To think this salad is healthy?

[Azzywhatty]

Watercress, rocket, spinach, canned mackerel in olive oil, red onion, pickled beetroot, spring onion, four baby potatoes, capers, olives, and a sprinkle of ground pumpkin and walnut, flaxseed, and chia seed, with a dressing of the olive oil from the mackerel, tsp Dijon mustard, two tsp honey, and lime juice.

YANBU - Of course that’s healthy
YABU - Not healthy - too much honey/potatoes/pickled food/whatever

Healthy is not a binary choice. That salad is healthier (for most people) than many other foods, but not as healthy as some other foods. It depends what else you eat in a day, what things you are deficient in, how much of it you have, and a ton of other things. Eat it if you enjoy it.

Sounds very healthy to me

Of course it's healthy. I probably wouldn't bother with the honey, but that's because I don't much care for it.

Between the mackerel, capers and olives it looks like it could be very high in salt? If you are eating this because you are health conscious rather than just because you enjoy it I'd probably select one of the three rather than all of them

Of course it’s healthy, anyone picking holes in it probably has some kind of health anxiety going on.

Well it's definitely more healthy than my bacon sandwich.

It sounds lovely. I would prob normally try and have at least two portions of my ‘5 a day’ in a salad and for this I would prob count the mixed leaves as one and nothing else as I wouldn’t count pickles but…so what. As pp say it’s about balance and what you’re eating over a day/week so who cares. I would happily eat and enjoy this salad, I hope you did!

Sounds like a massive salad to me ⭐️

Incredibly unhealthy. Best deliver it to me to be destroyed immediately...

Did it taste nice? Did you enjoy it? Did you feel hungry before eating it and not hungry afterwards? Do you generally eat a balanced diet?

Was it a Mumsnet Massive Salad though?

Gah, beat me to it.

Yes it's healthy. Can't believe anyone would say otherwise.

Healthy in what sense? Low in calories, full of nutrients, keto- what???

It will be high in calories/oil and salt, but the Omega 3 and olive oil are 'good' fats. Not a 'healthy' salad for weigh loss if counting calories, but good for getting more greens and Omega 3 fats in.

Who's saying it's unhealthy, OP?

Very healthy.

Yeah but honey and mackerel on the same plate tho'

mmm sounds lovely

Actually this is really healthy for weight loss because it has fat and protein which keeps you full and stabilises blood sugar, lots of fibre and 14 different plant foods which are good for your gut.

This matters a lot more than counting calories as it balances your hormones and increases your gut bacteria which are VITAL for a good metabolism.

If more people managed their weight like this rather than counting calories there’d be a lot less obesity!

Its healthy. Whole food, omega 3, greens etc. You'd have to control your portion size. I wouldn't call it a salad per se.

I'm doing fast 800 so I'd be OK with thr Watercress, rocket, and spinach,

i wouldn't choose canned mackerel in olive oil, and would substitute for precooked fillets not in oil. Too many calories.

red onion, and spring onion AOK.

don't like pickled beetroot, but it's not unhealthy.

I wouldn't add the four baby potatoes as im low carb so thats just pure sugar to me, not healthy, but potatoes are a valid whole food choice. It really bulks up the "salad".

love capers and olives

i approve of adding a sprinkle of ground pumpkin and walnut, flaxseed, and chia seeds. Its quite calorific so I'd limit it.

id skip the dressing although the olive oil from the mackerel is healthy (but calorific), i thought that a tsp Dijon mustard, two tsp honey, and lime juice. Is quite a large amount of dressing. Plus the honey is very sugary.

Looks great. Full of plants, colour, protein, fat, fibre, omegas, and POTATOES, which are one of the most all-round nutritious foods there is.

Sounds lovely! The only changes I would make would be the dressing, which for me is always just EV olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and I would add pomegranate seeds to sweeten it up a bit and maybe just have olives, rather than capers too.

'Healthy' is a pretty meaningless word. What's 'healthy' for one person isn't necessarily 'healthy' for another. Everyone's heath requirements are different. Some foods are 'healthy' for someone who needs to gain weight but not for someone who is trying to lose weight, for example. Existing health and lifestyle will influence what a 'healthy' meal looks like for each individual.

If you're asking whether your salad contains a lot of vitamins and minerals then yes, it does.

Not healthy - too much honey/potatoes/pickled food

None of those things are 'unhealthy' so I'm not sure what you're getting at.

Weird post. Why are you asking?

What a load of rubbish 😂

As far as I’m aware a KitKat will never be ‘healthy’, no matter who you are and what your health goals are.

And I’m pretty sure watercress and mackerel would never be unhealthy.