ITV Loose Women Ruth Langsford's 'upside down salad' diet recipe explained
Ruth Langsford has shared her clever 'upside down salad' trick with fans, a creation she enjoys at work to avoid reaching for unhealthy snacks. The 64-year-old Loose Women star is shaking up lunchtime routines by layering ingredients in a glass tub, ensuring the lettuce stays crisp and fresh.
In an Instagram post from September, Ruth provided a simple guide on how to assemble this innovative salad which encompasses nine key ingredients. "So, now I'm going to make what I call my 'upside down salad'," she said at the time.
"So, basically, I put everything in layers in one of these [glass tubs], which means that when I tip it out the lettuce is on the bottom and everything else that I want is in layers. Anyway, you get the gist.
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"So, basically I put kitchen roll in the bottom [of the tub] because then any kind of juices from the tomatoes and cucumber soak a bit into that, so the whole salad doesn't get soggy. So, that's the gist and let me show you how I do it."
Ruth started her salad by slicing a variety of small tomatoes and onions, undeterred by the tomatoes being slightly soft, as she combined them. She continued: "Tuna on top of that.
"I like tuna in olive oil, maybe a bit more calorific, but I don't care because I love the taste. One hard boiled egg, you can put them the other way around, so that when you tip it up the yolks' pointing up at you. It doesn't really matter.
"Then some avocado, this is a bit brown, because I actually chopped it last night to use for something else and forgot it. It's been in the fridge, it's a bit brown, but it's fine because it will be covered in salad dressing.
"Black olives, if you like them, I love them. There's the cucumber - I scraped the seeds out because they are very wet and watery and will make that [salad] go soggy. Cucumber in, and then all I've got to do now is put the lettuce on."
Holding her food tub up to the camera, Ruth showed off the different layers of her salad. To top it all off, she added her favourite Brianna's Honey Mustard Dressing, ordered from Amazon, for some extra flavour.
"There you go! That's tomorrow's upside down salad," she concluded, while adding in the video caption: "I take this to work most days….stops me grabbing unhealthy, processed food.
"Even when you make a healthy choice and buy a salad, in my experience, they’re mostly leaves!! This way you get a good, decent portion salad and you get to put all the things you like in it!"
Aside from its 'delicious' flavour, Ruth's salad contains an impressive number of 'superfoods'. This typically describes ingredients with a high concentration of minerals that offer potential health benefits.
For example, in 2014, the University of Bristol claimed that men who ate over 10 tomato portions per week had an 18% lower risk of developing prostate cancer. Nutritionist Helen Bell, at Help & Advice, also supported this in a conversation with the Mirror, while explaining that cooking them may amplify their protective properties.
"There is evidence suggesting that tomatoes might lower prostate cancer risk, largely due to lycopene," she said. "This antioxidant is thought to reduce inflammation and prevent cancer cell growth. When I’ve looked into it, cooking tomatoes seems to increase lycopene availability, so enjoying them in sauces or soups might be particularly beneficial."
Experts have praised avocados for their high omega-3 content as well, which refers to a group of healthy fats proven critical for both brain and cardiovascular health.
Specialists at the US-based University of Rochester Medical Centre previously explained: "Omega-3s are a helpful and important form of fat. Your body needs it but can't make it. Your body needs 2 forms of omega fatty acids.
"These are omega-3 and omega-6. Omega-3 is the most important. Experts believe that omega-3s help prevent coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthy people. They also believe omega-3s can slow progress of the disease in those who already have it."
Full list of Ruth Langsford's salad ingredients:
Tomatoes
Red onion
Tuna in olive oil
Hard boiled eggs
Avocado
Black olives
Cucumber
Lettuce