The kind and amount of salad dressing you put on your salad may play a critical role in how many vitamins and nutrients you absorb, according to a new study published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.

The study, conducted by Mario Ferruzzi and researchers at both Purdue and Ohio State University, compared the amount and kind of salad dressing and the absorption rate of fat-soluble carotenoids such as lutein, lycopene and beta-carotene which are important for promoting good health.

In fact, carotenoids are associated with reduced risk of several chronic and degenerative diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and macular degeneration.

The study looked at the impact of three different fats and oils — saturated fats, polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats — in three different amounts — 3 grams, 8 grams and 20 grams.

“We started with the question does it matter what type of fat you choose and if you choose a healthier fat does that matter,” said Ferruzzi, a professor of food science at Purdue University.

So Ferruzzi and the researchers took butter, canola and soybean oil and made salads with dressings of 3 grams, 8 grams and 20 grams of the three different fats.

Then they tested to see how much of the carotenoids were absorbed.

“We found the amount of fat was important. The more fat in the meal or salad dressing, the more carotenoids you absorbed. And that was true across everything.”

But the researchers also found the amount of fat was less important when the dressing was made with canola oil.

Whether you used 3 grams of canola oil or 20 grams of canola oil the same amount of carotenoids were absorbed, Ferruzzi and his team concluded.

In the case of canola oil “it showed generally you could get very high levels of absorption at low levels of fat.”

But there is also something else that makes canola oil a bit different — it seems low levels of canola oil, specifically three grams, is better when it comes to the absorption of lutein.

The study found that with soybean oil and butter the more fat you put on the more carotenoids the human body absorbed.

The study has led Ferruzzi to believe there may be something specific about canola oil that is worth doing more research on.

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It is a follow up to a study done in 2004 which found that when there are high levels of fat in a salad dressing you absorb a lot of nutrients whereas if you have a no-fat dressing, you absorb none.

Says Ferruzzi: “You can’t go with a fat-free product if you want absorption, but a lower fat product can still give you absorption.”