Is it possible to eat ketchup on a weight loss diet?

Ketchup is one of the three main global sauces. It, like mustard and mayonnaise, is known in every country. Ketchup is used to complement a huge number of dishes, primarily street and fast food dishes. It’s hard to imagine grilled meat, French fries, hot dogs and other dishes without ketchup.

The recipe for ketchup is simple: tomato puree, vinegar, salt, often sugar and various spices.

Article on the topic Under the sauce. What are the benefits and harms of traditional dressings? GOST 2013 allows the addition of starch, fruit and vegetable purees, sweeteners, artificial flavors, stabilizers. It is important that the manufacturer indicates all these ingredients on the label.

There are different grades of ketchup: extra, superior, first and second. The highest quality variety - extra - should contain the most natural ingredients; tomato puree should be at least 12%. Extra-class ketchups should not use thickeners, dyes, or sweeteners. But preservatives are allowed.

High quality ketchups are sold in glass bottles, but lower quality ketchups are sold in plastic bottles. So it's easy to distinguish them.

Natalya Dyuzhaya-Reshetnikova, a nutritionist and nutritionist, creator of more than 10 proprietary weight loss programs, told AiF.ru how useful one of the most popular sauces is:

“If we talk about the historical recipe for ketchup, then tomatoes were not included. It was a sauce based on anchovies, mushrooms, nuts, fish brine and various spices. Modern recipes for ketchup based on tomato paste appeared in the century before last.

First, let's talk about the base of ketchup: tomato paste. These are simply rubbed through a sieve and then boiled tomatoes. Often even without salt. The calorie content of such a product is, as a rule, 60-80 kcal per 100 g. Moreover, this calorie content comes not only from fructose and glucose, but also from plant fibers, vegetable fats and proteins, of which there are few in tomatoes, but they are there. Plus, due to its concentration, tomato paste is very rich in lycopene. And this is a magical substance: a powerful antioxidant, which, as numerous studies have shown, helps prevent cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Lycopene fights bad cholesterol and can rejuvenate skin cells. Lycopene is especially necessary for men: it reduces the risk of prostate cancer. Therefore, men should have natural tomato paste in their diet.

Question answer

How long can opened ketchup be stored? But is there such a healthy thing as tomato paste in ketchups? If you compare the cost of pure tomato paste and ketchup, you will see that the former costs at least 50 rubles for just 70 g. And the price of ketchup can be the same 50 rubles, but for 200-350 g of product. What does it mean? That manufacturers, in order to reduce the cost of the composition, add sugar syrups or glucose syrups, starch. Plus it also contains pure sugar. There is a small amount of real tomato paste there. And if we look at the calorie content, we will see that ketchup, as a rule, contains no less than 80 kcal per 100 g, or even 115 kcal. Of this, at least 15% is sugar. And this is 2 teaspoons, by the way. That is, if you poured only 100 g of ketchup on pasta, consider that you sprinkled it with two tablespoons of sugar. And if you poured ketchup on a bun, and even mustard, you got a sandwich comparable in calorie content to a cake, a real carbohydrate bomb. Therefore, it is incorrect to assume that ketchup has the same beneficial properties as paste, and it is very important to study its composition. “And ideally, it is better to use natural tomato paste, adding spices and seasonings to it yourself.”

Ketchup recipes from V. Pokhlebkin’s book “Condiments”

Historical perspective

Before deciding whether you can eat ketchup while losing weight, you should find out where such a product even came from, who created it and offered it for consumption. There is a version that ketchup first appeared in 1830, when an enterprising farmer originally from New England not only sold tomatoes, but offered them to customers in grated form.

It was very convenient to use and store the product in this way, and therefore the method quickly spread, and very soon other farmers began to use it. Over time, small enterprises appeared that produced ketchup, but the original product did not have substitutes, preservatives, sweeteners, and a huge number of synthetic and very hazardous components. The composition contained tomatoes and salt.

