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Pass the (Low Carb) Catsup, Please

If you are on a reduced-carbohydrates diet like Atkins, South Beach, or the Zone, you may find to your surprise that the food and drinks you used to take for granted and consumed in copious amounts may now be off limits. This includes seemingly innocuous products like condiments and salad dressing. But with the increasing popularity of controlled carbohydrate diets, food manufacturers have introduced products suitable for the market. One example is low carb catsup.

Traditional catsup is made from ripe tomatoes, and sweeteners like corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. And therein lies the problem. These sweeteners have a very high sugar content, which plays a big role in stimulating insulin production, which in turn causes us to feel hungry more often and encourages our body to convert sugar to fat. Low carb catsup, on the other hand, like other low carb condiments, use artificial sweeteners like Splenda instead of corn syrup.

You can make your own reduced-carb catsup if you like; there are numerous recipes available both on the Internet and in cookbooks to help you get started. A typical recipe would call for tomato paste, water, salt, vinegar, and an artificial sweetener. There’s no cooking involved; all you have to do is mix the ingredients and voila! You’ve just made one of the most popular low carb condiments.

Of course, if you don’t have the time to make one from scratch or if you’re more inclined to buy a ready-made product, then that’s fine. Various brands of these low carb condiments are readily available in supermarkets or on many web sites. Enjoying particular fame is Heinz’s One Carb Ketchup. As the name states, there is only one gram of carbohydrates per serving of this popular catsup brand. It’s one of the most suitable low carb condiments for carb-limited dishes like fried chicken and pork chops. There are many other limited-carb ketchup brands on the market, including: Steel’s Sugar Free Ketchup, Walden Farms Calorie, Carb and Sugar Free Ketchup, Westbrae Carb Fit Ketchup, Jok n’ Al, Keto Ketchup, Carb Options’ Low Calorie Catsup, and a line of catsup products from World’s Real.

Whether you’re serving barbecues or simply a home-fried meal, low carb catsup is available as a suitable condiment that sacrifices nothing but the sugar and carbohydrates. Just make sure you don’t resort to dipping French fries in it!