Natural Peanut Butter vs. Regular?

4realrose8

You have to be careful with reading labels, because some Natural Peanut Butters add sugar.

I switched about 10 years ago to Natural Peanut Butter that is just peanuts and a bit of salt. It does take some getting used to, but I'd never go back to regular peanut butter now.

Jen800

meat
chicken
fish
milk
cottage cheese
greek yogurt
whey protein powders
eggs

Those are my big sources of protein

If you're vegan/vegetarian you could also try Hemp protein. I've been buying the 70% kind and adding it to my regular recipes for a boost in some of the carb-heavy dishes, and you can't even taste it. I like using it because of the natural ingredient list, because some of the protein powders and bars I've seen could be considered candy without the added protein :P

Would you suggest meat instead of peanut butter? I've also heard that flaxseed is good for protein? I am not very knowledgeable as far as protein goes. :P

shinkalork

I'm a huge fan of PB but I've found that regular or natural...fat,calories etc...are pretty much the same. Some of the regular are even lower in fat in calories than natural. BUT.... I do check the sodium...some have less and i take those but i don't have a sodium problem so.... a little won't hurt me and it makes it taste much better (in my opinion)....

Also, natural ain't lasting super great etc...

Anyway, my point is..other than salt..... i don't see much of a difference.

jellybeanhed313

The best natural peanut butter I've tasted is Kroger brand natural. Its the kind that seperates with oil on top. You just stir in the oil one time then, store it in the fridge and its stays spreadable and almost the consistancy of regular peanut butter. Or you can just pour the oil off completely(less fat) and store it at room temp(it will get pretty hard without the oil in the fridge). It taste just like roasted peanuts and no added junk. Cheap too...about 2 bucks. I have tried other natural kinds and they weren't nearly as good.

Buy and eat whatever kind you like. The benefit of natural is just that there isn't much if anything added.

MDChesler

The natural peanut butter has less sodium in it and it is much higher in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats which are the good fats that we should all strive to get in our diet to replace the regular fat saturated fat and trans fats. I tried to replace my peanut butter with the natural stuff and I couldn't do it but I did change from JIF to Smart Balance natural which tastes just like JIF and has lower saturated fat and high Poly and monounsataurated fats. 10 less calories than JIF too. I love peanut butter, I have to have some everyday otherwise I wind up making bad food choices and munching uncontrolably.

yotka

I personally love the regular, but my daughter will only buy me the natural. So I kept a jar at work, but I'm willing to try the one mixed with flaxseed oil, it sounds interesting.

Mischievous_Rascal

I switched because most of the regular stuff has three or four different sugars listed as ingredients, and it made my kid loopy. I'll still use the regular stuff to bake with. But whenever I eat it now my teeth almost hurt from the sugar content. (And I eat candy and chocolate almost daily, so I'm not a low-sugar gal myself by any means.)

Urban_Princess

I switched to natural PB after noticing all the added stuff in the regular kind. Specifically added sugar. I'm not diabetic but my mum is and so was my grandma, so this is really important to me. Even in Skippy Light there was icing sugar (even in natural skippy there are additives).

I know it doesn't taste as good at first, but you get used to the taste. I recently had some regular PB after going 4-5 months on the natural stuff and it tastes disgusting to me. You can really tell how fake it is and I felt like I was able to taste every granule of sugar.

It is a bit expensive but I always stock up when it is on sale (like last night). I was able to price match and got the 750g Kraft natural PB for $2.22 + tax. If you go to the health food stores they usually run for $7 (at least they do here in Canada) and more if it is organic. Since I buy Kraft, I can only speak for it. I suggest trying out different brands, you may find something you like.

arya8

We eat natural peanut butter with no added salt, oils, or sugar. Just plain old peanuts. The one we love is the Meijer naturals kind. You have to stir it when you open it first, but then you store it in the fridge and no more stirring. I used to love regular peanut butter like Jiff and others, but now I can't even eat one with only salt added because it tastes too salty. My taste buds have changed and no more going back.

