Ketchup, a sweet and tangy condiment, is a staple in many households. It’s made from pureed tomatoes and seasonings including garlic, onion, and allspice and typically enjoyed as a topping for comfort foods like hamburgers, hotdogs, and french fries. Often associated with fast food, ketchup is derived from tomatoes, a highly nutritious food. This article explores the nutritional aspects of ketchup, its potential health benefits and downsides, and some alternative condiments.
What is Ketchup?
Ketchup recipes vary, but the condiment is typically made from a core set of ingredients: tomatoes, sugar, salt, and vinegar. These ingredients create its characteristic sweet but tangy flavor. Spices like allspice, cloves, coriander, and even cinnamon or ginger may also be added. Heinz Tomato Ketchup, for example, is made only from sweet, juicy, red ripe tomatoes. Every tomato in every bottle of Heinz Ketchup is grown from Heinz seeds, contributing to its signature thick and rich taste. The thick texture makes it suitable as a topping or for dipping. It's also gluten-free and kosher-friendly.
Nutritional Profile of Ketchup
As a basic tomato-based condiment, ketchup has a relatively simple nutrition profile. However, it is important to remember that ketchup is typically consumed in small amounts, so it won’t be a significant source of essential nutrients.
A 1-tablespoon (17 grams) serving of ketchup contains:
- Calories: 17
- Carbs: 4.5 grams
- Protein: less than 1 gram
- Fiber: less than 1 gram
- Fat: less than 1 gram
- Sugar: 7% of the Daily Value (DV)
- Sodium: 7% of the DV
Compared to other condiments, 1 tablespoon of ketchup contains nearly twice as many calories as mustard but fewer than a fourth of the amount of calories that mayonnaise contains. Ketchup tends to contain more sugar than mayonnaise or mustard, which each contain less than 1% of the DV for sugar per 1-tablespoon (17-gram) serving, compared with the 7% found in the same amount of ketchup.
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A single teaspoon (5g) of low-sodium ketchup contains 5 calories, with a macronutrient breakdown of 91% carbs, 3% fat, and 6% protein. It has a relatively low calorie density, with 97 Calories per 100g.
Here's a more detailed breakdown for 1 tsp of ketchup (5g):
- Calories: 5
- Fats: 0g (0% DV)
- Saturated fats: 0g (0% DV)
- Trans fats: -
- Cholesterol: 0mg (0% DV)
- Sodium: 1mg (0% DV)
- Carbs: 1g (0.5% DV)
- Net carbs: 1g
- Fiber: 0g (0.1% DV)
- Sugar: -
- Glucose: 1g
- Fructose: 0.5g
- Lactose: 0g
- Maltose: 0.1g
- Galactose: 0g
- Starch: -
- Protein: 0.1g
- Calcium: 1mg (0.1% DV)
- Iron: 0mg (0.3% DV)
- Potassium: 19mg (0.4% DV)
- Vitamin D: 0μg (0% DV)
- Choline: 1mg (0.1% DV)
- Copper: 0mg (1% DV)
- Folate (B9): 0.5μg (0.1% DV)
- Lycopene: 835μg
- Magnesium: 1mg (0.2% DV)
- Manganese: 0mg (0.3% DV)
- Niacin: 0.1mg (0.4% DV)
- Phosphorus: 2mg (0.2% DV)
- Vitamin A: 2μg (0.3% DV)
- Vitamin B12: 0μg (0% DV)
- Vitamin B6: 0mg (1% DV)
- Vitamin C: 1mg (1% DV)
- Vitamin E: 0.1mg (0.5% DV)
- Vitamin K: 0.1μg (0.1% DV)
- Zinc: 0mg (0.1% DV)
Potential Health Benefits of Ketchup
Some consider ketchup “empty calories” because it contains salt and sugar yet lacks many vitamins or minerals. At the same time, the main ingredient in ketchup is tomatoes, which are packed with healthy plant compounds. Research suggests any of ketchup’s health benefits likely come from the carotenoid lycopene in the tomatoes. Lycopene itself is believed to have anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antidiabetic properties, yet there’s little research to suggest that eating ketchup itself will have the same effects. However, one recent study did link eating a variety of tomato-based foods rich in lycopene, including ketchup, to a lower risk of gastric cancer.
