Is Tomato Ketchup a Healthy Condiment?

Story:

Is Tomato Ketchup a Healthy Condiment?

Analysis:

Tomato Ketchup is a very common condiment that most modern people use today. People cannot do without using Ketchup on their French fries, hot dogs, hamburger, scrambled eggs or even mac and cheese. But not many people know how healthy this ‘delicious’ habit is. So let us look into those facts.

Contents of Tomato Ketchup

The key ingredients of Tomato Ketchup are tomatoes, sodium and high fructose corn syrup. Let us learn the benefits and effects of each of these.

Tomatoes

The tomato ketchup is primarily made of tomatoes, which are in fact good for your health and growth. Tomatoes contain high amounts of dietary fiber and also many important vitamins and minerals that are important for your body to function well.

Sodium Content

As the taste of tomato ketchup suggests, it has good amount of salt that is known to have health concerns because of its sodium content. Sodium causes water retention in our body and it is found to contribute to high blood pressure, also can damage your arterial walls. This again can lead to serious health complications related to heart. So for good health, one should avoid salt whenever possible, or at least keep the intake to minimum.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Tomato ketchup is also found to contain high amounts of high fructose corn syrup. High fructose corn syrup is typically used as a sugar substitute and comes from corn. It is very high in calories, so regular intake can contribute to weight gain and other related problems. The sugar in high fructose corn syrup is digested quickly in your body, raising your blood sugar suddenly and then it drops down subsequently. This can be damaging to the people suffering with diabetes and even cause feelings of dizziness, nausea and fatigue in normal people.

Conclusion

Tomato Ketchup does have health concerns as mentioned above, especially when taken in large amounts regularly. Stefanie Senior, a registered dietitian based in Toronto advises people to limit their tomato ketchup serving to one tablespoon. You can even choose a tomato ketchup low in sodium and sugar, or as a substitute you can use the healthy homemade salsa.