Nutritional Biochemistry: October 2011

A condiment is usually a sauce or seasoning that is added to a meal to provide a particular taste or enhance its flavour.

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Condiments are a serious cash generator, with over $5 billion in sales last year, proving our massive consumption of them. Mayonnaise tops the condiment sales, with over $1.26 billion US dollars in mayonnaise sales being reported in 2010 in the USA alone. With sales soaring, and the number of overweight cases similarly soaring, it is definitely worth an inside look to what we are putting in our mouths - a splash here and spoonful there may be doing more damage than you realise!

According to a market research group in the USA, SymphonyIRI group, the top selling condiments include:

Mayonnaise

Salsa

Ketchup (tomato sauce)

Mustard

French Salad dressing

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To investigate further, I analysed a set of commonly used condiments per tablespoon and this was the result:

I then allocated a points system to create a ranking for the best options. I based this points system on number of calories per tablespoon, grams of fat, grams of saturated fat, mg of sodium and g of sugar.

RANKING from best to worst:

Salsa (19 points)

Balsamic vinegar / Soy sauce / Dijon mustard (15 points)

Sour cream (12 points)

Gravy (11 points)

Ketchup (10 points)

Chutney (5 points)

Olive oil (0 points)

Mayonnaise (0 points)

Honey mustard (-4 points)

Sweet chili sauce (-5 points)

Hollandaise sauce / French salad dressing (-15 points)

Remember that many of these are subjective to the brand, but it is still a useful guide.

For example, french salad dressing (ranked worst) can provide a similar taste to balsamic vinegar, so if it is the taste you are after, go with the balsamic vinegar (ranked 2nd). Olive oil may be harshly done by receiving 0 points although it is in fact a healthy option. It is high in unsaturated (good) fats and has many health benefits. It's hard therefore to provide a concrete system of ranking condiments, but it is still a definite eye-opener.

An article written by Allie Firestone on http://www.divinecaroline.com/22177/92814-hold-ketchup-high-calorie-condiments-add highlights how condiments can add hundreds of calories a day to your food diary:

Breakfast

1 tablespoon butter: 102 calories. And who stops at a tablespoon?
1 tablespoon seedless strawberry jam: 50 calories.
2 tablespoons peanut butter: 188 calories. Healthy, but very high-cal.
1/4 cup hollandaise sauce: 62 calories; eggs Benedict includes easily this much.

Registered dietician, Keri Glassman in another article goes on to show how these can easily clock up:

BREAKFAST
Eggs
3 tbsp. ketchup - 48 calories

Toast
2 tsp. butter - 70 calories

LUNCH
Grilled barbecue chicken sandwich -
2 tbsp. barbecue Sauce - 50 calories

DINNER
Teriyaki steak -
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce - 60 calories

Baked Potato
2 tbsp. sour cream and 2 tsp. butter - 120 calories

Condiments alone have totaled a whopping 348 calories - 17.4% of a 2000 calorie limit on condiments alone!

Of course it would not be practical to completely rule condiments out of daily eating habits, however it is important to be mindful of healthier and better alternatives.

As the definition already states, condiments provide a particular flavour or enhance the flavour of the meal. According to Ayurveda, there are 6 tastes and combining all 6 into meals prevents cravings. Cravings are, in essence, the result of feeling like something is "missing" and a need to fulfill that desire.

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These 6 tastes are:

Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, pungent and astringent.

The last two, pungent and astringent, may seem unknown to Westerners, so I shall briefly explain.

Pungent is the hottest of the tastes and this taste can be acquired in foods like radishes, garlic, onions, black pepper, ginger, cayenne and mustard.

Astringent is the least common of the 6 tastes and also the most difficult taste to describe. It can create one of 2 feelings. A "puckering or dry" taste similar to that caused by tannins in red wine and fruits like cranberries, or a "dry chalky" feeling caused by many beans, lentils and chickpeas. It can also be detected in tumeric, marjoram and some wholegrains like rye and buckwheat.

Attaining these tastes from herbs and spices also provide the healthy benefits not found in the more commonly used condiments. For one, herbs and spices provide almost 0 calories, fat, saturated fat, sodium and sugar, yet are bursting with flavours and aromas.

For example, Keri Glassman addresses this in the above example where condiments contributed an astounding 348 calories:

Instead of using 3 tablespoons of tartar sauce for a shrimp cocktail (120 calories), using alternatives like lemon juice and garlic (almost 0 calories) is a far better, healthier and still very tasty alternative!

When I cook mince, I don't need to use calorie laden mince sauces, I simply use herbs and spices and it tastes refreshing and amazing! Try this:

Chop 2 onions and 4 cloves of garlic and cook until soft. Add 500g lean mince, some chopped carrots, peas and tomato and cook for 25 or so minutes. While cooking add 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Add herbs like origanum, thyme and rosemary. Put the lid on while cooking so the natural juices are sealed in. So simple and so tasty and minus all the calories from sauce AND very importantly, minus all the horrible added chemicals and preservatives so often found in condiments. Serve with brown rice and a salad (lettuce, tomato, carrots, celery, green pepper, cucumber).

This leads me to the question: Are we just dunking more and more condiments on our foods because we actually don't know how to make them taste better?

Perhaps we are just bored with our hum-drum meals? If you want to create a more interesting salad, try some of my favourite options:

1) Pear/strawberry/apple, pecan nut and blue cheese salad

Deliciously fresh and so simple. Place a whole lot of lettuce and whatever leaves you want in a salad bowl. Slice up some apple or pear or strawberries (anything sweet) and place on the top. Sprinkle some pecan nuts in the salad. Grate and add shavings of blue cheese on top. The intense savoury flavour of the soft blue cheese, with the sweetness of the fruit, combined with the crunchy wholeness of the nuts = one amazing salad that will impress everyone!