What would a safe salad dressing be?

I like to have big kale salads for lunch with lots of veggies. What type of salad dressing would be okay for someone with acid reflux?

Hi Carrie,

I have always had good luck with Ranch dressing. It's the only kind I can eat.

I use olive oil and salt. Nothing thrilling but no issues

It's not so much about the type of dressing, but rather the balance that is used. According to Dr. Koufman's moderation diet, you can use 1-2 tablespoons of any dressing you like, depending on the size of the salad.
However, if you are going through a flare-up, I'd stick to olive oil (2 tbs max)with one teaspoon of vinaigrette.

 

I use a natural ranch, but I don't get carried away.

Ranch is the best for me. Oily dressing really upset my GERD big time. It took me a while to figure out that it was the oily dressings and not the salad greens that were making me sick.

Any dairy makes acid reflux much worse.

This is an older thread but it came up when I was googling for salad dressing ideas so I wanted to add my ideas. They may not work for you but I hope they will give someone some ideas.

One book I've read suggested apple juice instead of vinegar or citrus. I tried this and I think it works pretty well. I use one or two Tbs of oil and 2 Tbs apple juice. I stir up salt with the oil and then mix in the juice. It's a nice light, sweet dressing and I've tried adding some soy sauce too. I'm still experimenting. Please use apple juice without acid preservatives (which that book didn't recommend). I'm with Dr. Koufman regarding this. Acid preservatives may be why we are all on PPIs.

If you can tolerate dairy (I know many can't), I've added feta to the above and I really don't miss the vinegar or citrus. It adds bite.

I've also tried using 1 or 2 Tbs of oil with salt and anything else you might like and then use some parmesan.

Fat, at those levels don't bother me but everyone is different. For me it's the acids and some food intolerances. Dairy is okay for me - I eat greek LF yogurt every morning without a problem. I had to give up eggs - they will set me off for a whole day of reflux.

Always looking for recipe ideas.

Be well......

Post Edited (LizzyPST) : 2/22/2014 2:59:37 PM (GMT-7)