Peanut Butter

sabrinacrandall
sabrinacrandall Posts: 74 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi! So, I eat a lot of peanut butter. I eat it almost every day, either on 1 or 2 crackers for a quick hunger buster, or with a banana, or some other bready substance (always whole wheat/grain). At home when I eat peanut butter I have 100% peanut butter. When I'm at work I use Jif Natural since it doesn't dissociate without being refrigerated and I can keep it at my desk and eat it without it being cold (yes, I know there's added sugar. It's a concession I decided I was willing to make).

I was wondering, would it be worth it to buy almond butter or one of those other more-expensive nut butters as a substitute? Are they healthier, or is it just a matter of taste and personal preference? Do they dissociate just as much as 100% peanut butter when left at room temperature? Just looking to make the best choice here in terms of one of my favorite foods. :)

Thank you!!

Replies

  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    There is nothing inheireintly unhealthy about peanut butter- as long as you aren't consuming ALL your calories via peanut butter- you're fine. I eat it almost every day as well.

    If you want to try something new- do so- but you don't have to give up on peanut butter itself.
  • jcpmoore
    jcpmoore Posts: 796 Member
    Most of them separate as much as natural peanut butter. There are "no stir" options for the other nut butters, but those contain ingredients other than nuts (chemicals and what not). whether they are healthier depends on what you consider healthy. At the most basic nut butter is one ingredient only: ground nuts. As soon as you add other ingredients, it's a judgment call. I keep natural almond butter at my desk and it has to be stirred each time I use it. But I'm allergic to peanuts, so...
  • mistikal13
    mistikal13 Posts: 1,457 Member
    I also eat some sort of nut butter every day. I love cashew butter and almond butter in addition to pb, but I eat them for the taste not because they are healthier.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    sabrinacrandall wrote: »
    Hi! So, I eat a lot of peanut butter. I eat it almost every day, either on 1 or 2 crackers for a quick hunger buster, or with a banana, or some other bready substance (always whole wheat/grain). At home when I eat peanut butter I have 100% peanut butter. When I'm at work I use Jif Natural since it doesn't dissociate without being refrigerated and I can keep it at my desk and eat it without it being cold (yes, I know there's added sugar. It's a concession I decided I was willing to make).

    I was wondering, would it be worth it to buy almond butter or one of those other more-expensive nut butters as a substitute? Are they healthier, or is it just a matter of taste and personal preference? Do they dissociate just as much as 100% peanut butter when left at room temperature? Just looking to make the best choice here in terms of one of my favorite foods. :)

    Thank you!!

    Most of the nut butters I've looked at are pretty equivalent to peanut butter in terms of nutrition. But you can always take a look at the labels and see if one fits your diet better.

  • mwyvr
    mwyvr Posts: 1,883 Member
    edited June 2015
    sabrinacrandall wrote: »
    When I'm at work I use Jif Natural since it doesn't dissociate without being refrigerated and I can keep it at my desk and eat it without it being cold (yes, I know there's added sugar. It's a concession I decided I was willing to make).

    Rather than the sugar my primary concern is Jif "Natural" includes Palm Oil. There are a variety of health and environmental reasons why one might want to avoid products that rely on palm oil.

    PB doesn't separate all that quickly. If you take a stirred jar of all natural to work, and are eating some 5 days a week, could you not give it a quick stir to keep it in a homogeneous state? Wouldn't be much work to do as you are getting your snack? Have you tried this? I wonder if that would work for you.

    When we go hiking we pack PB into a container; we don't buy PB containing hydrogenated oil (yuk) or palm oil (not sure if this deserves a yuk or not, but prefer 100% natrual). A quick stir as we are using it seems all that is needed, no big deal.
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  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    I love nut butters, and variety, so have almost always peanut, almond, cashew and hazelnut butter - eat some every day - and I really don't worry too much about the small amount of emulsifier in some of them.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    peanut butter is a gift from the gods....



    and i dont know the answer to your question. but now i want peanut butter. LOL!
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    shell1005 wrote: »
    I do wonder how you measure it since it can real easy with food like PB to eat more than you think you are eating...since it is so calorie dense.

    like everything else.... you weigh it.
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    Peanut butter is awesome. I don’t think the health or nutritional differences between different brands/types of nuts are significant enough to worry about, personally.

