Sometimes it isn't the food that we eat which is the problem, it is the stuff that we add to the food. Today we will be looking at one of the guiltiest condiment culprits... tomato ketchup!
I enjoy ketchup, I put it on everything. So this particular one hits home for me.
Tomatoes are pretty good for you, aren't they?
Ketchup is primarily produced of tomatoes. Therefore you would think that it's not too bad for you. We all accept that it's also full of sugar, but tomatoes are natural veggies, right? So at least you are getting the goodness from those...
Unfortunately not when they've been boiled to death!
Ketchup is basically produced from extremely over cooked tomatoes which have lost all of their organic value, some water and lots of sugar.
The sugar that you can find in ketchup is worth a closer inspection. Because, although this starts out as sugar (which is already bad) before being added to the bottle it is refined into high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which is much worse!
On top of this, it's stuffed with flavourings, like MSG, that make us want to eat more.
Therefore , ketchup is bad. It's only decent ingredient (tomatoes) has long lost any value it once had and all of the additional stuff has been linked to countless health issues, for instance...
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is connected to
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Cancer
.. and contains absolutely no nutritional benefit. All it does is make food sweet, so people eat more.
Is MSG really bad for you?
When you do a little research on MSG, there are a lot of articles stating that it has a bad rep but it isn't really that bad for you. Then you'll stumble in to this from Michael Galitzer...
“It’s probably one of the most harmful substances that one can eat.”
I truthfully believe that there's a little bit of a conspiracy here, wanting to avoid the majority of people from obtaining the reality about MSG. So that we carry on eating products that are full of it.
MSG may cause 'Leaky Gut' which sounds disgusting and is linked to...
- Bloatedness
- Gas
- Diarrhea
- Abdominal pain
I have got to admit, on quite a few occasions I've had all of those, especially after eating a yummy takeaway.
Healthy Ketchup alternatives
Anyway, back to ketchup. We like it. We want to keep eating it. But we don't want 'Leaky Gut'.
The healthiest substitute for shop purchased ketchup is to make your own.
In case you fancy giving that a go, then you'll enjoy this video from "Cooking With Plants"
If you just don't have time for that, a few shop-bought ketchups which are a much healthier option.
Back in 2010 ConAgra took out the HFCS from their tomato ketchup (Hunt's Ketchup) but they added it back a couple of years later. Why? Honestly, I believe that they were trying to cash-in on many peoples growing knowledge of the dangers of HFCS and expecting that their more healthy option would earn them a more significant share of the ketchup market.
I don't for one moment believe that they did it out of genuine concern public health.
Obviously, it didn't do the job, because they put it back in again. But people are constantly becoming more health mindful, so maybe they'll give it another go when they determine that the public will prefer to buy it. It's certainly worth picking up the bottle and going through the ingredients every once in a while.
One more option, but not a tasty one, is to use tomato puree. Within recipes this will work perfectly, but as a sauce it's really not the same. Tomato puree isn't as sweet and has an extremely powerful flavour. But play with it, add some sweetener (such as Stevia) and it'll be much more palitable. I'm pretty certain that whatever you do will be a great deal healthier than any kind of branded ketchup!
Simply don't boil all the nutrition away, stuff it with HFCS and lace it with 'gut-leaking' MSG! Aside of that, go crazy... possibly even adding some (deadly) sugar will still produce a healthier ketchup than the one you're likely using now.
Tomato puree (mixed along with a sweetener) will be a good option to making your own ketchup since it lasts a great deal longer than fresh tomatoes, occupies less room within your refrigerator and its simple to rustle up in a couple of seconds when needed. Try it, and let me know how it goes.