In 1900, there were already more than a hundred ketchup manufacturers in North America who supplied their goods to the domestic market. However, the country's borders did not delay the product for long. Convenient and practical packaging allowed ketchup to “travel” on ships, and therefore it quickly migrated to Europe and other countries. Today it is impossible to imagine fast food cafes, restaurants serving American, Asian, and Mexican food without such an additive. But whether it is possible to eat ketchup on a diet is not entirely clear.

Beneficial features

One of the main beneficial qualities of natural ketchup prepared using impeccable technology is its high content of the coloring pigment lycopene. This substance has an antitumor effect and significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases. It is worth noting here the fact that when tomatoes are heat treated, the amount of this useful antioxidant not only does not decrease, but, on the contrary, increases. And after just fifteen minutes of intense heating at high temperatures, its concentration in the product increases by about one and a half times.

Due to the fact that natural ketchup contains a number of useful vitamins and minerals, it acquires valuable properties necessary for the human body. For example, a high content of vitamin C can resist colds, and B vitamins will help improve the functioning of the nervous system and protect against depression and stress. Moreover, properly prepared high-quality ketchup contains serotonin, the so-called happiness hormone, as well as tyramine, which, when ingested by the human body, also produces this hormone. Therefore, together with the vitamin composition, the presence of these hormones turns tomato sauce into almost a natural antidepressant that can improve mood, remove the blues and restore mental balance.

Composition and calorie content of natural ketchup

The ingredients used to create the natural sauce include pureed tomatoes, as well as salt and spices. These may include cloves, pepper, bay leaves, onions, cinnamon, mustard, paprika, etc.

Among the features of modern products:

1. Huge variety. Today, only lazy people don’t make ketchup. In pursuit of the buyer's favor, manufacturers are ready to offer him their variations on the theme of ketchup - with apple and paprika, herbs and seasonings, various types of peppers - from aromatic to hot, pickled cucumbers and gherkins, olives and black olives, mushrooms and beans, etc.
2. Not always natural composition. Not only these natural ingredients can be present in ketchup. Various preservatives, substitutes - product surrogates, stabilizers and emulsifiers, sweeteners can also be used. This is no longer a healthy product that can make any food fragrant and tasty. This is real poison, packaged in beautiful packaging.

Sweeteners are especially dangerous because they are instantly addictive and add calories to the product. After the first serving, a person will want more. He will begin to purchase ketchup in large quantities, which is what the manufacturers strive for, adding it to every dish. The peculiarity of this component is its ability to whet the appetite, and therefore with each meal a huge amount of calories enters the body. A person is not able to burn them all in a day, and therefore they are deposited in the form of fat on the sides, waist, and back.

• The calorie content of the standard version of natural-based ketchup is 90–95 cal/100 g.

Be sure to read: The best diet by day for weight loss

Unscrupulous manufacturers, of which there are many on the market today, are trying to reduce the cost of production, which requires saving on something. For such manufacturers, all means are good, and therefore the natural product is replaced by a synthetic one, becoming a surrogate. This not only affects the calorie content of the composition, but also its value and benefits for the body. The product becomes a true poison that causes great harm. This option cannot be included in a dietary nutrition program.

Compound

The second myth concerns the composition of ketchup.
For some reason, everyone thinks that it is made from tomato. However, history shows a different course of events. Until the 19th century, ketchup was made from various vegetables: rutabaga, pumpkin, potato skins, sorrel, but not from tomatoes. This was due to the peculiarities of the production of this vegetable, which was available only 3 months a year. It wasn't until 1876 that the popular Henry J. Heinz came up with Heinz ketchup, which he evaporated from tomato paste in production. But you can still find sauces made from bananas, mangoes, hearts of bread palm, mushrooms and nuts.

Valuable properties of ketchup

It is important to understand that ketchup is rarely used when losing weight precisely because surrogates are presented on store shelves instead of components that are useful and valuable for the body. If we talk about the benefits of the product, then only natural ones. There is nothing valuable in preservatives, stabilizers, emulsifiers.