WendyTerry420

Hey ya'll,

So I LOVE peanut butter and I've been eating a lot of it for protein. I bought some natural peanut butter and have been eating it for 2ish months (I log it as regular peanut butter, in case any of you have seen my food diary) and I'm wondering if there are really any health benefits aside from the fact that it doesn't have preservatives?

It has as many calories, it tastes half as good, and it's more expensive! I know that preservatives aren't good in any food, and I'm all for jumping on the all-natural train, but I haven't noticed a change in how soon I get hungry and my weight didn't drop significantly after switching. Can I just buy regular? Do you think it really matters?

Buy what tastes good. Don't let food snobs/sheriffs tell you what to eat. It's your body. I always eat Peter Pan crunchy or Skippy with honey when I can afford it. More often, I buy the big jar of generic.

jlahorn

MaraNatha natural peanut butters are my favorite:

http://www.maranathafoods.com/category/peanut-butters

I think they taste way better Jif or Skippy, and they're about a million times better than Smuckers Natural.

runnerchick69

I buy from a local company and literally it is peanuts and salt, that's it It goes great with a big hunk of chocolate...just sayin

MizzEngelChen

"normal" PB is full of crap: preservatives, sugar, extra oil etc. All you need to make PB are roated peanuts. That is what natural PB is: roasted peanuts and salt. I think it tastes more natural and better and is healthier. You shouldn't stuff yourself with extra sugar and oil if you're eating the PB for protein

False. Peanuts don't have enough oil on their own to make a smooth butter. Even natural peanut butters will add extra peanut oil to get the consistency.

I have made PB myself and all it takes are roasted peanuts. If you mix them long enough they will turn smooth - magic!

Amandabelanger614

I use PB2. I think it gives a great taste for the amount of cals...but i only use it in baking and icecream.

mlt2908

One good natural brand to try is the Costco (Kirkland) brand. It is made only with Valencia peanuts and sea salt, so there is no added sugar, preservatives, or oils. It is very good - not as sweet as Jif or Skippy but then it doesn't have all that added stuff in it. I store it in the fridge. It is not quite as creamy as Jif but if you are looking for something that doesn't have a lot of extra added ingredients or preservatives, it is a delicious option to try. I read something about how the Valencia peanuts are naturally sweeter so maybe that helps this natural peanut butter taste so good.

Greytfish

Do any peanut butter you like, just track it properly.

Regarding using it for a big source of your protein, I would advise not to look to for that purpose.

nuts have an incomplete amino profile for protein.
There are better sources for protein out there than nuts.

Would you suggest meat instead of peanut butter? I've also heard that flaxseed is good for protein? I am not very knowledgeable as far as protein goes. :P

meat
chicken
fish
milk
cottage cheese
greek yogurt
whey protein powders
eggs

Those are my big sources of protein

FYI, peanuts are not nuts, but legumes. The above are all good suggestions as well.

crevices

i used to love regular, then switched to natural which was really weird at first and i didnt enjoy it. after a while i got used to it and started to love it. i tried regular again later on and it tastes so odd and dare i say gross to me now. NOW i much prefer making homemade nut butters in a food processor

cwsreddy

"Natural" is confusing.

My opinion is to go for the stuff that has ONE ingredient: peanuts - but otherwise as long as you're not eating the stuff with partially hydrogenated oils you'll be fine.

_John_

There's a peer reviewed paper that goes with this but I'm lazy...

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2001/010612.htm

To see if the rumors had any validity, Sanders prepared 11 brands of peanut butter, including major store brands and “natural” brands, for analysis by a commercial laboratory. He also sent paste freshly prepared from roasted peanuts for comparison. The laboratory found no detectable trans fats in any of the samples, with a detection limit of 0.01 percent of the sample weight.

That means that a 32-gram serving of any of the 11 brands could contain from zero to a little over three-thousandths (0.0032) of a gram of trans fats without being detected.

Discussing the nutritional value of natural vs. commercial peanut you are arguing about like 0.5g of saturated fat and 1g of sugar over 190 calories (and maybe some sodium).

Eat what tastes the best to you and throw all guilt for it in the dumpster...

Songbirdcw

bump for the peanut butter recipe.