Ketchup: calories, useful properties and contraindications

Scarlet and juicy ketchup is a sauce that is popular around the world. Not only Europeans and Americans love the spicy taste of the product. The sauce is also widely used by the peoples of Asian and Eastern countries, as it may well replace some gravy and give a special spiciness to meat and fish dishes.

What is Ketchup

Ketchup is a versatile tomato sauce that goes with almost any dish. The culinary additive can be prepared according to different recipes and have a variety of flavors depending on the ingredients of the composition. Sauce from ripe tomatoes is widely used as a flavor additive to pasta, potatoes, sausages, meat and fish. Almost every European family's refrigerator is sure to have a bottle of red spicy ketchup.

The original sauce was first invented in the 17th century by the Chinese. However, at that ancient time there were no tomatoes in the gravy at all. The product included spicy herbs, garlic, and a mixture of chopped anchovies and mushrooms. In taverns, the luscious taste of the sauce was diluted with red wine. The additive was extremely popular, so the recipe for this versatile sauce soon spread beyond the borders of China.

The cooks of the best restaurants never stopped experimenting with this tasty gravy and as the result the recipe of ketchup changed drastically. The sauce began to resemble an Aztec sauce, with the addition of chili peppers and ripe fleshy tomatoes. The vegetable additives changed and various aromatic spices, herbs and roots were added. In those days, this exquisitely flavored sauce was only served in expensive restaurants. It was not available to the poor.

The boom of the product came in the 20th century. The sauce began to be used to make pizza, the product served as an excellent accompaniment to pasta, meat, fish, and poultry. Hamburgers and sandwiches with ketchup appeared. Red hot peppers, pickles, mushrooms, and apples were added to the sauce to spice it up.

In today's supermarkets there is a huge selection of different types of ketchup. Manufacturers make it according to various recipes, including particularly unique ones. Many housewives enjoy making ketchup at home. Homemade sauce does not include harmful stabilizers and thickeners and is undoubtedly healthier.

Types

There are spicy varieties and non-spicy varieties. Ketchups differ from each other and in the composition of the ingredients. What kind to give their preference depends only on personal culinary preferences. However, when choosing this product, you should always consider your age and health peculiarities. The use of ketchup is forbidden for many diseases.

There are several types of sauce in cooking:

• tomato sauce;
• for national dishes;
• shish kebab;
• spicy;
• spicy with chili;
• with additives (apple, sweet pepper, onion, herbs, olives).

There are "Extra" and "Premium" sauces on store shelves. It should be noted that only 40% of ingredients in these products are natural, the remaining 60% are various thickeners and flavor enhancers, dry ingredients and additives. There are ketchups of higher category and economy class - in the latter products the percentage of natural raw materials is minimal. Of course, such sauces are not very healthy and have little nutritional value.

What is the difference between ketchup and tomato paste

Tomato paste is a boiled mixture of tomatoes without additional additives. In many recipes, it is successfully replaced by tomato ketchup. The product has a richer pronounced taste, different composition of ingredients.

Tomato paste is the main component of the sauce. All kinds of spices enhance its flavor. Tomato paste is used in cooking to make a tasty gravy. Ketchup is a ready-made sauce that is served with a dish.

Composition and calories

The composition of traditional sauce includes:

• ripe tomatoes;
• starch;
• salt;
• water;
• sugar
• acetic acid;
• garlic;
• onions;
• chili pepper;
• preservatives;
• flavorings;
• thickening additives.

The key ingredients in the sauce are hot and spicy spices. There are special varieties of the product with the inclusion of unique herbs and spices. Industrial product contains preservatives and a variety of stabilizers. In some types of ketchup the concentration of additional substances is excessively high. Consumers of the product should pay special attention to this fact.

The caloric value of the sauce is about 97 kcal.

The energy value of 100 g of the product is:

• 1.75 g of proteins;
• 24.9 g carbohydrates;
• 0.35 g of fats.

What is ketchup good for?

