It's not necessarily the food which we eat that's the problem, it is the condiments that we add to the food. Today we will be taking a look at most likely the biggest condiment culprits... tomato ketchup!
I enjoy tomato ketchup, I put it on everythingthat I eat. So this one hits home for me.
Tomatoes are pretty nutritious, right?
Ketchup is primarily produced from tomatoes. Therefore you would think that it's not too bad for your health. All of us accept that it's also filled with sugar, but tomatoes are wholesome veggies, right? So at least you're going to be getting the goodness from those...
Well not when you boil them to within an inch of their lives!
Ketchup is basically produced from very over cooked tomatoes that have lost all of their nutritional worth, some water and lots of sugar.
The sugar that you find in ketchup will be worth a closer look. Because, although it starts out as sugar (which is already pretty bad) before being added to the ketchup it's refined into high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) which is much worse!
As well as this, it's stuffed with flavourings, such as MSG, which make us want to consume more.
Therefore , ketchup is not a good idea if you're trying to eat healthy. It's only healthy ingredient has been robbed of its value and all of the additional stuff has been linked to numerous medical issues, such as...
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is connected to
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Cancer
.. and contains absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever. All it does is make food sweet, so people eat more.
Is MSG really bad for you?
When you do a little research for MSG, you will find numerous articles stating that it has a poor reputation but it isn't really that bad for your health. Then you will stumble into this little insight from Michael Galitzer...
“It’s probably one of the most harmful substances that one can eat.”
I truthfully feel that there's a bit of a conspiracy going on, trying to avoid the majority of people from obtaining the reality about MSG. So that we keep eating products that are filled with it.
MSG could cause 'Leaky Gut' which sounds disgusting and is connected to...
- Bloatedness
- Gas
- Diarrhea
- Stomach pain
I have to admit, on quite a few occasions I have had all of those, specifically after eating a yummy takeaway.
Healthier Tomato Ketchup options
Anyway, back to ketchup. We really like it. We would like to keep consuming it. But we don't really want 'Leaky Gut'.
The best substitute for shop purchased ketchup is to make some in your kitchen.
If you fancy giving that a go, then watch this video from "Cooking With Plants"
If you simply don't have time for that, there are a couple of ketchups that are a much healthier option.
Way back in 2010 ConAgra removed the HFCS from their ketchup (Hunt's Ketchup) but unfortunately they put it back in a couple of years later. Why? Honestly, I think that they were trying to cash-in on many peoples growing awareness of the dangers associated with HFCS and expecting that their much healthier option would earn them a higher share of the market.
I don't for one second think that they did it out of genuine concern for our health.
Obviously, it didn't work, simply because they put it back in again. But people are constantly getting more health conscious, so maybe they might give it one more go when they consider the general public is ready for it. It's certainly worth picking up a bottle and looking at the ingredients every so often.
One more option, but not really a very tasty one, is to switch out your reglular ketchup with tomato puree. Within recipes this will work perfectly, but like a sauce it's a bit strong. Tomato puree isn't as sweet and has a very strong flavor. But play with it, add a little sweetener (such as Stevia) and it'll be much more agreeable. I'm pretty sure that anything you do will be a great deal healthier than any kind of shop-bought ketchup!
Just don't boil all the nutrition away, cram it with HFCS and lace it with 'gut-leaking' MSG! Aside of that, go crazy... even adding a little bit of (deadly) sugar will still produce a more healthy ketchup than the one you're using now.
Tomato puree (mixed with a sweetener) is a good alternate to making your own ketchup since it lasts a lot longer than fresh tomatoes, takes up much less room in your fridge and its easy to rustle up in a couple of seconds as needed. Try it, and let me know how it goes.