Ketchup remains one of the most concentrated sources of lycopene. When making ketchup, the heat used to process tomatoes allows your body to absorb lycopene more easily.
When you eat ketchup, you may reap some of lycopene’s health benefits:
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- Act as an antioxidant. Lycopene’s potent antioxidant activity may protect your DNA and cellular proteins from inflammation.
- Protect against cancer. Test tube studies show that lycopene may prevent against prostate cancer. Human studies link a higher dietary intake of lycopene from tomatoes and ketchup with a lower risk of stomach cancer.
- Support your brain. Studies indicate that lycopene may help treat conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Some early research in animals suggests it might protect against brain impairment due to chronic disease.
- Promote heart health. Lycopene’s antioxidants may help fight off heart disease. Human studies associate a diet higher in lycopene with a lower risk of heart disease. Animal studies suggest lycopene lowers blood fat and cholesterol levels.
- Fight reproductive disorders. One human study observed lower lycopene blood levels in infertile men while an animal study found oral lycopene supplements effective in treating testicular hypofunction, a condition that sometimes causes infertility.
Nevertheless, since ketchup is usually eaten in small amounts, fresh or canned whole tomatoes may provide you with more lycopene and fewer calories, less sugar, and more nutrients overall. Health issues like fertility and heart health may be better addressed by focusing on the quality of your diet overall. Ketchup and its lycopene content won’t turn an unhealthy diet into a nutritious one.
Potential Downsides of Ketchup
For most people, ketchup is perfectly safe when consumed in moderation and can easily be included in a well-balanced diet. Still, eating too much ketchup may cause you mild side effects.
The potential downsides of ketchup are:
- It’s fairly high in sugar. 1 tablespoon of ketchup could contain 7% or more of your DV of sugar. If you love ketchup and have 4-5 Tablespoons with a single meal, you could consume 35% or more of the DV for sugar from the ketchup alone.
- It’s fairly high in salt. Most packaged ketchup products are also high in salt. If you’re sensitive to salt, eating too much salt may contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease, and other health concerns.
- It’s an acidic food. Tomatoes are a highly acidic food, so concentrated tomato products like ketchup are no different. If you suffer from heartburn or reflux, eating too much ketchup could worsen those conditions.
- Some people may be allergic. Though uncommon, it is possible to have an allergy or sensitivity to ketchup. A ketchup allergy could be caused by tomatoes or other ingredients in the condiment like vinegar that contains sulfites, salicylates, and gluten.
Eating ketchup in moderation - such as a few tablespoons at a time - doesn’t carry many risks. Still, if you’re worried about your sugar or salt intake, or if you have acid reflux, heartburn, or food allergies, you may want to limit your intake.
Healthier Alternatives to Ketchup
Though ketchup can be part of a balanced diet when used in moderation, there may be times when you want to use a healthier alternative instead.
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There are many brands and varieties of ketchup available, so if you’re looking for a variety that meets your specific needs, there’s a good chance you can find a product that works for you. For example, there are many ketchup brands that make versions of the condiment that are:
- organic
- unsweetened
- no high fructose corn syrup
- low in salt
- gluten-free
- non-GMO
If you’re looking for a variety like these, most labels make these distinctions clear. Perhaps you love the tomato taste of ketchup but want to find a less processed version. In that case, you could try making your own at home. Making homemade ketchup can also be a great way to moderate how much sugar and salt is in your condiment.
If you’re looking for options that are lower in sugar, you could also explore other condiments like:
- salsa
- tomato chutney or jam
- hot sauce
- harissa