On a diet? Condiments to avoid...

Ketchup - usually pumped full of sugar, sodium and high fructose

Ranch - usually contains buttermilk and mayonnaise, which makes it high in calories and fat. The average serving ranch contains about 140 calories and 14 grams of fat.

Barbecue sauce - this is a less healthier version of ketchup with even more sugar and high fructose. In addition, contains less tomatoes, which by themselves are healthy.

Mayonnaise - packed with saturated fat, and the primary ingredient in most mayonnaise is refined soybean oil which has no nutritional value.

Salad dressing - most salad dressings are packed full of saturated fat and/or high fructose corn syrup, and processed soybean oil. Beware of "fat free" claims as they can be misleading and contain high fructose corn syrup. In addition, are stripped of some healthy fats. Not all fats are bad fats.

Maple syrup - sugar free or low sugar syrups only mean that the level of high fructose corn syrup has exponentially increased. If you must have syrup, search out pure maple syrup. Avoid synthetic syrups which are common in restaurants and on store shelves.

Cocktail sauce - usually contains both ketchup and horseradish, both of which are not particularly healthy. More than half of the calories come from sugar.

Jelly & Jam - most store bought jellies and Jams are loaded with sugar. Beware of "sugar free"  claims,  as that just means that natural sugars have been replaced by high fructose corn syrup.

Honey mustard - mustard by itself is one of the healthiest condiments you can ingest. The average two tablespoon serving of honey mustard has roughly 120 calories and 11 grams of fat. Compare that to regular mustard of the same serving which roughly 5 calories and 0 grams of fat.

James M., NSCA CPT