The basis of natural ketchup is tomato, which contains a lot of useful and valuable substances for the body. Doctors do not recommend using the fruit in its pure form. It is important to pre-heat the product. During the cooking process, ketchup is boiled, and therefore tomatoes receive a lot of valuable properties. Among the useful components:

1. Vitamin group B. It also contains K, PP, P - substances that can strengthen blood vessels, the heart, and have a beneficial effect on joints.
2. Antioxidants are lycopene, which only increases after heat treatment. Just 15 minutes of cooking is needed for ketchup to receive 1.5 times more lycopenes. This component protects the body from dangerous pathological processes, including tumors, as well as heart diseases.

Lycopene is a natural coloring substance that makes tomatoes red:

• Minerals and trace elements - iron and phosphorus, calcium and potassium - all components that are necessary to ensure the normal functioning of the heart, kidneys, and liver. They are used by the body to start metabolic processes and remove excess fluid, which also has a negative impact on overall weight and appearance.

Another valuable property is stimulating the production of the happiness hormone - serotonin. This component lifts your mood, improves body tone, and increases the body's endurance.

Chinese style ketchup

Photo: Shutterstock.com

• 1.5 kg tomatoes
• 45 g salt
• 375 g sugar
• 120 g vinegar 10%
• 5 g garlic or garlic powder
• 4 g ground cloves
• 30 g ground cinnamon

Step 1. Peel the tomatoes, chop, cook for 30 minutes with salt in a saucepan, then rub through a sieve.

Step 2. Add all the spices and vinegar to the resulting puree and cook over low heat for another 30-45 minutes without a lid.

Step 3. Cool, pour into jars, close with oiled paper and cork.

Is there any benefit to ketchup for weight loss?

Ketchup can be used during a diet, but in extreme and rare cases. The modern food industry uses various additives and components harmful to the body to create tomato sauce, which is ketchup. To decide in a particular case whether ketchup can be eaten while on a diet, you should evaluate all the risks of its use.

Some manufacturers claim that ketchup can be consumed on a diet. However, this myth is not supported by anything. In fact, even a natural product contains a lot of substances that raise questions not only among nutritionists, but also among doctors of other specializations.

Sugar

It is this component that is used by manufacturers to strengthen attachment to the product. Experts have calculated and found that 80% of the kilocalories in such a product belong to the sweet component.

You should be careful and study the composition of the product, which is indicated on the labels. However, not all manufacturers are willing to openly inform potential buyers what exactly is included in the components used. Sugar can be disguised as fructose, corn syrup or glucose. Any of these components causes weight gain, and if you consume ketchup too much, it causes obesity.

Be sure to read: Not eating after 6: a myth or a sure way to lose weight?

Salt

Another component that is too much in ketchup. This component is capable of retaining fluid in the body, which leads to puffiness, swelling, and puffiness.

Just one teaspoon of the product contains 10% of the daily value of sodium, which is equivalent to 190 mg. If you consume the product with spoons, then with one spoon you can oversaturate your body with salt. This will negatively affect your health.

Many diet programs eliminate the possibility of using salt in the diet altogether. This ban immediately affects ketchup. It is prohibited to use the product!

Vinegar

Acid is another harmful component of products. All store and industrial products have it. Acid is a preservative that extends the shelf life and therefore distribution of ketchup.

Vinegar makes it impossible for those with stomach problems to use ketchup in a standard diet. It is prohibited for people with a diseased pancreas, liver, or kidneys. In general, using sauce with ketchup is in itself a potentially dangerous activity that can lead to erosive processes and ulcers of the digestive tract mucosa.

Children are also prohibited from consuming ketchup; it is not permitted during pregnancy or lactation. Those who want to lose weight should not use vinegar sauce either, since such a product is harmful to health; it stimulates the appetite, constantly increasing the level of acidity.

