Is Peanut Butter Good For You?4 min read

Peanut butter is a popular food that has been around for centuries. It is made from ground up peanuts, and it can be eaten by itself or added to other foods.

Peanut butter can be a healthy option to include in your diet. Healthy peanut butter is supposed to be made up of only peanuts, and sometimes a little bit of salt, making this a good natural peanut butter choice for weight loss.

However, most peanut butter available in grocery stores has added trans fat, vegetable oil, and sugar to enhance the flavour. While it tastes better, it’s high in calories and sugar. Consuming this peanut butter excessively will lead to weight gain.

Always look at the food label and ingredients when purchasing peanut butter.

Nutrition

A 2 tablespoon of peanut butter contains approximately 9 grams of protein, 3 grams of fiber, 18 grams of fat, and 6 grams of carbohydrates.

Peanut butter is rich in vitamin E, vitamin B, magnesium, iron, zinc, and copper.

Always choose peanut butter that is made just from peanuts.

Benefits of peanut butter

Weight Loss

Peanut butter contains monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are considered as healthy fats and are linked to weight management and control obesity.

Peanut butter can also help us feel fuller for a longer period of time due to its fats and proteins. Fat is digested longer in our bodies, so it makes you feel satisfied longer and prevent you from overeating.

Add peanut butter in your snacks, for example, instead of eating just pretzel, use peanut butter as a dip.

Bodybuilding

Peanut butter is high in calories and protein, making it an easy way to fulfill your daily recommended calorie intake, which is about 2,000 calories for women, and 3,000 calories for men, and getting the other nutrients that peanut butter has.

The protein in peanut butter is also essential for muscle building and repair, even though the protein does not have all of the essential amino acids that the body needs.

To get the amino acid methionine that peanut butter lacks, eat your peanut butter with whole-grain bread to make it a complete protein meal.

Heart health and reduce diabetes

Oleic acid is a major component of peanut butter. When compared to other fats, oleic acid has been found to aid in the maintenance of excellent cholesterol levels, blood sugar balance, and blood pressure.

Lowering your heart disease risk is possible by controlling these levels in your body.

The niacin, magnesium, vitamin E, monounsaturated fat, and polyunsaturated fats in peanut butter also contribute to heart health and reduce the risk of diabetes type 2.

Even though it’s good for the heart, peanut butter may also contain high fat, sugar, and sodium, so always consume in moderation.

Anticancer component

The antioxidants in peanuts, such as manganese, vitamin E, and B vitamins act to prevent and repair cell damage in your body, resulting in reduced risks of cancer.

It also has resveratrol which helps to fight cancer, heart disease, obesity, and cognitive decline.

Risks of peanut butter

Peanut allergy

Peanuts allergy is the most common type of allergy. Avoid peanut butter if you have a peanuts allergy.

Mineral deficiencies

The high amount of phosphorus in peanuts can limit your body’s consumption of other minerals, such as zinc and iron. Eating too much food that contains phosphorus will make your condition worse if you are already deficient in these minerals.

Always consume peanut butter in moderation.

High in calories and fat

Consuming excessive peanut butter may lead to weight gain due to its high amount of calories and saturated fat. Eat peanut butter moderately.

Some peanut butter also used hydrogenated oil or palm oil to keep it from separating and make it smoother. The FDA has determined partially hydrogenated oils and fats to be unsafe and are not allowed to be used anymore. Although, companies get around this rule by including partially hydrogenated oils in a small amount and be declared as trans-fat-free, in which the FDA allows.

This is because they use fully hydrogenated oils in peanut butter, and fully hydrogenated oils become solid in room temperature, thus, the partially hydrogenated oils are added to keep the butter spreadable. Though it’s a small amount, you shouldn’t consume more than 1 serving of peanut butter to avoid eating unhealthy trans fat from the partially hydrogenated oils.

Best way to eat peanut butter

Here are some tips on buying and consuming the right peanut butter, so you can still enjoy the benefits:

• Most commercially ready peanut butter may contain additives and trans fat.
• Always look at the ingredients list and label. Choose the ones that have fewer additives. It’s best to buy natural peanut butter which contains only peanut butter in its ingredients list, or added salt is still fine as well
• Do not consume peanut butter excessively. Keep track of your peanut butter intake so you’re not over-eating it. Peanut butter still has calories and fat in it, so be careful with your intake.

There are other types of nut butter that are healthier and safer to consume:

• Almond butter
• Walnut butter
• Macadamia nut butter

There are many different ways that you can enjoy peanut butter, including spreading it on bread, making peanut butter ice cream, or include it in your smoothies or milkshake.

Here is a recipe example of a peanut butter banana smoothie:

• 3/4 cup almond milk, unsweetened
• 1/2 cup plain Green yogurt
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 large frozen banana, chopped
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• Ice (optional)

You can also add 1 tbsp of seeds of you choice, such as chia seeds or flax seeds.

Conclusion

Peanut butter is a great choice to add to your diet, but too much of anything is not good. Keep track your peanut butter intake and don’t overeat peanut butter to avoid weight gain.