General benefits

The product contains useful substances and compounds that have a beneficial effect in the human body:

• vitamins PP, group B, K, C;
• magnesium;
• potassium;
• iron;
• phosphorus;
• calcium;
• sucrose;
• fructose;
• lycopene;
• tyramine;
• serotonin.

During the primary heat treatment, the useful substances are practically not destroyed and are completely absorbed into the human body when ketchup is consumed.

The sauce is extremely useful in the development of cardiovascular disease. The product improves blood circulation and stabilizes vascular function. Lycopene present in ketchup strengthens vascular walls and stabilizes cholesterol metabolism.

The substance also has a favorable effect on intestinal peristalsis and improves digestion. Ketchup normalizes the gastrointestinal tract, strengthens the immune system and reduces the risk of tumor development.

The sauce contains serotonin, the well-known happiness hormone. That is why ketchup is extremely useful for the development of depression and emotional imbalance. It is worth periodically adding ketchup to the diet of those who suffer from insomnia or experience stress.

For women

The basis of ketchup are tomatoes. They are known to be rich in carotene. This substance is a powerful natural antioxidant. The main task of carotene is the delivery of retinol to the human body. Carotene also protects cells from free radicals and prevents the development of atherosclerosis. Vitamin A:

• Lowers cholesterol levels;
• prevents the development of cardiovascular disease;
• Improves skin condition;
• strengthens hair follicles;
• triggers the process of regeneration;
• Inhibits the natural aging;
• Improves vision.

Substances contained in the product stabilize childbearing function, strengthen female health, normalize microflora of mucous membranes. However, it is worth noting that a woman should use only the highest quality sauce. Such a product is rich in useful natural substances and contains few additives.

Ketchup contains a lot of phosphorus and potassium. These substances play an important role in the functioning of all body systems. Potassium salts regulate the balance of water, therefore contribute to the removal of excess fluid, eliminate swelling of the limbs, improve facial tone and skin elasticity. Potassium helps to stabilize heart function, improve nervous system function, and normalize blood pressure.

The product contains a large amount of useful lycopene. The substance is a natural antioxidant, helps prevent cancer, removes harmful cholesterol, prevents its deposition on the walls of blood vessels. The concentration of the substance increases when ketchup is heated. Heat-treated tomatoes contain more useful lycopene than fresh tomatoes.

Lycopene in ketchup prevents the development of cataracts and improves visual acuity. The substance helps in cleansing the body of toxins, fungal infections and thrush.

For men

The composition of ketchup is extremely useful for men. The natural substances contained in tomatoes prevent prostate cancer, normalize the function of the prostate gland, urination. In the male body, the product has an anti-inflammatory effect, and also triggers the necessary regenerating processes.

Lycopene strengthens the immune system, slows down natural aging, and helps actively fight infections. In reasonable amounts ketchup should certainly be present in the diet of a man. The product improves circulation, helps to survive heavy physical exertion, restores strength after a hard day's work.

Vitamins and other substances contained in the product:

• regulate the immune system;
• Improve performance;
• stabilize brain activity;
• heal wounds;
• improve spinal cord function;
• strengthen bones and ligaments.

Men who consume ketchup do not experience problems with potency, because the product contains substances that increase blood flow to the genitals and regulate their functions. Periodic inclusion of sauce in the menu helps enhance sexual desire because ketchup contains many different spices and different types of peppers that are natural aphrodisiacs.

When pregnant

There is an opinion that you should not abuse ketchup during pregnancy. This is partly true - the excessive use of sauce can serve a bad service and has a negative impact on the pancreas. However, in this matter, the future mother should adhere to some recommendations:

1. Consume only non-spicy types of sauce.
2. Eat a minimum amount of ketchup no more than once every 1-2 weeks.
3. Do not combine the sauce with fatty calorie foods - fried potatoes, etc.

Ketchup improves cell metabolism and metabolism, so it can be eaten by future mothers, but in small quantities and quite rarely. Abuse of any product will not lead to anything good, so treat your diet sensibly.

