It's the condiments that can get you!

So you've cleaned up the diet. You only buy grass fed meat. You go to the farmers markets and get the freshest seasonal vegetables. You avoid all breads, pastas and cereals. But things still aren't quite right. You still have some gut irritation. The weight is not really falling off as quickly as you would like. There are still some inflammation issues. Maybe you have missed a key ingredient. What are you putting on your steak and vegies?

The other day I heard  one of the people trying out this Paleo thing for the first time say, "I'm not going to eat like this forever, I like Pepper Sauce on my steak." So I decided to have a bit of a look at exactly what goes in to a peppered sauce.  I choose to look at Masterfoods Cracked Pepper Finishing Sauce. Masterfoods is a popular brand found all over the country so I thought it would be one of the most commonly used. Here is a list of the ingredients.

Cracked Pepper Finishing Sauce Ingredients

Water, Thickener (Modified Cornstarch), Cream 5%, Red Wine, Onion, Brown Sugar, Food Acid (Gluconic), Salt, Glucose Syrup (from Wheat), Cracked Black Pepper 0.5%, Garlic, Yeast Extract, Natural Flavour, Colour (Caramel 150c), White Pepper 0.5%. Manufactured on equipment that processes peanuts.
 (Bold & Italics are mine)

Lets have a look at some of these ingredients a little more closely.

Gluconic Acid:

•  A naturally occuring acid found in some fruits, honey and Kombucha tea.
• Manufactured by oxidation of Glucose.
• used as a cleaning product to dissolve minneral deposits (seriously this stuff is designed to dissolve minerals!)
• Often labelled as E574 (acidity regulator)

Glucose Syrup:

• commonly made from cornstarch, but can be made from wheat, rice or potatoes.
• Used as a thickener.
• Doesn't elicit as large an Insulin response as pure glucose does, but still puts more insulin into the system.

Brown Sugar:

• usually produced by adding  cane molasses to completely refined white sugar crystals.
• Remember that Sugar is a disaccharide of Fructose and Glucose.

Modified Corn Starch:

• Starch = Carbohydrate = Insulin response .
• Some evidence of gut irritation properties.

So there we have a quick breakdown. In your yummy Pepper Sauce you have an industrial cleaner designed to dissolve mineral deposits (I'm not sure the effect this woould have on magnesium and Calcium levels - They are minerals), a nice hit of fructose from the sugar and enough insulin spiking agents in the glucose containing ingredients to ruin all your goals. Oh, and a nice does of gut irritation to go with it as well. And that's without even considering the dairy that can be found in the cream.


Sure, you may think I am being a little extreme. I mean it's not like you are pouring Pepper Sauce on all your meals. Well, I have a homework task for you. Have a look at the ingredients that can be found in your favourite condiment. Do some research on those ingredients. I'm sure you will begin to see that these things can be serious handbrakes to acheiving your health and wellness goals.

If all else fails; Remember, your paleolithic ancestors didn't have any condiments for their foods. And they were bigger, stronger, fitter, faster and more healthy than you or I. Maybe they had it right!