Ruth Langsford has delighted her fans by sharing a personal lunchtime favourite, packed with several nutritious ingredients. The 64-year-old Loose Women star took to Instagram to share her take on the trendy salad bowl, inspired by the many ‘pretty’ versions she’d seen online.
“Keep seeing these posts of salad bowls so thought I’d try one,” she wrote to her 1.1 million followers. “So pretty & healthy!” Alongside her message was a brief video showcasing her colourful dish, which included prawns, cherry tomatoes, olives, lettuce, avocado, and what seems to be celery and tuna – far more than your average green salad.
Although each of these ingredients boast a variety of health benefits, avocados have received special attention from experts, being dubbed a ‘superfood’. This is because they are loaded with numerous key nutrients like magnesium, potassium, and omega-3 fatty acids.
The latter is what’s typically referred to as ‘healthy fats’ which play a vital role in heart health, reducing diabetes risk, and cognitive function, as per recent studies. Specialists at the University of Rochester Medical Centre outline: “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…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.”
Crucially, this isn’t the only time Ruth has unveiled a healthy dish on Instagram. The TV star’s ‘upside down salad’ trick was also lauded by followers after she shared a tutorial on the platform.
In September, she explained her method: “So, now I’m going to make what I call my ‘upside down salad’. 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.
“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.”
At the time, Ruth’s salad included nine key ingredients. This included the following:
- Black olives
- Cucumber
- Tomatoes
- Red onion
- Tuna in olive oil
- Hard boiled eggs
- Avocado
- Lettuce
- Brianna’s Honey Mustard Dressing
Amidst the tutorial, she added: “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!”