When breastfeeding

Pediatricians and attending physicians recommend eliminating ketchup from your diet during lactation altogether. Consumption of ketchup can cause an infant:

• allergies;
• Digestive disorders;
• colic;
• pain and cramps in the tummy;
• insomnia;
• agitation.

To avoid these problems, a breastfeeding mother should carefully weigh the risks and benefits of all the foods she eats. Lactation is not a time to experiment with foods. It is better to abstain from spicy sauces for a while, and return to your favorite ketchup after breastfeeding ends.

For babies

For small babies, ketchup is contraindicated - the sauce can cause an allergic reaction, constipation, diarrhea, flatulence, abdominal pain. However, children over the age of 8 years, parents can give a minimal amount of non-spicy ketchup to try.

Do not forget that ketchup contains various thickeners, coloring agents, stabilizers. Their excessive amount is extremely harmful to the child's body. Ketchup is not recommended for use in children's food. In children, the product may cause unwanted reactions from the gastrointestinal tract, the development of pancreatitis and allergies.

Is it possible to eat ketchup while losing weight?

A question that worries many people - is it possible to use sauce when losing weight? Tomato puree, which is the basis of the product, is low-calorie. However, when following the diet, it is worth considering that many unscrupulous manufacturers change the recipe of the sauce and add a lot of different additives to its composition. Various thickeners, sweeteners and flavorings are harmful to health and do not contribute to metabolism. As a result, eating ketchup can do a disservice to your diet.

Ketchup can provoke fat deposition and extra pounds. A strict diet necessarily excludes the use of any sauces and gravy.

Ketchup in medicine

Doctors accurately determine the risks of complications of chronic diseases when consuming ketchup. Only in minimal quantities and when eaten infrequently, the product can be useful. In special cases, the sauce must be abandoned forever.

In diabetics.

Tomato sauce contains a lot of sugars and starch that is harmful for diabetics. Many manufacturers add a sufficient amount of sugar to the product to give a special sweetness to the sauce.

A person with diabetes should consume a minimum of 80 grams of sugar per day. It is important to consider the consumption of products containing sucrose and fructose. Doctors strongly discourage the inclusion of any kind of ketchup in the menu of a diabetic. The consequences of the decision to try the sauce can be very negative. If you do not want to worsen your well-being, you should forget about tomato sauce.

Important: The glycemic index of ketchup is 15 units.

Pancreatitis

Pancreatitis is a chronic or acute inflammation of the pancreas. With this disease, it is required to follow a strict diet, so as not to provoke an exacerbation. Normally, the gland produces the necessary amount of important enzymes that contribute to digestion. When the gland is inflamed, the synthesis of enzymes is disturbed, and organic tissues become inflamed. This condition excludes the consumption of any spicy foods, canned foods, fried and fatty foods.

Consumption of ketchup is strictly forbidden even in stable remission of pancreatitis. The sauce can provoke a strong exacerbation, as a result of which the lover of ketchup will go to the hospital.

Gastritis

A healthy, proper diet is required for all patients suffering from gastritis. The use of tomato sauce is prohibited in the remission of gastritis, as well as in the exacerbation. Such a ban is due to the fact that the composition of the product includes substances that cause severe irritation of the gastric mucosa. As a result, a few spoonfuls of sauce provoke an exacerbation of the disease.

Ketchup in general is contraindicated in any diseases of the epigastric region. Even relatively mild sauce causes dyspepsia, heartburn, abdominal pain and cramps. It is not worth worsening your well-being for the sake of wanting to try a spoonful of ketchup.

With gastritis, it is important to follow a discharge diet. In some cases, therapeutic fasting or taking mucous porridge to heal the inflamed areas of the digestive organ is indicated. Ketchup increases the secretion of gastric juice, which literally corrodes the inflamed mucosa.

In Gout.

Following a proper diet is an important factor in the treatment of gout. Consumption of the wrong foods provokes increased deposition of salts and the occurrence of pain. To eliminate gout attacks, it is important to help the body flush out excess salts and acids.

Following a gout diet provides:

• normalization of weight;
• Exclusion of painful attacks;
• Reducing the level of uric acid in the blood;
• improvement of cell sensitivity.