Other components of ketchup

At least some value of the product can only be explained by the processed tomato contents. However, even here producers can cheat by adding vegetable concentrates to the prepared tomato. But this is not the worst option.

There are also manufacturers who do not hesitate to replace the tomato base with a dangerous cocktail of starch, thickeners, dyes, flavors, and flavor enhancers. So it turns out that ketchup may not contain tomatoes at all, but only a tinted toxic mixture.

Concentrates and flavorings, along with sugar, are not able to bring any value to the body. In addition to everything, there is every chance of getting used to this concentrate. The fact is that this is promoted not only by sugar, but also by monosodium glutamate. This is a well-known additive that enhances the taste of a product, making the taste buds “squeal with happiness.” In this case, the bright taste of the product is not a joy for a gourmet, but the first and confident step towards addiction.

The harm of ketchup

The other side of the coin is also present. Like any processed product, consuming ketchup can be somewhat problematic.

• Allergen . Of course, the main harm here will be individual intolerance to some components of the sauce. There are, after all, banal allergies to spices, flavorings, preservatives, or tomatoes themselves.
• Not recommended for pregnant women . It is strictly not recommended to use ketchup during pregnancy. This will worsen both the health of the expectant mother and weaken the child’s body. This is not surprising - after all, the product is partly chemical. And, as mentioned above, there are only forty percent of natural tomatoes here.
• Interferes with reproduction . Ketchup is no less harmful for men than for pregnant women. French studies have led to the conclusion that this particular product affects the reproductive system. Therefore, consuming large amounts of such tomato sauce may be the reason why many families are unable to have children.
• Consumption is fraught with obesity . Food additives in ketchups have a detrimental effect on the human body as a whole – both female and male. Like mayonnaise, this sauce can cause obesity. The percentage of fat content here is, of course, much less, but nevertheless you should not lean on it. Ketchups contain much more sugar, therefore, a huge amount of fast carbohydrates will aggravate the situation with excess weight.
• Detrimental influence . Low quality products may contain substances that can cause all sorts of terrible diseases. Among them there is even oncology. But much more often it causes gastritis and ulcers.

Safety rules when choosing and consuming ketchup

The surrogate cannot be used under any nutritional system. To avoid becoming a victim of the chemical and food industry, it is important to adhere to some important nutritional rules:

• Attention to shelf life. It should not exceed several months. If a product can lie on warm shelves (not even in the refrigerator) for years, there can be nothing valuable or useful in such a product.

It is the fact of long-term storage that should alert the buyer. The chemical cocktail has no expiration date, and therefore the product itself does not deteriorate. She is not afraid of either time or storage conditions:

1. List of components used. The smaller it is, the better. Essentially, ketchup is tomato paste, to which you can add a little salt, seasonings, and herbs for taste. The product should not contain dyes, since the tomato itself is red. The smaller the list, the greater the chance that the proposed tomato products at least vaguely resemble the real thing.
2. Attention to the month of production. Tomatoes actively ripen in summer and autumn. Since the product itself does not make sense to store for a long time, the manufacturer often produces the product exactly during the specified period of time. If the winter and spring months are indicated, there is a chance that a paste or concentrate with unknown contents was used.
3. Tara. It is ideal if ketchup is offered in glass rather than plastic or polyethylene. No matter how the manufacturer assures the buyer, the synthetic polymer component is no less harmful to the body than a dangerous composition.
4. It is important to pay attention to the order of the products on the label. If sugar is at the top of the list, ketchup contains the most of it. It is strictly forbidden to use this for weight loss, although no nutritionist will recommend another store-bought option.

Be sure to read: How many calories should you burn per day to effectively lose weight and stay slim?

The best solution would be to make your own ketchup. It doesn’t take much time to create a homemade version, nor do special products. Housewives often already have what the recipe requires on hand. It is homemade ketchup that has every chance of not going beyond 90–95 kcal per 100 grams. Depending on the additives used, ketchup can be classic, barbecue, hot, spicy, piquant, close to a certain cuisine of the world.

