It's not necessarily the food we consume that's making us put on weight, it is the stuff we add to the food. Today we'll be looking at probably the guiltiest condiment culprits... tomato ketchup!
I really like tomato ketchup, I put it on everythingthat I eat. So this one pushes a few personal buttons for me.
Tomatoes are pretty nutritious, aren't they?
Ketchup is mainly made using tomatoes. So you'd think that it's not too bad for your health. We all accept that it's also full of sugar, but tomatoes are wholesome vegetables, correct? So at least you'll be receiving the nourishment from those...
Unfortunately not when they've been boiled to death!
Ketchup is basically manufactured from really over cooked tomatoes that have shed all of their natural value, some water and lots of sugar.
The sugar that's added to ketchup will be worth a closer inspection. Because, although this starts out as sugar (which is already pretty bad) before it goes into the bottle it's processed into high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which is a lot more damaging for your health!
In Additional to this, it's packed with flavourings, like MSG, which make us want to consume more.
So , ketchup is not good. It's only nutritious ingredient (tomatoes) has been robbed of any value it once had and everything else has been linked to numerous health problems, such as...
High Fructose Corn Syrup is connected to
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Cancer
.. and it has absolutely no nutritional value. It just makes things sweet, so people eat more.
Is MSG really bad for you?
When you do a little research for MSG, there are many articles saying that it has a bad rep but it really isn't that bad for you. Then you'll stumble in to this little insight from Michael Galitzer...
“It’s probably one of the most harmful substances that one can eat.”
I honestly think that there might be a little bit of a conspiracy here, seeking to prevent most people from obtaining the reality about MSG. So that we carry on eating products which are full of it.
MSG may lead to 'Leaky Gut' which sounds revolting and is associated with...
- Bloating
- Gas
- Diarrhea
- Abdominal pain
I have to admit, on several occasions I've had all of those, specifically after indulging in a yummy Chinese takeaway.
Healthy Ketchup options
So, back to ketchup. We love it. We want to keep consuming it. But we don't really want 'Leaky Gut'.
The healthiest substitute for shop bought ketchup is to make it yourself.
In case you fancy giving that a try, then watch this video from "Cooking With Plants"
In case you just don't have time for that, there are a couple of shop-bought ketchups which are a much healthier option.
In 2010 ConAgra took out the HFCS from their tomato ketchup (Hunt's Ketchup) but sadly they put it back a few years later. Why? Well, I feel that they were trying to cash-in on peoples growing concern of the dangers associated with HFCS and hoping that their much healthier option would earn them a higher share of the ketchup market.
I don't for one minute believe that they made the decision out of genuine concern for our health.
Obviously, it didn't do the job, simply because they put it back in again. But men and women are constantly getting more health mindful, so maybe they are going to give it an additional go when they think that the public will pay for it. It's well worth picking up the bottle and going through the ingredients every so often.
One more option, but not a tasty one, is to switch out your reglular ketchup with tomato puree. In recipes this works perfectly, but as a condiment it's really not the same. Tomato puree isn't as sweet and has a very powerful flavour. But it's worth giving it a try, add some sweetener and it'll be much more palitable. I'm pretty certain that anything you do will be a great deal healthier than any kind of shop-bought ketchup!
Simply don't boil all of the nutrition away, cram it with HFCS and lace it with 'gut-leaking' MSG! Aside of that, go crazy... possibly even adding a touch of (deadly) sugar will still produce a more healthy ketchup than the one you're using now.
Tomato puree (mixed with a sweetener) will be a good option to making your own ketchup as it lasts a lot longer than fresh tomatoes, takes up less room inside your fridge and its easy to rustle up in a few seconds as needed. Try it, and let me know how it tastes.