In many cases it's not the food we consume that's the issue, it's the condiments we put on to the food. Right now we're going to be looking into one of the most significant condiment culprits… ketchup!
I really like ketchup, I slop it over everything. And so this hits home for me.
Tomatoes are a healthy option, aren't they?
Ketchup is mostly made of tomatoes. Which means you would certainly think it's not too unhealthy. Everyone knows that it's also filled with sugar, yet tomatoes are vegetables, right? So at the least you're gaining the nutrition from those.
Well not once you cook them to death!
Ketchup is basically made from incredibly over cooked tomatoes which have lost all of their nutrition, some water along with a LOT of sugar.
The sugar in ketchup is definitely worth a deeper look. Because of the fact that, whilst it begins as sugar (and that is already undesirable) before it goes into the bottle it's refined into high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which is a lot worse! Moreover, we have flavourings, including MSG, that often makes us need it a lot more.
The time that MSG got me a kiss!
It appears that MSG is in pretty much everything everything. I recall many years ago, I was on a date with a super hot girl I'd been obsessed with for the better part of a year. We were feeding each other Malteasers and she challenged me to name the ingredients.
I listed one or two of the obvious ones, then I rolled the malteaser around in my mouth almost like trying to pick up a different flavour, before declaring 'monosodium glutamate?' She instantly checked the ingredients and was stunned by my super-tasting ability, which earned me a kiss!!
I'm probably the only person in the world that's ever got something decent out of MSG (well me along with the entire food production industry that use it to get us addicted to their products!)
And so, ketchup is bad. The sole good ingredient has long shed its value and all of the other stuff has been associated with several health problems.
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is connected with:
- Excessive weight
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Cancer
…and it offers absolutely no nutrition. It just makes stuff sweeter, to ensure you consume much more of it.
Is MSG definitely bad for you?
Should you choose to do a search on MSG, you can find a large number of articles saying that it has a poor reputation but it isn't that bad for you. And then you'll disover this quote:
“It’s probably one of the most harmful substances that one can eat.”
Michael Galitzer MD
I actually feel as if there's a little bit of a conspiracy going on, trying to stop many folk from discovering the facts about MSG. Making sure that we keep eating products that are brimming with it.
MSG can lead to something called a 'Leaky Gut' which sounds vile as well as being linked to
- Feeling bloated
- Wind
- Diarrhea
- Abdominal cramps
I have to admit, on many occasions I've suffered with all those, particularly after eating a greasy takeaway.
Wholesome Ketchup substitutes
So, back to ketchup. We adore it. We want to carry on having it. However we don't want to get 'Leaky Gut'
The most excellent alternative to shop acquired ketchup can be to make up your very own.
Whenever you fancy giving that a go, you should look at this video clip:
How to make your very own easy quick and ultra nourishing ketchup
If you simply don't have enough time for that, you also have a couple of store purchased ketchups that are a healthier alternative.
In 2010 ConAgra took out the HFCS from their ketchup (Hunt's Ketchup) but they put it back a couple years later. The reason? Well I feel that they were intending to cash in on peoples growing awareness of the hazards of HFCS and hoping that their healthy alternative could win them an improved piece of the marketplace.
I don't for 1 second believe that they did it due to concern for human health.
Of course, it didn't do the job, as they put it back. But the public is increasingly getting more health aware, so quite possibly they'll give it another try once they believe that the public is ready for it. It's certainly well worth picking up a bottle and checking the ingredients once in a while.
Give Tomato Puree a try
One additional option, but not an incredibly tasty one, would be to use tomato puree as a substitute for ketchup. In recipes this works fine, however as a condiment it's simply not as good. Tomato puree isn't as sweet and has an exceptionally strong flavour. But play with it, put in just a little sweeter and just see what you can come up with. I'm quite certain that whatever you do it'll be quite a bit more nutritional in comparison with any branded ketchup!
As long as you don't cook all the nutrients away, stuff it with HFCS and lace it with 'gut-leaking' MSG! Aside of this, go crazy, you might even add some (deadly) sugar and you'll still produce a much healthier ketchup when compared with the one you're eating now.
Tomato puree (along with a sweetener) is an effective alternative to producing your own ketchup because it lasts a good bit longer than fresh tomatoes, requires much less space in your cooler and it is easy to rustle up in a couple of seconds as needed. They it, and let em know how it goes.