• What's Bad: Full-fat mayonnaise has about 90 calories per tablespoon and 10 grams of fat; the same amount of a reduced-fat variety has 35 calories and 3.5 grams of fat. And watch out for the sodium: 130 mg per tablespoon.

• What's Better Than Store-Bought: Homemade mayonnaise is a creamy luxury that can be made with fewer than a half-dozen ingredients: eggs, oil and salt plus some lemon juice or vinegar and, in some recipes, a bit of mustard. Though it's more caloric than store-bought (about 130 calories per tablespoon, according to one recipe), it's so rich, a little goes a long way. As with ketchup, making mayo at home lets you adjust the salt, and you can choose your preferred oil and use eggs with extra omega-3s. While salmonella contamination from raw eggs is fairly rare these days, it's still a concern, especially for little kids and pregnant women, so using pasteurized eggs might be your safest bet.

• Want an Alternative? If it's smooth creaminess you're after, why not mash up a ripe avocado and spread it on your burger bun? Avocado, like mayonnaise, is pretty much pure fat (about five grams per tablespoon) -- but most of it is oleic acid, the kind that's good for your cardiovascular system.

You'll also be getting potassium, which helps regulate blood pressure, and heart-healthy folate, all for about 55 calories per tablespoon.

MUSTARD

• What's Good: Dijon (such as Grey Poupon) and plain yellow (such as French's) mustards both contain mustard seed, which is full of selenium, a nutrient thought to protect against some cancers, and omega-3 fatty acids. The little seeds are also surprisingly good sources of iron, calcium, zinc, manganese, magnesium, protein, niacin and even fiber. Plain yellow mustard also features turmeric, a spice common to Indian cooking that has recently received attention in the West for its anti-inflammatory properties.

Neither has any fat, and both kinds are low in calories: Dijon has about the same as ketchup, 15 per tablespoon, and yellow mustard boasts zero per serving.

• What's Bad: Dijon has lots of sodium: 360 mg per tablespoon. Yellow has 165 mg.

• What's Better Than Store-Bought: Mustard recipes abound and allow you to adjust seasonings (including sodium) and how coarse your mustard will be. Aside from that, though, there's no real nutritional advantage to making your own.

Want an alternative? Since mustard is already so healthful, why bother?

PICKLE RELISH

• What's Good: Despite being sweetened with HFCS, pickle relish is low in calories: just 10 per tablespoon. It's also lower in sodium than you might expect, with just 85 mg in that tablespoon.

• What's Bad: The artificial color can make it look kind of creepy, but the only concern -- and it's a minor one -- in that bottle of Claussen's is the sodium benzoate, to which some people have allergic reactions.

• What's Better Than Store-Bought: You can whip up a batch of pickle relish (using store-bought pickles or ones you've canned yourself) in no time, and the fresh peppers and onions you use will add vitamins and other nutrients. Plus, homemade relish is much more appetizing in appearance than the eerie-green glop you buy at the store.

Bonus: Some recipes call for mustard seed -- and you already know how healthful that is.

• Want an Alternative? Try sauerkraut. This pungent pickled cabbage provides a bit of fiber and a little bit of vitamin C for just 2.5 calories per tablespoon; its sodium content, at 90 mg per tablespoon, is comparable to relish's.

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