Super Food: Peanut Butter

One of the unusual and unexpected benefits of having children is that they re-introduce peanut butter into your diet!  Kids love a PB&J and parents love a quick and easy lunch.  Now, I don’t recommend having children as a step in improving your health, but I do recommend getting peanut butter off the kid’s menu and re-establishing your relationship with it.  There are plenty of benefits to unleashing the kid in you and getting nut butters back into your diet.

Here’s a list of reasons to be thankful for George Washington Carver:

Protein

Two tablespoons of peanut butter pack in an average of seven to eight grams of protein. As a protein-rich food, when you eat peanut butter you feel fuller for longer.  Additionally the protein is also good for building and repairing muscles, which is especially important if you work out a lot.  Adding peanut butter to your protein shake is a great (and great tasting!) way to jack up your protein count!

It’s Got the Good Fat

Peanut butter is chock-full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. A recent study found that insulin-resistant adults who ate a diet high in monos had less belly fat than people who ate more carbohydrates or saturated fat.  Peanut butter contains more unsaturated fat than saturated fat. This means, it is actually a great source of “healthy fats.” A healthy body needs a good supply of healthy fats and like olive oil and avocado, peanut butter is a friendly fat food.

But remember … if you're buying reduced-fat peanut butter because you think it's better for your waistline, save your money. The calories are the same (or even a little higher) thanks to the extra ingredients that are added to make up for the missing fat (including more sugar).  Look for natural or organic peanut butter. Many non-organic varieties contain hydrogenated oils (a source of dangerous trans fats) to keep the product from separating.

Put peanut butter’s good fats to use by eating it with protein before bed to further slow digestion and keep muscle breakdown at bay.

Fiber Rich

Your two tablespoon serving of peanut butter not only packs in lots of protein but also gives you two grams of fiber.  Adequate consumption of fiber is important for the healthy functioning of your body and of course you can get more fiber from other meals but peanut butter can help supplement this.

More Nutrition

just don't get your head stuck in the jar!

A serving of peanut butter has 3 mg of the powerful antioxidant vitamin E, 49 mg of bone-building magnesium, 208 mg of muscle-friendly potassium, and 0.17 mg of immunity-boosting vitamin B6. Research shows that eating peanuts can decrease your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions. One study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that consuming one ounce of nuts or peanut butter  at least five days a week can lower the risk of developing diabetes by almost 30%.

Energy Boost

As already discussed, peanut butter contains good amounts of healthy fats and protein. This means it contains plenty of calories that will give you lots of energy for your activities. Again, perfect for a morning meal as it gives you an energy hit for the day.

Not All Peanut Butters Are Made Alike

But please, shop with care. Don’t just go by the percentage of fat. This will be fairly similar across most brands and is not the best indication of whether a peanut butter is good for you.  All natural peanut butter is a good choice if you want to minimize your intake of unhealthy fats. Natural nut butters usually have peanuts as their main ingredient while others (non-natural) can sometimes contain other artificial ingredients to enhance the taste.

The sugar content on the peanut butter should be a decisive factor. Commercial peanut butter brands can sometimes have up to 250 mg (per tablespoon) more sugar than natural brands.  Look out for the sodium content on the ingredients list at the back of your jar of peanut butter. Again, natural brands usually have less sodium. Too much sodium can also mask the nutty flavor.

Natural peanut butters are a better option, however if you’re unable to find a natural option or find the organic nut butters too expensive, don’t stress. If you’re eating only 2 tablespoons of peanut butter a day, a commercial brand peanut butter with slightly more salt and sugar isn’t going to be the end of the world.

King's Super Sammich

Inspired by a recipe from Whole Foods, this new take on a breakfast sandwich includes the fresh crunch and fibrous nutrition of an apple, healthy fats from peanut butter and whole grains from granola.


Ingredients

1 apple, cored
2 tbsp. peanut butter
½ c. low-fat granola


Preparation

Core apple. Slice apple horizontally into several slices to make sandwich "bread." Spread two apple slices with 1 tbsp. peanut butter each and sprinkle with granola. Top peanut butter and granola-topped apple slice with another apple slice.

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June 22 2014
KING RICH
Weight:  185.1lbs
BMI:  26.8
Body Fat:  25.0%

*  How accurate are these numbers?  Huh ... I don't really know.  But I am using the Weight Watchers by Conair Scales Glass Body Analysis Scale Model WW52 to measure my stats.  I am less concerned with the accuracy of the numbers themselves and more concerned with the change I hope to see in the future.  For consistency's sake, these stats will always come from the same source and appear with my bi-weekly posts. 

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League City TX
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