Sometimes it's not the food we eat that's the issue, it's the products we put on to the food. Today we're gonna be checking out one of the biggest condiment culprits… ketchup!
I really like ketchup, I put it on almost everything. So this one hits home for me.
Tomatoes are a healthy option, aren't they?
Ketchup is mainly made out of tomatoes. This means you may well presume it's not too unhealthy. We know that it's also stuffed with sugar, yet tomatoes are vegetables, right? So at least you're gaining the nutrition from those.
Well not if you cook them to death!
Ketchup is actually made out of incredibly over cooked tomatoes that have lost just about all their vitamins and minerals, some water and a LOT of sugar.
The sugar in ketchup is definitely worth a closer look. Because, although it begins as sugar (and that is already unhealthy) before it is added to the bottle it's processed into high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and this is significantly worse! In addition to this, you have got flavourings, like MSG, which will make us desire it more.
When MSG got me a kiss!
It seems like MSG is in almost everything. I recall several years ago, I was on a date with a super hot girl I'd been obsessing over for the better part of a year. We were sharing Malteasers and she challenged me to list the ingredients.
I riddled off one or two of the obvious ones, and then I rolled the malteaser around in my mouth almost like looking to pick up a different flavor, before announcing 'monosodium glutamate?' She quickly scrutinised the ingredients and was stunned by my super-tasting powers, which won me a kiss!!
I'm quite possibly the only guy on Earth that's actually got anything good from MSG (well me along with the entire food manufacturing industry who use it to make us addicted to their products!)
And so, ketchup is bad. The one good ingredient has long shed its worth and all the additional ingredients has been linked to several medical problems.
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is connected to:
- Excessive body fat
- Diabetic issues
- Coronary Disease
- Cancer
…and it has got minimal nutrition. It just makes things sweeter, to make sure you eat much more of it.
Is MSG actually unhealthful?
If you do a search on MSG, there are actually countless articles saying that it has an unhealthy rep but it isn't that unhealthy. Then you'll stumble into this quote:
“It’s probably one of the most harmful substances that one can eat.”
Michael Galitzer MD
I actually believe that there's a little bit of a conspiracy happening, hoping to stop many folk from knowing the reality about MSG. To make sure we keep consuming foods that happen to be loaded with it.
MSG may cause something named a 'Leaky Gut' which sounds nasty as well as being associated with
- Bloating
- Wind
- Diarrhea
- Stomach pain
I have to say that, on many occasions I've suffered with all of those, especially after treating myself to a greasy takeaway.
Natural Ketchup solutions
OK, going back to ketchup. We love it. And we want to continue consuming it. However we don't want 'Leaky Gut'
The best substitute to store acquired ketchup might be to cook your very own.
In case you fancy giving that a try, then look at this video:
Steps to make your own easy quick and really nourishing ketchup
For those who simply don't have time to do that, there are also one or two shop bought ketchups which are a much healthier solution.
In 2010 ConAgra took out the HFCS from their ketchup (Hunt's Ketchup) but they added it back a couple of years later. Why? Well I would say that they were intending to cash in on peoples increasing awareness of the health risks of HFCS and anticipating that their healthy option might win them a bigger piece of the marketplace.
I don't for 1 second feel that they did it due to concern for our wellbeing.
Of course, it didn't work, as they put it back. But people are invariably becoming ever more health aware, so quite possibly they'll give it a second try once they determine that the public is ready for it. It's certainly worthwhile grabbing a bottle and reading the ingredients now and again.
Tomato puree
A further alternative, but definitely not a very tasty one, could be to use tomato puree as an alternative to ketchup. In recipes this works perfectly, but as a condiment it's really not the same. Tomato puree isn't as sweet and also has a very powerful flavour. However spend time with it, add a bit of sweeter and see what you come up with. I'm fairly certain that whatever you produce it'll be considerably better for you when compared with any store bought ketchup!
So long as you don't boil all of the nutrients away, load it with HFCS and lace it with 'gut-leaking' MSG! Aside of that, you can go nuts, even adding some (deadly) sugar and you'll probably still have a much healthier ketchup in comparison with the one you're using now.
Tomato puree (combined with a sweetener) works great as an alternative to producing your own ketchup since it lasts considerably longer than fresh tomatoes, requires considerably less room in your fridge and it is easy to rustle up in a couple of seconds when needed. They it, and let em know how it goes.