The Benefits of Replacing Commercial Sauces with Spices and Condiments
Eating a healthy diet doesn’t mean eliminating flavor and being confined to eating boiled vegetables and steamed chicken. We can still add flavor and color to our meals while keeping them healthy and delicious. The best way to do this is to replace commercial sauces with spices and condiments.
To replace salt, commercial sauces, and sugar, we can use an incredibly varied range of spices and condiments. These natural products not only give flavor, color, and aroma, they also contribute with their nutritional properties.
Why should we replace commercial sauces with spices and condiments?
Preservatives are chemicals used for preserving foods. Some of these include monosodium glutamate, nitrite, and sodium nitrate. These, along with other additives and dyes are harmful to our health.
These types of products can cause and potentiate chronic diseases. For example, when nitrite and sodium nitrate mix with gastric juices and enzymes, they can become carcinogenic agents.
Commercial sauces generally contain preservatives, dyes, and other chemical additives. They also contain high amounts of sugar and salt, which are elements that encourage the onset of obesity and diabetes.
The benefits of using spices and condiments
- Cayenne pepper and turmeric are used in dishes, such as soups, stews, and salads. Among their beneficial properties are their ability to influence the body’s metabolism and help it burn fat effectively and naturally.
- Spices reduce the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood. This has many beneficial implications for the body. They reduce inflammation and pain associated with arthritis and help strengthen the immune system.
- We can’t forget pepper when it comes to replacing commercial sauces with spices and condiments. It’s ideal for legumes, vegetable dishes, fish and meat. It is also an antioxidant, antibacterial and helps to promote digestion.
- The mustard seed and its wonderful flavor will go perfectly with salad dressings, mayonnaise, and sauces. It’s also useful against skin and hair conditions, such as psoriasis and dermatitis.
- Horseradish is a food with high nutritional value. It’s full of vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C, folic acid, potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and manganese, among others. It goes best with salads, sandwiches, and hamburgers. Furthermore, horseradish lowers the blood pressure and relieves respiratory ailments.
- Cumin is the perfect accompaniment to a meat and legume stew. It helps the body detoxify, prevents the accumulation of body fat and aids in the digestive processes.
- Garlic is a natural antibiotic commonly eaten raw in salads to improve the circulatory system. It is perfect for adding an intense flavor to your sauces.
- Ginger is a natural antioxidant. It’s excellent for reducing the harmful effects of free radicals in the body and is used not only in stews and soups but also in infusions.
Homemade spice sauces and condiments
Once we know what the nutritional and medicinal properties of spices and condiments are, we can experiment by combining textures and flavors.
We often combine ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard in our homes. We use them in different dishes and with different foods.
By making our own sauces at home, we enjoy two benefits. Firstly, we replace commercial sauces with spices and condiments, and secondly, we benefit from the nutritional properties of spices and condiments.
Ketchup
It’s effortless to make! Start by cooking only natural ingredients: tomatoes, garlic, honey, lemon, pepper, and ground cloves. Cook this over a low heat for about 50 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Put the resulting mixture in a blender or grinder to give it a smoother texture, and store in a glass container.
Mustard
To make healthy homemade mustard, mix ground mustard seeds, water, lemon zest and vinegar in a bowl. Continue mixing until you have a homogeneous paste.
Mayonnaise
Because of its high vitamin E, omega 6 and antioxidant content, homemade mayonnaise is considered a healthy fat. To make it we need: eggs, lemon, mustard, pepper, and oil. With a blender, mix the ingredients, except for the oil, which we must incorporate slowly until the sauce emulsifies.