    One tip I learned for storing peanut butter so that you don’t have to worry about oil separation is to keep it upside down: just make sure the lid is on tightly. This way the oil is on the bottom, not the top, when you’re digging in.

    I will also second that I encourage you to make sure you’re measuring the amounts eaten correctly. The stuff is really calorie dense. :yum:
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  • greekyogurtandpuppies
    greekyogurtandpuppies Posts: 81 Member
    edited June 2015
    For natural peanut butter I have found that when its too liquid-y and I don't want to refrigerate it mixing in PB2 or any generic brand of powdered peanut butter improves the texture so much. It doesn't effect the taste at all.
  • ckspores1018
    ckspores1018 Posts: 168 Member
    I love all kinds of nut butters and keep a variety on hand at home and work. I'm lucky my workplace has a fridge I can use but if they didn't I would just bring some in my luck box everyday.

    I stick with as few ingredients as possible-lots of commercial nut butters use soy derived products as an emulsifier so I can't have it. But, I think the real stuff tastes the best, anyway.
  • alexislucas84
    alexislucas84 Posts: 10 Member
    sabrinacrandall wrote: »
    Hi! So, I eat a lot of peanut butter. I eat it almost every day, either on 1 or 2 crackers for a quick hunger buster, or with a banana, or some other bready substance (always whole wheat/grain). At home when I eat peanut butter I have 100% peanut butter. When I'm at work I use Jif Natural since it doesn't dissociate without being refrigerated and I can keep it at my desk and eat it without it being cold (yes, I know there's added sugar. It's a concession I decided I was willing to make).

    I was wondering, would it be worth it to buy almond butter or one of those other more-expensive nut butters as a substitute? Are they healthier, or is it just a matter of taste and personal preference? Do they dissociate just as much as 100% peanut butter when left at room temperature? Just looking to make the best choice here in terms of one of my favorite foods. :)

    Thank you!!

  • alexislucas84
    alexislucas84 Posts: 10 Member
    alexislucas84 wrote: »
    sabrinacrandall wrote: »
    Hi! So, I eat a lot of peanut butter. I eat it almost every day, either on 1 or 2 crackers for a quick hunger buster, or with a banana, or some other bready substance (always whole wheat/grain). At home when I eat peanut butter I have 100% peanut butter. When I'm at work I use Jif Natural since it doesn't dissociate without being refrigerated and I can keep it at my desk and eat it without it being cold (yes, I know there's added sugar. It's a concession I decided I was willing to make).

    I was wondering, would it be worth it to buy almond butter or one of those other more-expensive nut butters as a substitute? Are they healthier, or is it just a matter of taste and personal preference? Do they dissociate just as much as 100% peanut butter when left at room temperature? Just looking to make the best choice here in terms of one of my favorite foods. :)

    Thank you!!

