Peanut Butter - my weakness!

The Truth About Peanut Butter!

I love peanut butter! This has always been one of my weaknesses whether it’s straight out of the jar, icing on a cake, or candy! Here’s what I think about peanut butter.

Best Choice: Organic Natural Peanut Butter (creamy or chunky)
Acceptable Substitutes:  Natural Peanut Butter or PB2
Stay away from: Any processed peanut butter – especially the flavored ones! (honey roasted, chocolate, etc.)

And here’s why… 

     Peanuts are one of the most heavily sprayed crops out there, and so eating non-organic peanut butter is bringing those pesticides into your body.  I know that it’s sometimes difficult (and always expensive) to buy organic, but this is one of those times you should.  It’s especially fun to grind your own organic peanut butter at Whole Foods Markets – and it’s no more expensive than store bought.

      Natural peanut butter is the only kind that has NO SUGAR ADDED to it! Sorry to rain on your parade, but if you think Simply Jif or Skippy Natural are really “natural” you have another thing coming… any peanut butter that is not natural has added sugar. Extra sugar your body doesn’t need!  Check your ingredients list.  And don’t even get me started on the reduced fat peanut butter! Think about it, fat gives food flavor. When fat is removed from food to produce a “reduced fat” product, flavor is also removed.  But the food companies need the food to have good flavor so it sells, so what do they replace the fat with? Sugar and salt! If you don’t believe me, compare a jar of reduced fat peanut butter to regular. The sugar will be higher and the fat will be lower.   

     The oil that you see floating on natural peanut butter often deters people from buying/eating it.  They think they don’t want to eat all that grease. Well, first of all, that fat is the good fat – peanuts are a great source of mono unsaturated fat. Second of all, all that fat is in your precious processed peanut butter too, in addition to the chemicals that keep it from separating out when on the shelf! So, stir it in and reap the health benefits of natural food without added sugar or chemicals.

     I’ve recently come across a peanut butter substitute called PB2.  It’s peanut butter that has had the oil pressed out of it and is in powder form.  You reconstitute it by adding water.  The good: 2 tablespoons has only 45 calories as compared to about 190 in “real” peanut butter.  The bad: the taste isn’t as good because the fat has been removed (see above!).  It’s great to stir into oatmeal, add to smoothies, or anything else that you want to have a peanut butter flavor without adding too many calories.  It’s probably not going to cut it for a PB&J sandwich, but for the calorie trade off it’s not too shabby.  If you’d like to try it, buy from amazon.com as that is where I’ve found it cheapest.

     Organic, natural peanut butter is a great part of a healthy diet.  It’s full of protein and good fat; when combined with a piece of Ezekiel bread or whole grain crackers, you’ve got yourself a well-balanced snack.  So, enjoy your peanut butter (reasonably- it still is high in calories!) – but buy natural!

Stay Healthy!