We all love to use condiments but we often doen’t know how condiments are badly affecting our health. You’ve probably seen your friends all use ketchup, mustard, or mayo to their burgers, sandwiches, or dip their french fries in the condiments of their choice.
Maybe when you have a party or BBQ you put out condiments so that everyone has their choice.
Even vegetarians who are living a really healthy lifestyle might be using some condiments that are actually ruining their healthy diet and leading to weight gain!
We all want our food to taste better and want to find ways to add some zest to it. We do this so we enjoy what we eat. I am all for it, as long as it is done with proper understanding of what you are doing to the food.
When it comes to condiments, many of the condiments that we all use on a daily basis are taking incredible foods and turning them into fatty, sugary messes that will mess up our health.
Here are some of the top unhealthy condiments:
Mayo is not good and here are the facts why: mayo is brimming with fat. One cup contains 1440 calories, 160 grams fat, and 24 grams saturated fat! Foods like tuna sald or chicken salad that might “look” healthy or “light” end up being loaded with fat and calories. You must realise that Mayonnaise is bad for you especially if you have diebeties. Even if you are healthy, use this springly!
Barbecue Sauce: it’s loaded with sugar. So is ketchup! On top of that, it’s loaded with preservatives and sodium. Ketchup also often contains high fructose corn syrup. This combination makes both barbecue sauce and ketchup contributing factors to weight gain and makes ketchup unhealthy.
And according to data, many studies claim that 97% of households consume ketchup daily!
Pancake syrup. Syrup often contains high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Excessive intake of HFCS has been linked to heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. It is very addictive and you want to avoid anything that contains HFCS.
What about butter? Many margarine products contain traces of Trans fat. Many studies have linked this type of fat to heart disease making syrups an unhealthy choice.
Teriyaki sauce. Oftentimes a diet of rice and many vegetables can be incredibly healthy. However, once you start incorporating teriyaki sauce, you are adding an immense amount of sodium to your diet, which can be dangerous to many. Teriyaki sauce is high in sodium, with just 2 tablespoons (30 ml) providing over 60% of the RDI for this mineral. High-sodium diets have been linked to chronic conditions like heart disease and stroke. Which concludes that Teriyaki sauce is bad for your health.
Artificial sweeteners. When people are trying to shed weight, they take out calories in drinks and switch to “zero calorie” drinks like diet sodas. These are sweetened with artificial sweeteners. However, the benefits of artificial sweeteners is very mixed, especially when it comes to sugar dependencies and weight gain. With many artificial sweeteners up to 100x as sweet as their alternatives, they certainly get the job done–but they also stimulate your desire and cravings for more sweets by triggering the “food reward system.” This means that even if you are having food or drinks with artificial sweeteners, it registers them as “non filing” as then you want to eat and drink more. You can see the problem with this and how it relates to weight loss!
All of the above factors can land you in a world of trouble, especially if you are trying to break a sugar addiction and ultimately lose weight.
Some observational studies link zero-calorie sweeteners to obesity. Still, the research is mixed. It’s best to avoid them! Focus on water, and beverages like coffee and tea, which are natural.
Bonus: So what do you add to make your food tasty?
You don’t need to rely on store-bought condiments loaded with fats and sugar when there are healthiest condiments available in your kitchen. Try adding lemon or Lime Juice, using Nutritional Yeast, and substituting sea salt with the chemically processed salt.
If you like it spicy, add in Cayan pepper. Don’t forget about apple cider, Hummus, Guacamole, Tahini & Balsamic vinegar. There are many healthy condiments you can use, and some of them actually have healing elements to them. I love using black pepper, black salt, grounded cumin powder, Turmeric, Cinnamon, and Amla Powder (Indian Gooseberry).
Want to use healthy condiments for weight loss this summer? Here is a video where I share one of my favorite sandwich recipes:
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