  • alexislucas84
    alexislucas84 Posts: 10 Member
    I have an addiction to peanut butter and chocolate boost protein powder mixed together. Chill it in the freezer. So delicious.
  • pumpkinpocalypse
    pumpkinpocalypse Posts: 104 Member
    man i love peanut butter. I'm pretty sure I have some every morning on average! It helps me getting a bit more protein in (since my breakfasts are usually 80% fruits so i'm lacking some), plus the taste is heavenly and goes with literally everything. I still stick with kraft's crunchy PB though, it's the only non-organic/processed food i still buy or almost haha. i can't help it, I grew up with it and THAT taste has no match lol. There may be added sugars and chemicals and stuff but it's still pretty ok/healthy, i mean, nuts are still nuts. Maybe one day i'll be responsible enough and get some all natural PB...maybe.
  • DietGuy2014
    DietGuy2014 Posts: 8 Member
    I have a minimum of peanut butter or some other nut butter twice a day mixed in my protein shake. IN the morning I have cookies and cream protein powder mixed with almond or cashew milk, peanut, almond or cashew butter, blueberries and 1/2 banana. It is unbelievably tasty. Mid day snack is pretty much the same but I substitute blue berries with a variety of other berries. My 2 favourite meals of the day. Long live the butters. :D
  • 01divey
    01divey Posts: 50 Member
    peanut butter is my weakness. I buy the 1kg natural peanut butter from Musclefoods with each order I put through (once a month)
    Really have to control myself with it! :)
  • s2mikey
    s2mikey Posts: 146 Member
    I am a certified Nut Butter Murderer. Cant stop eating the stuff. I eat only natural butters as in the only ingredient is the nuts thelselves. Almond, Cashew, & peanut are my "gotos" but Sunflower seed butter is also a nice change of pace.

    I say go for it - they all have their own interesting flavor profile and make you happy.

    I eat at LEAST 4-5 tbs of the stuff per day. probably more :)
  • sabrinacrandall
    sabrinacrandall Posts: 74 Member
    mwyvr wrote: »
    sabrinacrandall wrote: »
    When I'm at work I use Jif Natural since it doesn't dissociate without being refrigerated and I can keep it at my desk and eat it without it being cold (yes, I know there's added sugar. It's a concession I decided I was willing to make).

    Rather than the sugar my primary concern is Jif "Natural" includes Palm Oil. There are a variety of health and environmental reasons why one might want to avoid products that rely on palm oil.

    PB doesn't separate all that quickly. If you take a stirred jar of all natural to work, and are eating some 5 days a week, could you not give it a quick stir to keep it in a homogeneous state? Wouldn't be much work to do as you are getting your snack? Have you tried this? I wonder if that would work for you.

    When we go hiking we pack PB into a container; we don't buy PB containing hydrogenated oil (yuk) or palm oil (not sure if this deserves a yuk or not, but prefer 100% natrual). A quick stir as we are using it seems all that is needed, no big deal.

    I really should give this a try. I only recently started using the 100% natural stuff at home about a month ago, and I love the taste--the texture is still a bit thin though. But I will try it without refrigerating and see how it goes! I have no aversion to stirring, I just thought you had to keep it in the fridge, since that's what the container I have says. (Wegman's brand)

    I probably eat anywhere from 1-4 TBSP a day. I try to be really conscious of not eating too much, but some days it's just my go-to. I'm not a strict logger--mainly I log to look back and see how healthy the food was that I ate, not really how many calories I consumed.

    I just wasn't sure if there were inherent benefits to the other nut butters over peanut butter, or if they were of better texture/easier to keep on my shelf as opposed to the organic peanut butter. But now that I know you don't have to refrigerate it...I might be better off.

    Thank you all!!
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    I've just finished a tub of Hogsnuts nut butters Bourbon Vanilla Crunch (peanut butter based on a bourbon biscuit) and a tub of Hogsnuts nut butters Sweet Home Almononoma (almond butter based on a banoffee pie).

    Not that it adds anything to the discussion.
  • kristydi
    kristydi Posts: 781 Member
    cityruss wrote: »
    I've just finished a tub of Hogsnuts nut butters Bourbon Vanilla Crunch (peanut butter based on a bourbon biscuit) and a tub of Hogsnuts nut butters Sweet Home Almononoma (almond butter based on a banoffee pie).

    Not that it adds anything to the discussion.

    Just added to my "to track down list" though. That sounds amazing.
  • jcook0716
    jcook0716 Posts: 65 Member
    I love peanut butter but it usually puts me over my calories so i do pb2.

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