Is Mayonnaise Good For Your Health?

For many years ketchup and barbecue sauce ruled as top condiments. But, the reign of both the sauces is over as the new condiment mayonnaise has knocked them off the top spot. Mayonnaise has become so popular that even street food stalls have started serving them with fried foods. But the question is whether mayonnaise is good for your health?

Medical experts claim that mayonnaise is unhealthy because of the fact that it adds to calories and fat and it can also become a hotbed for the bacteria to breed.

Before we reveal whether mayonnaise is good or bad for your health, we will first tell you how mayonnaise is made.

What Is Mayonnaise And How It Is Made?

Mayonnaise is a thick creamy dressing consisting of oil, combined with egg yolk, a dash of lemon juice or vinegar, salt and often a touch of mustard.

What Is The Nutritional Value Of Mayonnaise?

One cup of mayonnaise has about 1440 calories, 24 g saturated fat, and 160 g fat. 100 g of mayonnaise contains vitamins and minerals like 20 g of potassium, 635 mg of sodium, 1 g of protein, 42 mg of cholesterol, 1 per cent each of vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin D and iron.

It also contains vitamin E and K which promote skin and hair health.

Types Of Mayonnaise

1. Light mayonnaise - It contains one-third fewer calories than the regular version. 1 tbsp of light mayonnaise contains 45 calories, 4.5 g of fat and 0.5 g of saturated fat.

2. Reduced fat mayonnaise - It contains 25 per cent or lesser cholesterol and 2 g of saturated fat. 1 tbsp of reduced fat mayonnaise contains 25 calories.

3. Alternate oil based mayonnaise - Canola and olive oil are mostly used in making mayonnaise. However, some brands combine olive oil with other vegetable oils not to make the flavour too empowering.

4. Veg mayonnaise - This type of mayonnaise is eggless. It is made by combining mustard, water, sugar, salt, lemon juice or vinegar, oil and powdered milk.

Is Mayonnaise Healthy?

Mayonnaise doesn't go down well among fitness freaks and dieters due to its fat content. But, the fact is since mayonnaise is made with liquid oil it's not entirely made of saturated fat.

Olive oil, which is added in mayonnaise, has as much fat as regular mayonnaise and about 124 calories per tbsp. The most important thing is that the oil matters while making mayonnaise as it forms the base of the emulsion. Any kind of oil can be used while making mayonnaise.

Mayonnaise helps in absorbing nutrients better as vitamins like A, D, E and K are all fat-soluble which means that they need fat to be absorbed properly.

Consuming mayonnaise in large quantities can also increase the risk of heart disease and thus, leading to coronary artery disease. Also the presence of too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure, according to the University of Maryland Medical Centre.

Eggs could sometimes be contaminated Salmonella bacteria which is why mayonnaise manufacturers use frozen pasteurized eggs to produce mayonnaise. Salmonella is a bacterial infection which causes diarrhoea, fever and abdominal pain.

On the other hand, if it's a homemade mayonnaise, it should be kept refrigerated so that bacteria can be avoided.

If you feel that calories aren't a concern for you, enjoy eating mayonnaise every day but in moderation.

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