Sauces and condiments can sabotage your diet if you are not careful. The four following foods are the most insidious for dieters. These foods are high in fat and calories. Three of them have little or no nutritional value at all.
Mayonnaise
This oil, vinegar and egg yolk mixture is a fluffy mass of fat and calories. There are 100 calories per serving. One tablespoon is considered a serving. The fat content of mayonnaise is complete. Every calorie in the ten grams of a one-tablespoon serving is pure fat.
When you think of mayonnaise your first thought is probably sandwiches. However, mayonnaise is one of those condiments that may creep into your diet without your realizing it. Something as nutritious and healthy as chicken can become high fat and cholesterol laden when it is incorporated into chicken salad–a dish that includes mounds of mayonnaise.
Ranch Dressing
This tangy dressing is a staple on appetizer menus as an accompaniment to chicken wings. Two tablespoons of ranch dressing have 150 calories. Depending on how hot you like your wings you could easily add 600 calories in the dipping sauce alone.
Two tablespoons of ranch dressing also have 16 grams of fat. Again, depending on whether you dip, dunk or slather your wings you can increase that fat count to 48 grams. Keep in mind that the daily advised amount of fat is 65 grams. This is based on a total calorie consumption of 2,000 calories a day.
Peanut Butter
The average amount of peanut butter used on a traditional peanut butter and jelly (PB & J) sandwich is two tablespoons. That means that each PB & J has ten grams of fat from the peanut butter alone.
According to the National Peanut Board, most kids will have eaten more than 1,000 PB & J’s before they are old enough to go to college. That converts to more than 10,000 grams of fat before the age of eighteen.
Butter
If you have scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, more than likely you use at least one tablespoon of butter on your toast. Many people also drop in another tablespoon of butter as they are scrambling their eggs. That adds up to to 200 calories in your breakfast from the butter alone.
Butter also has eleven grams of fat per tablespoon. A person who consumes 2,000 calories a day should keep her fat content below 65 grams. Going back to the breakfast example, you would have already consumed 22 fat grams (from the butter alone) or more than one-third of your daily allowance.
A serving of butter also has 33 mg of cholesterol. Because butter contains saturated fat that can make your LDL cholesterol rise. (LDL cholesterol is referred to as the “bad” cholesterol), the recommended amount of cholesterol consumption to lower your cholesterol level is 200 mg per day. The above breakfast gives you 66 grams of fat in one meal alone.
Fortunately there are lower fat and calorie versions of the above foods. However, do not let that give you a false sense of security. Even the lower fat and calorie versions should be consumed with common sense in mind. Portion control is and will always be your best dieting companion.
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