Salsa, The Low Calorie Condiment

Another sneaky way people ingest calories without realizing is through their condiments. It's nice to add condiments to spice up a boring dish, but before you know it you might end up turning that healthy chicken breast into a calorie laden mess.

BBQ Sauce is one of the worst offenders because it contains so much sugar. One serving of most name brand sauces contains about 60 calories. Honey has the same problem, it's all sugar, and it runs at about 45 calories a serving. And mayonnaise, forget about it. That will easily add 110 calories to your meal per serving.

Ketchup isn't too bad at about 6 calories per packet, but I've seen people use 6 packets for a serving of french fries before. That kind of defeats the purpose. A serving of Brown or Yellow mustard will only add about 10-15 calories. Stay away from the honey mustard though, that can run up to 30 or more, depending on the brand.

What's the best condiment? Salsas and hot sauces have to be way up the list. Salsa is usually made from fresh, natural ingredients like tomatoes, onions, peppers and various other vegetables, herbs and sometimes even fruits. Since salsa is mostly just vegetables it is naturally low in fat and low in calories. On average a serving of salsa has around 10 calories, and it adds some spice to your foods.

In addition, many hot sauces are just as low in calories. As long as there is no added butter (like in buffalo wings) or sugar then it's very likely your hot sauce will have 0-5 calories per serving. Just make sure you always read the label. There are salsa manufacturers that add things like sugar to their product for no good reason. But you should be able to find a salsa in your local grocery store with 10 calories per serving or less.