Condiments are commonly used to enhance many foods, and in some cases, certain foods just aren’t the same without condiments. Unfortunately, some condiments are full of calories, including calories from fat and/or sugar.
Part of the problem with condiments is their contents and another one can be their serving size. I know that for me, I used to never look at the calories or ingredients of condiments and just plastered them on whatever I was eating. It was not uncommon for me to be the guy posted up at the fast-food place’s condiments station filling up cup after cup. I literally used to own a t-shirt that read ‘I put ketchup on my ketchup.’
As followers of this website know, I am currently on a calorie deficit diet, which means that I count every single calorie that I consume, and that includes calories from condiments. It has been an eye-opening experience. Looking back, I was consuming several servings of condiments with every meal that I incorporated them into.
Condiments can wreak havoc on a person’s diet if they are not careful. Using Heinz ketchup as an example, one serving is 20 calories. While that may not sound like much, one serving is only 1 tablespoon. Think about when you are at a food place that has ketchup packets. How many ketchup packets do you use? Probably several. Each one of those is typically a serving, so if you have a pile of ketchup packets piling up next to your French fries, add 20 calories to your meal for every one of them.
Furthermore, every serving of Heinz ketchup contains 4 grams of added sugar. Five servings of ketchup has the same amount of added sugar as a regular-sized Snickers bar. Obviously, added sugar is not good for you, even if it makes things taste better.
Another common condiment is mayonnaise. Using Walmart-brand regular mayo as an example, one serving contains 90 calories, and one serving size is only 1 tablespoon. While mayo doesn’t contain any added sugar, one serving of it does contain 10 grams of fat, which means that all of the calories in the mayo come from fat.
There are two condiments that I use regularly as part of my calorie deficit diet. The first is mustard, which only contains 3 calories per serving according to the USDA. French’s brand mustard lists zero calories on the back of its mustard containers, as do many other brands. I will be the first to recognize that mustard cannot be used on everything, but it can be used on a lot of things. It is what I use for my low-calorie BLTs.
Another condiment that is a decent option is buffalo sauce. Similar to mustard, it can’t be used on everything, but I use it as a dipping sauce for various things instead of barbeque sauce or ranch. Whereas Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce contains 70 calories and 16 grams of added sugar per serving (2 Tbsp), and Lighthouse Ranch has 120 calories and 12 grams of fat per serving (2 Tbsp), Sweet Baby Ray’s Mild Buffalo Sauce only contains 20 calories per serving, no added sugar, and only 2 grams of fat per serving.
The serving size for most buffalo sauces is 1 Tbsp, but even doubled up, it is still a healthier option than many other condiments, and I find that 1 Tbsp of buffalo sauce goes a long way.
Don’t let condiments wreck your diet. If you can go without condiments, that is optimal. If you need to use condiments to make something better, go for a lower calorie option. And if you just can’t live without a certain condiment, do your best to practice damage control by limiting the amount of servings that you consume. Don’t let condiments hinder your nutritional goals!
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