This Is the Secret to Making Your Salads Healthier, Study Says
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The secret to turning your salads into antioxidant powerhouses? Throw some eggs on the plate, a new study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, says.
As TIME reports, for the study, researchers had men eat three different versions of the same spinach salad: one with one and half scrambled eggs, one with three scrambled eggs and one with no eggs. They tested the mens’ blood to see when they had higher levels of carotenoids — antioxidants found in red, yellow, orange and dark green fruits, veggies and herbs, that protect our cells — after chowing down.
Turns out, after they ate the salads with eggs, the men had absorbed higher levels of carotenoids from the veggies. Why, you ask? Because carotenoids are fat-soluble, so pairing your veggies up with fat, like the fat from an egg yolk, gives the antioxidants something to ride into your blood stream on, meaning you get more of ‘em.
As the researchers told TIME, one egg might not be quite enough to make a difference, but two should do the trick. Breakfast salad for lunch, here you come!
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