It can be smooth, and it can be crunchy. It can be whipped, all natural, and even pre-mixed with honey! What is this versatile spread that we have come to love? Well it is the one, the only, peanut butter! What was once just the PB of the PB & J sandwich has evolved into a fitness food that comes in so many different varieties the even people with peanut allergies have the opportunity to pick from a variety other nut and soy butters to spread on their plain rice cakes. With so many options out there and all of the different ways we can use nut butters to reach our fitness goals, we thought it would be fun to give you a few quick facts about highly nutritious fitness food!
Not All Peanut Butters Are Made the Same
If you go down the breakfast aisle in most grocery stores you’ll see that there isn’t just the classic kraft smooth or crunchy peanut butter jars on offer. They’ve now added whipped, all natural, and pre-mixed varieties like honey and peanut butter! Leave that aisle and head to the healthy/organic section and you’ll get even more nut butter varieties like almond, cashew, and soy butters. So which one should you go for? Well if you are looking for a peanut butter that likely still has many of the benefits of peanuts, your safest bet is to go for an organic, all natural peanut butter. Yes – this means you’ll have to do a little extra work to mix the separated oil with the nut butter, but a little bit of work provides you with way more health benefits than simply reaching for the other stuff. The fewer the ingredients on the label, the better!
The Benefits of Peanuts
If you’re going to go for the slightly more expensive, labour intensive, all natural peanut butter, there better be some really great benefits to it? Well nutritionally, the closer the nut butter is to peanuts, the better! Just look at these impressive nutrition facts for just 100g of peanuts:
It has been cited that because of peanut’s high nutritional value, that they are used as a complete dietary source on arctic expeditions! The monounsaturated fat in peanuts has actually been shown to reduce the bad cholesterol (LDL) in the body by 14%, while maintaining healthy levels of HDL, the good cholesterol and reducing triglycerides in the blood. Peanuts also contain all 20 amino acids required by the human body!
Just look at the protein punch that peanuts pack compared to other plant-based protein sources: With such awesome nutritional value, it only makes sense to get the most out of your peanut butter by going for the organic, all natural variety.
Peanut Butter Alternatives
Peanut allergies are listed as one of the top allergies in Canada so here are the alternative options for those of you with peanut allergies who are looking for a healthy spread to add to their fitness food repertoire!
Almond Butter: Almonds and almond butters are a great source of protein (7g per 1 cup), and offer more omega-6 fatty acids than peanuts! They are also lower in calories, and are the most nutrient dense nut on the market!
Soy Butter: Soy butters actually provide you with more protein than peanut butter (10g), and are a great way to get your omega-3’s!
Pumpkin Seed butter: Can’t do nut spreads at all? Pumpkin seed butter is a great alternative as it has more protein than peanut butter (10g), and boasts a number of other health benefits like it’s high fiber, potassium, and beta-carotene concentration.
Go Nuts with Nut (and seed) Butters!
You now know just how awesome adding nut and seed butters to your diet can be! Whether you’re looking for an energy rich spread, or something to add a little more protein and healthy fats to your day, including a nut and seed butter can be a great way to accomplish this.
