John Myers
Do something for your health with the mustard on the bratwurst – sounds too good to be true? In fact, the nutritional values of many mustard products are better than you might expect. In addition, research provides evidence that certain substances contained in mustard oils have various health-promoting effects.
Not all mustards are the same: the term refers both to the plants of the Sinapis genus and to the yellow or brown spice paste that we buy in tubes or jars and that is obtained from the seeds of the mustard plants. These mustard seeds, in turn, contain mustard oils, which are not only responsible for the pungent, sometimes stinging taste we love about mustard, but are also of interest to medicine and science.
Because: Mustard oils contain so-called mustard oil glycosides. These chemical compounds are not only found in the mustard plant, but also in plants such as horseradish and wasabi, radish, cress, or cabbage, and in medicinal plants such as nasturtium. There are over 100 different compositions of these mustard oil substances, all of which have a similar chemical structure.
Is mustard healthy? Many mustard oil glycosides are
Many of these mustard oil glycosides have been shown to be effective against certain pathogens. They are therefore used as herbal medicines, among other things, for the treatment and prophylaxis of respiratory and urinary tract infections because they can fight the corresponding bacteria and viruses. For this reason, preparations made from plants containing mustard oil have also been used in (natural) medicine – in some cases for centuries. Many of the plant substances also have an anti-inflammatory effect.
However, since most studies on the health-promoting effects of mustard oil glycosides were carried out on horseradish and nasturtium, not all findings can be directly transferred to the actual mustard plants – and thus our household mustard.
For sinigrin, the most important mustard oil glycoside in brown and black mustard (which is also found in high doses in horseradish), there is an overview study from 2016 that lists numerous positive effects of the plant substance – but also that there is not enough research to prove it make a final assessment.
Mustard contains different active ingredients
White mustard, on the other hand, contains the mustard oil glycoside sinalbin. Even if the entire group of mustard oil glycosides is seen in a rather favorable light by medical research, as mentioned, Sinalbin is known to form the problem substance bisphenol F, which is also found in mustard. Bisphenol F is suspected to act like a hormone. In 2015, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) classified the traces of bisphenol F found in mustard as non-critical. In our 2021 mustard test, the lab found no elevated levels of bisphenol F.
If you move away from the question of how beneficial the specific mustard oil glycosides in household mustard are for health and instead look at the nutrients contained, you get a relatively positive impression.
Because: Classic yellow mustard scores with good levels of B vitamins and some minerals. Among other things, the hot spice paste has an attractive magnesium content and also provides calcium and phosphorus.
However, not all mustard products automatically have positive nutritional values. For example, sugar is added to some products, such as sweet mustard. A “home-made mustard” quickly has up to 40 grams of sugar per 100 milliliters of mustard. The same amount of medium-hot mustard, on the other hand, only has one to two grams of sugar.
Tip: Anyone who buys organic mustard ensures that the environment also benefits from their own shopping behavior.
