Saucing it up? Know your sauce

Sauces are a great way to introduce new flavor and aroma to food, besides making the cooking process incredibly easier. But how healthy are these sauce?

There is a plethora of sauce and condiments that are available in the hypermarket store! Well, not all sauce is good..and not all are bad either! But then, how do you know which sauce is good and which one is bad.

Instead of telling you which is bad and which is good, we are rather going to teach you how to rate the sauce or condiments yourself, so that you can make an educated decision about buying/using them

We shall rate sauce across 4 parameters –

1. Total Calories
2. Added Sugar
3. Transfat
4. Sodium Content

Lower the total calories, sugar content, trans-fat and sodium, healthier the sauce is!

Many people often do not account for the calories in the sauces and condiments, as they feel they do not add on many calories. However, sauces such as mayonnaise are super high in calories – thanks to its fat content. 1 tablespoon of mayo is roughly 100 calories (1 normal dosa calories)

Yet another not-so-healthy ingredient in sauces, and especially in processed food is the sodium. Sodium is added to processed food to prevent microbial growth, bring in better texture and taste, and also to reduce spoilage and give better shelf-life. Sodium can increase blood pressure, resulting in heart ailments

Transfat or hydrogenated vegetable oil are also added into processed food to bring better texture and increase the shelf life. However, they can increase bad cholesterol and reduce good cholesterol levels in the body.

Sauces such as Mayonnaise (oil, egg yolk, and vinegar), Guacamole (Avocado, garlic, lemon), etc are very high in calories. However, Guacamole (made at home) is relatively healthier due to the type of fat it contains – monounsaturated fat. Besides, packaged Mayonnaise bought from outside is also heavily processed and contains high levels of sodium

Extra sugar is added into, most of the sauces such as tomato ketchup. Though soy-sauce is very low in calories and contains hardly any sugar or trans fat, it is very high in sodium

Hummus (mashed chickpeas, tahini, garlic with lemon) is often a healthier option with lesser calories and low sodium, sugar, and transfat content.

In a nutshell – The ‘healthy’ quotient of the sauce you buy may vary depending on the type of sauce and the brand that you are buying. Check for the above mentioned 4 contents and decide for yourself!