If you are choosing a product in a store, it is important to look at the composition. It is ideal when the ingredients include only tomatoes, spices, pepper, salt, and water. However, such products will not be offered at bargain prices. But if you take a product, it will be of the highest quality. But it will also be prohibited for people with a large gastrointestinal tract, allergy sufferers, as well as people who are prone to obesity.

What to give preference

Of course, a quality product. The ideal option would be one that contains only tomato paste, spices, salt, water and vinegar. In premium and extra-class sauces, the tomato content is approximately 40-50%, in the highest category ketchups - it does not exceed 30%, but if not more than 15%, then this is economy-class ketchup, unfortunately the most common product in our stores. Adding acetic acid to a high-quality sauce is quite acceptable and will not harm the body, since it is contained there in small doses, which is absolutely harmless.

The color of ketchup also plays an important role. It should be remembered that during heat treatment the bright red color of tomatoes darkens somewhat, so if you have a product in front of you that is unnaturally red, then not a lot of tomato paste was used during its preparation. And most likely, dyes and preservatives were used here. If the color is too dark, you should also be wary - this ketchup probably contains additives in the form of plum or applesauce.

Consistency can also be used to judge the quality of the product. You need to pay attention to the fact that it is quite thick, and no gurgling sounds appear when shaking the bottle. If you buy ketchup in glass containers, you should note that there are no gas bubbles. Good quality ketchup does not spread when served and should be a thick, bulky mass.

The best packaging not only for this sauce, but for any others, is still glass. It is environmentally friendly and does not emit any harmful substances. In addition, the product is visible through it, which allows you to immediately assess its quality.

In general, when purchasing ketchup in stores, you should carefully study the product label. A high-quality natural sauce should not contain:

• dyes;
• preservatives;
• sweeteners;
• flavor enhancers;
• thickeners;
• any food additives labeled E;
• fruit or vegetable puree;
• starch.

It is advisable to pay attention to the fact that the product complies with GOST. And of course, it is worth remembering that a high-quality product prepared using standard technology and a classic recipe will have a fairly high price.

Why can't you eat ketchup on a diet?

The diet program is quite strict. The list of permitted products is strictly regulated. To achieve your goals - to get rid of extra pounds, you should forget about ketchups, mayonnaise, and other types of sauces. Only some programs, a few of them, do not prohibit ketchup, but on the condition that it is homemade.

If we talk about a store-bought product, it is dangerous for several reasons:

• Long shelf life. This indicates the presence of a large number of preservatives, including salt, vinegar, and sugar.
• A large number of thickeners and stabilizers. You should not eat foods that contain carcinogens E338-E343, E211-E219, E153, E131, E142.
• A large number of allergens. This also applies to natural products. Spices and herbs, herbs and peppers - all this can cause a strong reaction in the body.
• Provokes hunger, which can lead to overeating.

You should not tempt fate and consume a product that is obviously dangerous to the body. It is quite possible to replace the product with tomato juice, which is diluted with clean water in a 1:1 ratio, but it is better not to get carried away with this composition.

Making ketchup at home

The safest ketchup for consumption is the one you prepare at home. You can be sure of the quality of the products used, the preparation technology and the environmental friendliness of production.

To prepare you will need:

• tomatoes - 2 kg;
• sweet red pepper - 500 grams;
• onion - 500 grams;
• sugar - 1 glass;
• salt;
• vegetable oil - 200 grams;
• ground black pepper - 1 tablespoon;
• mustard - 1 tablespoon.

Pass all ingredients through a meat grinder, add spices and mix. Let it cook for about an hour and a half. You can taste the prepared sauce before sending it to cook. Some people like it spicy, some like it spicy. At this stage, it is possible to add hot chili peppers, garlic, and various other spices that seem necessary. It is possible and even necessary to experiment in the process of preparing sauces, because it is in this way that you can prepare a unique, incomparable, exclusive dish.