When I was in college, somehow or other I managed to get into full-time bodybuilder mode and just shut off my taste buds.
I literally lived on grilled chicken, cottage cheese, tuna (straight out of the can), nuts, veggies, and protein powder. Whether it was a lack of culinary skill or sheer kitchen laziness, I just didn’t want to be bothered with all this “taste” stuff.
In more recent years, I’ve broadened my horizons and come to appreciate kitchen time as something that’s helpful for my physique and can be a lot of fun.
But I’m no less busy than I used to be, so quick things are fun. Here’s an example of something you can use nearly every day.
Fat-Loss-Friendly Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seed oil (You can also use flax seed oil, walnut oil, or the like.)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 pinch milled flax seeds
- Water as needed (optional)
This is vastly superior to your regular oil and vinegar recipe. Each of these ingredients has a lot of healthful and helpful properties.
Pumpkin Seed Oil. Besides being packed with omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, this healthy oil is shown to prevent and reduce bladder and prostate problems, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, give one smoother and healthier-looking skin, increase energy levels, and provide excellent antioxidant protection. Plus, it’s super tasty.
Apple Cider Vinegar. ACV is pretty amazing and has been written about in the health community a lot, so I’ll keep this brief. Having been shown to lower cholesterol and help with heart health, ACV has also been lauded for it’s general digestive health properties.
Of greatest interest to me (and all of us fighting fat) is that ACV has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity. This is both cumulative and according to some, acute. So while taking it consistently helps increase sensitivity over time, there is also some immediate benefit.
Taking a shot of ACV before any meal containing carbs has long been a practice in the bodybuilding community as a method of more actively utilizing carbohydrates for energy.
Milled Flax Seeds. Milled flax, like any flax seed, is a great source of omega-3s and before fish oil came around and started being the greatest fat source ever, flax was on the tip of every health enthusiast’s tongue for decades.
Flax has been shown to decrease inflammation, improve immune function, and of course help with the oxidation of fatty acids.
In this recipe, it’s there for texture and fiber. It gives the dressing a nice mouth feel and helps it coat your salad a bit more evenly. And the fiber, while probably not of concern if you’re eating a salad, is always a good way to add to your weight-loss efforts and overall digestive health.
Quick, easy, full of healthy stuff, and delicious. What more could you want?
John Romaniello is a certified personal trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist. This article was originally published on RomanFitnessSystems.com
