Want to lose weight? The hidden calories in ketchup, mayo, hot sauce and other condiments revealed
Sauces like ketchup and mayo make a meal, but beware your serving size... the calories add up fast
LOSING weight is about changing lifestyle habits.
An obvious place to start is by overhauling what you’re eating for your three main meals, and then making sure the snacks in between are balanced and nutrient-dense.
But what if you’re doing that and still not seeing much progress? Well, it could be your choice of condiment that’s to blame.
If you’re having a balanced meal but it’s absolutely drowned in mayo, the chances are that you’re consuming hundreds of calories without really realising it.
, Registered Associate Nutritionist at told The Sun: “Adding condiments to food can sometimes be the ‘make or break’ in regards to the meals flavour.
“However, some condiments contain a lot of added sugar and some people may be mindful of this and therefore seek alternatives to mix up their sauces.
“Simply adding a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling some chilli flakes can be a great flavoursome addition to a dish. Olive oil is also an essential fat that helps with the absorption of nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E and K so it also add a little extra nutrition.”
But Sophie said that having a little of what you fancy is important.
“Whilst it is true some condiments may be high in sugar, it is important to remember that all foods can be enjoyed in moderation and labelling foods ‘good’ or ‘bad’ may be unhelpful.”
The issue is that most of us probably consume way over the recommended servings. Most condiments are supposed to be eaten in 15g portions – roughly 3.5 teaspoons – which isn’t a lot when you consider how much ketchup we pour over our chips.
So, in order to help you make healthy, balanced decisions, here’s how many calories are in your favourite condiments:
Tomato ketchup: 20kcals per serving
4.1g sugar per tablespoon
0.3g salt
The recipe for Heinz tomato ketchup is dead simple – it’s just tomatoes, vinegar, salt, spice, herb extracts and…a tonne of sugar.
There’s actually a lot of tomato in their ketchup. It takes 148g to make 100g of ketchup so there’s quite a lot of goodness in there, it’s just that 23 per cent of each serving is sugar. One tablespoon contains around 4g of free sugars; we’re supposed to have no more than 25g per day.
You can buy no added sugar versions, which uses more tomato and less sugar (usually up to 50 per cent less) – but also contains more artificial sweeteners and chemicals.
Interestingly, McDonald’s own ketchup packets only contain 15kcals per serving.
You could make your own, of course. Jamie Oliver has a recipe which claims to contain just 9kcals per serving, and looks pretty simple. You can find it .
Brown sauce: 15kcals
3.5g sugar per tablespoon
0.2g salt
Ahh, HP sauce. No fry-up is complete without it. It’s slightly more complicated than ketchup, but it does have the same base – tomatoes and vinegar. It also has dates, rye flour, tamarind, glucose-fructose syrup (sugar) and sugar.
Those two types of sweetener, as well as the naturally occurring sugars from the fruit, weigh in at 3.5g per serving.
BBQ Sauce: 20kcals
3.8g sugar per 15g
0.2g salt
Again, very similar to the above sauces, BBQ sauce has the same base of tomatoes and vinegar, and it also contains three types of sugar (glucose-fructose syrup, molasses, sugar) as well as spices.
You could make your own pretty simply by blending together tomatoes, vinegar, a bit of stevia or brown sugar and paprika.
Mayonnaise: 108kcals
11.8g of fat per 15g
0.2g of sugar
Yes, it’s much more calorific than other condiments but it’s not necessarily unhealthy if you actually stick to one tablespoon.
And unlike many other diet foods, low-fat mayo is actually a healthier choice; while many diet foods up the sugar content to make up for the lack of fat, Hellman’s low-fat dressing contains just 15kcals per serving as well as less than 1g of sugar.
Worcester Sauce: 5kcals
0.9g sugar per 5ml
0.1g salt
Lea & Perrins claims that a serving is just 5ml which is almost nothing. If you stick to that, the calorie and sugar content is minimal.
Sweet chilli sauce 35kcals
5.6g sugar per 15g
0.6g salt
0.1g fat
By far the most sugary, sweet chilli sauce is basically a red chilli and garlic sugar syrup.
Blue Dragon Light, however, contains 35 per cent less sugar than the original. But what it makes up the rest of the sweetness (it still contains two types of sugar) with sucralose.
Mustard 10kcals
0.7g fat per 5g
0.7g sugar
0.47g salt
Mustard is incredibly flavoursome but doesn’t really contain much sugar, fat or salt – and the chances of you eating enough of it to make a difference are pretty minimal.
Hot pepper sauce 15kcals
1g of sugar per tsp
100mg of salt
Sriracha contains chilli, sugar, salt, garlic, vinegar and various chemicals. It’s not too bad and we know that consuming hot things can help to boost metabolism.
Nutritionist Sarah Flower previously told The Sun that you can tap into thermogenesis (which increases your body’s overall calorie burn) naturally by “eating foods with chilli added which continues to have a thermogenic effect for several hours after you have eaten”.
“This is due to the capsaicin found in chilli, which is responsible for the ‘hot’ effect.
“Capsaicin also has an appetite suppressant quality, making it a perfect addition to your weight loss journey either in food or supplement form.”
Salad cream 44kcals
3.6g fat per 15g
2.6g sugar
0.3g salt
Salad cream is basically just tangy mayo, so it’s no real surprise that it packs a punch in both the calorie and fat department.
But it also contains quite a lot of sugar – so if you’re smothering your salad in the stuff, it’s probably not going to still be the “light” meal or side dish it would otherwise be.
Malt vinegar 3kcals
0g fat
0g sugar per tbsp
Vinegar is the lowest calorie condiment out there and it’s great because it’s got such a punchy flavour.
Balsamic vinegar 14kcals
2.4g sugar per tbsp
0.3g salt
Balsamic is a lot more sugary than regular vinegar because it’s all gloopy and delicious.
But you tend to use Balsamic as a drizzle or something added to olive oil for dipping – so again, it’s only really to add a little flavour rather than a full-on sauce.
Olive oil 135kcals
15g fat per 15g
0g sugar
Olive oil contains the most fat of all the regular condiments, but only 2.1g of those are saturated.
There’s been some evidence to suggest that around 23g of the stuff a day may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease due to the amount of monounsaturated fat in olive oil.
It also contains lots of other fatty acids, vitamins E, K and tonnes of powerful antioxidants.
So this is proof that calories and fat content aren’t necessarily indicative of how healthy a food is.
Olive oil is undoubtedly healthy and as long as you don’t go totally drowning your food in the stuff, you’re going to be getting way more benefit than harm from eating it.
TL;DR condidments are fine – as long as you stick to the recommended servings. If you are struggling to lose weight but love things like mayo and BBQ sauce, try to use a teaspoon to measure out portions.
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