!
As an added bonus, MCTs in coconut oil has been shown to promote weight loss by boosting metabolism, burning fat for immediate energy, and suppressing the appetite!
Making your own MCT oil salad dressing is quick and easy; all you need is our Virgin Coconut Oil or TriPlex MCT-3 Oil, plus an acid – in the form of vinegar, citrus, or juice – and any favorite spice or seasoning. You can use melted virgin coconut oil for a more robust coconutty taste (perfect for Asian dressings), or an MCT oil, which has a milder, more neutral taste.
Here are some of our favorite MCT oil salad dressing recipes.
Simply blend or whisk together, add to your favorite greens and veggies, and enjoy!
