Is Ketchup Keto?
Is there any condiment more universally loved than a bottle of ketchup? This versatile sauce is particularly useful for dipping French fries, adorning a burger, and even as an ingredient in barbecue sauce. Ketchup is used so frequently that most people keep a big bottle of the beloved condiment on hand at all times–but is ketchup keto?
Before you start to slather ketchup onto your next lettuce-wrapped burger, here is what you need to know about whether it can kick you out of ketosis.
Is Ketchup Keto?
You may want to think twice before you reach for a bottle of ketchup in your kitchen. Once you start the keto diet, your use of this traditional condiment will be forever altered. Unfortunately, ketchup does not make it onto the menu if you want to keep your body in ketosis.
So why does it fail the test and what can you have instead?
The major reason that ketchup isn’t considered keto is because of its high sugar content (which impacts your carb count). According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the standard bottle of ketchup that you come across in a typical American restaurant will have about 26.8 grams of carbs in a 100-gram serving. [1]
Given that most people who adhere to keto want to try to stay under 50 grams of carbohydrates per day (and many people drop that number to just 20 or 30), this is an unsustainable indulgence. [2] Looking further at the data shows that ketchup contains about 22 grams of total sugars.
If you are lucky, a bottle of ketchup will just have pure sugar added to it for flavoring. However, many of the commercially available brands utilize high-fructose corn syrup to sweeten the sauce, which is highly processed and has more negative health effects than sugar does.
Do Keto-Friendly Ketchups Exist?
The good news is that you no longer have to completely eliminate your favorite condiment. Grocery stores are taking note of the keto trend, which appears to have lasting power due to its effectiveness at causing weight loss and improving many health conditions. As a result, you will now find bottles of keto-friendly ketchup at the store.
Some brands are coming up with totally sugar-free varieties of ketchup, while others use sugar substitutes to give you that sweet and tangy taste.
Both G. Hughes and Primal Kitchen have completely sugar-free ketchup varieties that you can find in many major grocery stores. The G. Hughes brand of ketchup has just one gram of net carbs per serving, while the Primal Kitchen brand has 2 grams of net carbs. [3] [4]
If you want something a little bit sweeter but want to steer clear of artificial sweeteners, Primal Kitchen also makes A Tad Sweet Ketchup, which is sweetened with honey for just two grams of net carbs per serving. [5]
Make Your Own Ketchup
Many people may still have a difficult time finding store-bought ketchup with no sugar. If your grocery store isn’t yet on board with the trend of keto and sugar-free sauces, you have other options.
Try whipping up a batch of sugar-free ketchup from the comfort of your own kitchen using just a handful of ingredients that you likely already have on hand. It takes about 30 minutes to make a batch of keto ketchup, and it will be good in an air-tight container for up to two weeks.
The only catch is that you’ll need a low-sugar tomato paste. As you might imagine, this is a core ingredient in everyone’s favorite tomato-based sauce. But like ketchup, tomato paste often has added sugar that can eliminate it from the keto diet. Always pay attention to the labels when shopping.
Staying Keto with Ketchup
While traditional ketchup may have too much sugar to keep you in ketosis, the good news is that you don’t necessarily have to eliminate ketchup from your diet altogether.
Whether you order sugar-free ketchup online, find it in your local grocery store, or whip up a batch of your own, these options won’t leave you feeling deprived of the condiment that pairs well with just about everything on the menu.
References
United States Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Ketchup, restaurant. FoodData Central. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/747693/nutrients
Shilpa, J., & Mohan, V. (2018). Ketogenic diets: Boon or bane?. The Indian journal of medical research, 148(3), 251–253. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_1666_18
Ketchup. G Hughes Sugar Free Sauce. (n.d.). https://www.ghughessugarfree.com/ketchup
Organic unsweetened ketchup. Primal Kitchen. (n.d.). https://www.primalkitchen.com/products/organic-unsweetened-ketchup
A tad sweet squeeze ketchup - sweetened with honey. Primal Kitchen. (n.d.-a). https://www.primalkitchen.com/products/a-tad-sweet-squeeze-ketchup-sweetened-with-honey
