Peanut Butter Is Healthy—If You Follow This 1 Rule

IT IS NOT COMPLETE time of eat a mealbut you’re hungry. What will do the trick? Yeah, probably heaping a tablespoon or two of peanut butter.

Nutrient-dense pantry staple is a much-loved staple of endurance athletes and lifters Similary. Apart from being supremely tasty, it is also a boon for healthy eating.

“Peanut butter, especially when it’s just ground peanuts, is an extremely healthy food that’s packed with healthy fiber, monounsaturated fats that are so good for our hearts, and high in health-supporting plant-based protein. muscle,” he says. Dana Ellis Hunnes Ph.D., RD., author of Recipe for survival.

Eating peanut butter can even help keep you full and helps with blood sugar regulation. “People who eat peanut butter do not weigh more than their peers who do not eat peanut butter, and often may even weigh less because they tend to eat fewer calories throughout the day and also tend to snack on healthier foods overall. says Ellis Hunnes. .

Combined with fruits, vegetables, or whole grain breads/crackers, peanut butter has the perfect blend of healthy fat, carbsY protein to keep you active for several hours.

Here’s the scoop on everything you’ve wanted to know about peanut butter and your health.

What is peanut butter?

The name itself is self-explanatory: peanut butter is a butter spread made from peanuts.

More specifically: “Peanut butter is made from dry-roasted peanuts that are then ground. In the past, peanut butter contained additional ingredients to preserve shelf life and mix all the ingredients well (emulsifier),” says Blanca Garcia, RDN, nutrition specialist at MIDSS.

Of course, you can easily buy peanut butter without any added sugarspreservatives or emulsifiers.

“Usually you can get peanut butter smooth spreads or peanut butter spreads. The most common peanut butter usually has 10 percent salt, added sugars, hydrogenated vegetable oils, and emulsifiers to keep all the ingredients blended together,” Garcia says. “For the smooth style, ingredients can be added to create a thick paste that spreads easily.”

Your best route is all-natural peanut butter, which is usually made with just peanuts and sometimes with a touch of salt for flavor.

Do you want to go deeper? Are here even more of your peanut butter and health questions answered.

Is peanut butter good for you?

Yes, peanut butter is a great option for a healthy diet.

“Peanut butter has 22 grams per 100 grams (3.5 oz.). Its highest nutrient is fat at 55 grams per 100 grams. It is also an excellent source of vitamin B3 at 89 percent of the recommended daily value, a vitamin that is important in metabolism and DNA repair reactions,” Garcia says.

It’s also high in vitamin E at 60 percent of the recommended daily value per serving. Vitamin E “works as an antioxidant, stabilizes free radicals and minimizes damage in the body,” Garcia says. “It is also known that help the immune system defending the body against infectious agents”.

Although fat can contribute to a higher calorie intake, the type of fat in peanut butter is monounsaturated, which It has been shown diminish low density lipoprotein (LDL)potentially reducing the risk of atherosclerosis.

“Peanut butter, when it’s just ground peanuts, is an extremely healthy food that’s packed with healthy fats, carbohydrates, fiber, and protein,” reiterates Ellis Hunnes, adding that you should aim to eat about an ounce (with a maximum of two ounces) per day; one ounce is two tablespoons of peanut butter.

Is peanut butter good for muscle building?

If you’re looking to bulk up, peanut butter is your friend.

Ellis Hunnes says peanut butter is a good option for building muscle because it has protein Y calories “Many people focus on protein, don’t get enough calories, and then wonder why they’re having trouble gaining muscle,” she says. “It’s because we really need both (and actually, less protein than most people think). So yeah, it’s great to add to shakes, eat on its own, eat with fruit, etc. to help with muscle growth.”

Is peanut butter good for weight loss?

Yes, peanut butter might also help people looking to lose weight.

That’s because eating a tablespoon or two of peanut butter can help stave off hunger and help you consume fewer calories later on. “A 160-calorie serving (two tablespoons) can actually save you from eating an extra 300-400 calories as snacks or other ‘treats’ later in the day, so it turns out to be a calorie saver, which is what you need to weightloss.”

Garcia says that peanut butter, with its protein and fiber, helps trap sugar molecules and prevents all of them from being absorbed. “Excess sugar can be sent to the liver for storage as fat, the idea is to eat foods that can help flush out excess sugar before it’s absorbed,” she says.

All that said, “because of [peanut butter’s] High caloric content of 597 calories per 3.5 ounces, the calories can add up quickly,” Garcia says. “So it’s important to note that more than 3.5 ounces of peanut butter per day can easily add up to the equivalent of one meal.”

And whether you’re shopping for peanut butter to build your biceps or lose weight, you should always look for products with as few ingredients as possible to ensure you’re getting a high-quality, nutrient-dense food without additives or excess sugar.