Often it's not the food we consume that's the issue, it's the stuff we put on to the food. Today we're going to be examining one of the most significant condiment culprits… ketchup!
I love ketchup, I lavish it over everything. So this hits home for me.
Tomatoes are good for you, right?
Ketchup is mainly created with tomatoes. So you may presume it's not too bad for you. We are all aware that it's also packed with sugar, still tomatoes are veggies, right? So at least you're gaining the nutrients from those.
Well not once you boil them to death!
Ketchup is basically produced from really over cooked tomatoes that have lost just about all their nutrients, some water together with a LOT of sugar.
The sugar in ketchup is worth a closer look. Due to the fact that, though it starts off as sugar (and that is already unhealthy) before it goes into the bottle it's processed into high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which is very much worse! In addition to this, you have flavourings, including MSG, that often makes us desire it more.
When MSG earned me a kiss!
It would appear that MSG is in absolutely everything. I remember many years ago, I was on a date with a girl I'd been chasing for the better part of a year. We were feeding each other Malteasers and she challenged me to list the ingredients.
I said a few of the obvious ones, then I rolled the malteaser around in my mouth as though looking to pick up a different flavour, before announcing 'monosodium glutamate?' She instantly scrutinised the ingredients and was shocked by my super-tasting ability, which won me a kiss!!
I'm probably the only person on Earth that's actually gotten anything good from MSG (well me and the whole food production industry that use it to get us addicted to their products!)
And so, ketchup is not good for you. Its single healthy ingredient has long lost its worth and all the other stuff have been connected with many medical concerns.
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is connected with:
- Excessive weight
- Diabetes
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Cancers
…and it provides absolutely no nutritional value. It only helps make things sweeter, so you consume much more of them.
Is MSG actually unhealthy?
Should you do a search on MSG, you will discover several articles saying that it has an unhealthy rep but it isn't that bad for you. 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 like there's a little bit of a conspiracy happening, hoping to prevent the majority of folk from learning the truth about MSG. To ensure we keep eating foods which are abundant in it.
MSG may cause a little something called a 'Leaky Gut' which sounds revolting and is associated with
- Bloating
- Wind
- Diarrhea
- Stomach cramps
I have to say that, on more than one occasion I've suffered with all of these, particularly after eating a greasy takeaway.
Natural Ketchup solutions
So, going back to ketchup. We love it. We want to keep having it. But we don't want 'Leaky Gut'
The better alternative to shop bought ketchup is usually to make your own.
If you fancy giving that a try, you should take a look at this video clip:
Steps to make your own simple quick and ultra nourishing ketchup
If you simply don't have the time for that, you also have a few shop bought ketchups that happen to be a healthier option.
Back in 2010 ConAgra took out the HFCS from their ketchup (Hunt's Ketchup) however they added it back a few years later. Why? Well I believe that they were intending to cash in on peoples increasing awareness of the risk of HFCS and hoping that their healthy option might gain them a bigger share of the market.
I don't for one second feel that they did it out of concern for human health.
Evidently, it didn't do the job, given that they put it back. However people are increasingly becoming more health aware, so quite possibly they'll give it another go when they believe that the public is ready for it. It's surely worth grabbing a bottle and reviewing the ingredients once in a while.
Tomato puree
An extra option, but admittedly not a very tasty one, would be to use tomato puree in place of ketchup. In recipes this works perfectly, but as a condiment it's simply not as good. Tomato puree isn't as sweet and also has a quite intense flavour. But spend time with it, include a bit of sweeter and see what you can come up with. I'm very positive that whatever you produce it'll be quite a lot healthier than any shop bought ketchup!
Just don't boil all the nutrients away, cram it with HFCS or lace it with 'gut-leaking' MSG! Aside of this, you can go crazy, you might even add some sugar and you'll still have a better ketchup compared with the one you're buying now.
Tomato puree (coupled with a sweetener) is an effective alternative to making your own ketchup because it can last a good bit longer than fresh tomatoes, requires far less room in the cooler and also its effortless to rustle up in a few seconds as needed. They it, and let em know how it goes.