In gout, it is important to avoid foods that contain large amounts of purines, because these substances contribute to an increase in the level of uric acid in the blood. This factor leads to aggravation of gout and worsening of health.

Ketchup is not a useful product for this disease. A diet with gout should not include store-bought sauces with a lot of fructose. Ketchup from the patient's diet is excluded completely.

Harms and contraindications

Ketchup is contraindicated in acute exacerbations of various chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and in children. Sauce should not be consumed by people who suffer from:

• metabolic disorders;
• obesity;
• diabetes;
• hypertension;
• edemas.

With great caution, the product in a minimum amount can be consumed with liver and kidney disease, but in cases of exacerbation of the ailment, the sauce is contraindicated.

How to choose and store

Usually the product is sold in bags with a special dispenser or in plastic bottles. GOST divides ketchup into several categories:

• economy class;
• extra;
• higher category;
• I category;
• II category.

The highest class product contains 30% of natural tomato raw materials, extra class - 15%. When choosing a product it is important to be guided by the category of sauce and its composition. It is imperative that when buying ketchup you should carefully study the production label. According to GOST regulations ketchup must contain 60-85% of water.

It is indispensable to look at the date of manufacture of ketchup. Shelf life is important for any product, including sauce. Sterilized product is stored longer.

It is worth paying attention to the shade of tomato sauce. Ideally, the product should have a reddish rich color. A brown color indicates the addition of fruit and vegetable purees. The pinkish rich color of the paste indicates that the manufacturer has added a lot of dyes.

Sterilized ketchup is stored in a closed container for about 2 years. A glass jar can be left for a whole year, and the sauce in a plastic bottle is stored for no more than six months. Adding preservatives allows you to store ketchup at room temperature - from 0 to +25 degrees. Many consumers store the sauce on the refrigerator shelf. The product does not lose its flavor qualities.

How to make ketchup at home

Standard variant

An excellent alternative to the purchased product will be a sauce, cooked at home according to a proven recipe. To prepare the standard version of tomato sauce, you will need:

• 2.5 kg of ripe tomatoes;
• 0.5 cup sugar;
• ½ tbsp. salt;
• 20 peas of black pepper;
• 10 peas coriander;
• 2 cloves;
• 2 tbsp. 9% vinegar.

Tomatoes should be picked, washed and remove the stalks. For the sauce, leave the fleshy part of the fruit, which should be cut into pieces with a knife. Place the tomato pulp in a saucepan and heat on the stove for 20 minutes. During this time, the tomatoes will be cooked and have a homogeneous consistency.

Then rub the tomato sauce through a sieve to remove the seeds. Boil the resulting tomato juice until thick by evaporating the excess liquid. Cook the sauce for at least an hour, stirring constantly with a spoon.

When the mass thickens, add all the spices, as follows: coriander peas and pepper put into a cloth baggie, tie it and drop it into a pan with sauce. At the end of cooking, take out the bag and throw it away. At the end of cooking, salt the sauce, pour sugar into it and carefully pour in the bite.

Ketchup hot pour into bottles and jars, close tightly and store for a long time in the refrigerator after the product has cooled completely.

With basil and lemon

To prepare the sauce, take the following components:

• 2 kg of ripe tomatoes;
• 8 cloves of garlic;
• 140 grams of sugar;
• bunch of basil;
• 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar;
• 50 g salt;
• 1 lemon;
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste;
• 0.5 kg of onions;
• vegetable oil for frying.

Ketchup becomes original in taste and acquires a special piquancy thanks to the mixture of spices. It is necessary to take:

• 0.5 tsp. ground black pepper;
• 1 tsp. dried basil;
• 1 tsp. paprika;
• 0.5 tsp. cloves;
• 0.5 tsp. nutmeg;
• A pinch of ground coriander;
• 0.5 tsp. hot red pepper.

