Nutrition Month 2009:
How To Go Naked, Food That Is

Wherever possible, undress your food. Have a baked potato without the sour cream, vegetables without the cheese sauce, ice cream without the hot fudge. Over a lifetime, these simple "dress-downs" will make a big difference.

• Skip the dressing on a side salad and you've cut out 20 grams of fat.
• Have a baked potato without the sour cream and you've saved 10 grams of fat. But watch out! Dress it with cheese sauce and it's got twice as much fat as a double-patty hamburger.
• An ounce of "naked" chicken has 30 calories. Dressed up as a fried chicken nugget, it has more than twice the calories.
• Want the french fries? Skip the salt and your sodium will be almost zero.
• Have a taco salad without the shell and cut the calories in half.

Of course, it's only natural to want to dress up once in a while. When you get the urge, try some tasty add-ons that don't add up, like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, mushrooms, onions, hot sauce, horseradish, mustard, salsa, picante, fresh pepper, flavored vinegars, or lemon juice.