ISU Research Says Fat Good With Veggies

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ISU

Research Says Fat Good With Veggies

July 26, 2004

AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Don't use a fat-free dressing on your salad, an

Iowa State University researcher says. A bit of fat added to fresh vegetables

helps bodies absorb cancer-fighting lycopene and

alpha- and beta-carotenes, said White, an ISU associate professor of

nutrition.

If vegetables remain free of fat, the body

won't consume the essential nutrients that can help prevent cancer and heart

disease, White's research shows.

About 2 fluid ounces, or four tablespoons,

of salad dressing would be an adequate amount of dressing for a large salad,

White said. Fans of add-ons such as cheese, bacon bits, fried chicken, egg

yolk and avocados should opt for a fat-free dressing, she said.

" If a person is going to eat a brownie

anyway with the meal, that's fine as long as it's done in moderation, "

White said. " In that case, I would go with fat-free dressing on the

salad. "

" That's good news for us, " said

Boelling, who on Thursday was munching on a

garden salad with a healthy dose of Parmesan dressing at Big Leagues Skybox

Grill & Deli in downtown Des Moines. " I like the salad dressing. It makes it worth

eating. "

The results of the study, paid for by

Procter and Gamble's Nutrition Science Institute, surprised Wells Fargo

employee Bock, who was eating a salad during lunch break Thursday.

" You always think of salad dressing as

fattening and bad, " she said.

White cautioned that too much dressing can

lead to health problems.

" In the absence of fat, people are

probably not deriving the benefits from the beta-carotenes and other carotenoids, " White said. " They have to balance

that knowledge, along with the knowledge that fat is excess calories, and

excess body weight is a huge problem in America. "

Nearly one-third of U.S. adults are obese, and 300,000

deaths each year can be linked to unhealthy eating and exercising habits,

according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney

Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

Copyright 2004 The

Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Hugs,

Deanna

LUPUS Serenity

Prayer...

Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot

change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to hide the

bodies of doctors I shot when they said, You're perfectly healthy, it's all in

your head "