Start preparing the sauce by peeling and slicing the onion. Coarsely chop the vegetable. Also peel the garlic. In a saucepan with a thick bottom, pour the vegetable oil, heat it and pour the onions in a bowl. Add the garlic and sugar at once. Stir the ingredients thoroughly.

When cooking, it is important to make sure that the sugar does not crystallize. When the onions are soft, add the chopped tomatoes. Bring the mixture to the boil, stirring all the time. It is important that the mass does not stick, so if necessary, you need to reduce the heat of the burner.

When heated, the tomatoes will run out of juice. In a separate bowl, mix together the lemon juice and a small amount of balsamic vinegar. Pour the mixture into the tomatoes and stir well.

Then add a bit more salt, stirring it over and over again. Add the aromatic basil leaves stripped from their stems. After 10 minutes, take it out and throw it away. It will simply give its flavor and aroma to the tomato mass.

Carefully pour all the above spices. Thoroughly stir the mass and boil it until thick. Mince the sauce into a paste with a blender. Then rub the mass through a sieve, separate the crusts and seeds of tomatoes.

Ketchup after all the action acquires a smooth consistency without any lumps and foreign impurities. The resulting tomato puree again put on the fire, heat it well and hot spread in sterilized jars. Close tightly with lids. Ketchup is ready. Wait for the product to cool completely and put the jars on the refrigerator shelf for storage.

Ketchup without vinegar in the multicooker

To make the sauce take:

• 2 kg of fleshy ripe tomatoes;
• 500g sweet bell peppers;
• 450 grams of onions;
• 1 tbsp. dry mustard;
• 2 pieces of hot pepper;
• 200 g of sugar;
• 2 tbsp. salt;
• 15 ml of vegetable oil.

From the tomatoes carefully cut out the stalk. Dice tomatoes, chop in a blender or pass through a meat grinder. Also chop and grind a mixture of peppers, onions. In the resulting puree add mustard, it will give the sauce the necessary spicy taste and a little spice.

Pour sugar, salt and vegetable oil in the mass. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly and transfer the resulting mass to the multicooker. Set the timer for 45 minutes in baking mode. After cooking the mass is dense and thick. During cooking, make sure that the tomatoes do not stick, periodically opening the lid of the multicooker and stirring. Rub the ready hot mixture through a sieve, ridding the mass of crusts and seeds.

Rub the mass again in the multicooker to boil for about 40 minutes. During this period, all the excess liquid evaporates. To store for the winter, put the hot paste in sterilized jars, close with lids, cool and put in the cold.

Can I eat ketchup during Lent?

Many people strictly observe Lent, so they wonder if it is possible to use ketchup during this period? During Lent, preference is given to boiled products or steamed dishes. Vegetables become the basis of nutrition. Vegetables can be stewed, boiled or baked.

It is useful to eat peas, corn, beets, potatoes, and other plant foods. Meat and fish, baked goods, dairy products, white bread, and eggs are excluded from the diet. Tomatoes are plant foods, and ready-made ketchup contains no protein products.

However, sour and spicy foods should not be eaten during Lent. Ketchups based on vinegar, hot spices and spices should not be eaten during Lent. An alternative can be a homemade tomato sauce without the presence in the composition of hot spices, peppers and vinegar.

Ketchup Facts

1. Many ketchup lovers may not know that the largest sauce bottle is in Illinois. The giant cistern, shaped like a bottle, holds nearly 500 liters of liquid. The tank is the tip-embellishment of a 50-meter-tall water tower that supplies water to the shops of a ketchup factory. The ketchup bottle of immense size is the main tourist attraction of the town. Various festivals are often held around it.
2. The second interesting fact about ketchup strikes and amazes at the same time. The Scottish chef Domenico Crolla draws world celebrities on his pizzas with ketchup. Kate Middleton, Rihanna, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Marilyn Monroe have dabbled in similar portraits.
3. Despite the large selection of varieties of tomato sauce, many cooks like to experiment with the composition of their own ketchups. All kinds of ingredients are used - mushrooms, anchovies, apples and peppers. Universal ketchup will be able to prepare in their kitchen every housewife.

Photo of ketchup