Is peanut butter not a good source of fat?

cokezerolime
cokezerolime Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was studying and decided to have a snack, so I decided to have these protein bars that are made of peanut butter and honey. A family member told me that peanut butter isn't a good source of fat and honey is just sugar. My brain needs fat, so I should be eating stuff like meat or cheese, maybe even ice cream. The bar seemed high fat to me, about 19g, and I thought the brain needed sugar to function as well. Besides, I thought peanut butter, or peanuts, had a well-established fat content. I don't know, it got me wondering. Anyone care to offer input?

Replies

  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    Peanut butter is more of a fat in my book than a protein, so what else would it be?
  • Hanibanani2020
    Hanibanani2020 Posts: 523 Member
    I have done peanut butters just because they’ve got additive but pure peanut butter is the best thing ever. Ignore her. Eat it. Unless she’s also your dietician.
  • Mithridites
    Mithridites Posts: 600 Member
    I have peanut butter virtually every morning. It’s a lasting and enjoyable source of energy for me. I have only 2 rules when it comes to PB: 1.One serving only. 2. Always weigh it out.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Did this family member specify "why" peanut butter isn't a good source of fat? Nuts and nut butters are kind of awesome.

    Honey is just another form of sugar, but again there's nothing wrong with it in moderation.

    As Ann is saying, what's important is the totality of your diet and how those individual foods fit into it. If you'd already eaten a ton of nuts and sugar today, maybe that bar wouldn't be the best idea. Regardless I would disagree with your family member.
  • MarttaHP
    MarttaHP Posts: 68 Member
    If by "good source" you mean "healthy source," I agree with the posters above who say that the context matters and not any individual food.

    If by "good source" you mean whether peanut butter is high in fat, according to this USDA database entry it certainly is: about 50% fat. It also has protein and carbs in about equal amounts, 22%.

    So yeah, I guess you could chug straight up olive oil to consume even more fat in one sitting, but peanut butter is much tastier IMO. :smile:
  • jtechmart
    jtechmart Posts: 67 Member
    edited July 2020
    I sometimes snack with peanut butter, an organic one. I haven't analyzed the different brands, but I would be careful with highly processed ones and added sugar. Check the labels. But, I think peanut butter can be a decent fat. Of course you can also just have something like an avocado if you're just looking for healthy fats.
  • cokezerolime
    cokezerolime Posts: 14 Member
    Thanks for the responses everyone! The snack bar in question was a Perfect Snack Peanut Butter bar (this one: https://perfectsnacks.com/products/perfect-bar-peanut-butter). I would probably do better making my own, but I saw it in the store and wanted to try it.

    Terytha wrote: »
    Peanut butter is a perfectly fine source of fat, but you do not need sugar. No part of your body needs sugar to function.

    Perhaps I should have specified. The brain needs glucose to function. Like carbs or natural sugars in fruits, or in my case honey :P


    earlnabby wrote: »
    Honey is sugar and water, but there is nothing wrong with it. Sugar is a carb and carbs give you energy and can help with a boost while studying. Peanut butter is a very tasty source of both fat and protein but it is easy to overdo (always weigh rather than measure or eyeball).

    If the bar fits in with your daily goals, go for it and ignore the family member.

    I see, I was hoping for an answer like this. That's why I thought the bar was good: fat to keep me satiated, and sugar to give me energy, but family member didn't seem to think so.
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Nutrition is important, but nutrition is a matter of the total content of one's way of eating: It's good to get enough protein, enough healthy fats, plenty of varied, colorful veggies/fruits for micronutrients and fiber, and that sort of thing.

    IMO, the only real way of evaluating a single food is in that context: If it contributes to you getting your essential well-rounded nutrition, it's a good food to eat. If it doesn't, then there may be reasons to minimize or avoid eating it.

    Exceptions are things that are objectively poisonous/dangerous, to which you're allergic, or that are contraindicated by a medical condition you have, or a medication you need to take. Don't eat those things.

    Anything else, if it helps you meet your goals, seems fine. Peanut butter has a little protein, and some healthy fats. If those are nutrients you need that day, the bar seems to contribute. Added sugar (including from sources like honey or maple syrup), is not an essential nutrients, but if you have the calories for it and it doesn't interfere with you getting well-rounded nutrition (and you're not diabetic or anything like that), it's fine to eat some.

    Sounds like your family member has bought into the pop-culture stupidity that there are individually, objectively "good foods" and "bad foods". I think there are not. There are nutritious overall ways of eating, and not so nutritious ones. Overall good nutrition is better than overall poor nutrition, IMO.

    I don't know, but food seems to be family member's answer for everything. Feeling tired? Food. Stressed out? Food. And yeah, I wouldn't call them an expert in nutrition either. I love them, but they are the type to buy into any nutrition mlm available.
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Did this family member specify "why" peanut butter isn't a good source of fat? Nuts and nut butters are kind of awesome.

    Honey is just another form of sugar, but again there's nothing wrong with it in moderation.

    As Ann is saying, what's important is the totality of your diet and how those individual foods fit into it. If you'd already eaten a ton of nuts and sugar today, maybe that bar wouldn't be the best idea. Regardless I would disagree with your family member.

    I have no idea why. But they told me I'd be better off getting a milkshake from McDonald's instead because that has real fat in it.
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I was brainwashed for years by the "food purists" in my family and it is so liberating to be free of their food myths.

    Now, just for curiosity, when things come up, I ask them where they got their information, and the sources either not credible or were misunderstood.

    I used to share my family's belief that honey was superior to cane sugar, but now agree with your family member that honey is just sugar. However, I disagree with their implied point that you shouldn't eat the snack bar because it contains honey/sugar.

    My reason for no longer buying snack bars is that they are hard for me to moderate and *I* don't find them especially filling - I personally need more volume for a filling snack. If I were to have peanuts and part of an apple, I might end up with the same macros and calories as your snack bar, but it would be more filling for me because of the bulk the apple provides. That's just me though. If you find snack bars a filling snack and have no problem moderating them, then they are the snack for you :)

    Thank you, yes. I've been questioning my family member's advice on nutrition for a while now, even though they mean well. Yeah, the bar does have a high sugar content from the honey. That's why I figured it would be a good snack, because it would be good for energy while studying. But apparently, family member thought something like a cheeseburger or ice cream would be better instead.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,254 Member
    edited July 2020
    I most certainly consume vanilla cones for a quick pick me up as one of the options I tend to consider within the calories of chocolate, candy, snack, or protein bars (loosely defined as 160 to 350 Cal) when the mood and circumstances strike.

    I don't see how in the blazing kittens one would define the fat from a cheeseburger as superior to the fat from peanut butter... and that comes from a guy who does eat cheeseburgers from time to time (and who notes that they would tend to come in above the caloric levels of a single bar)

    And while I might pick a cheeseburger as a more substantial/long lasting meal, I would not pick it as my "pick me up / perk me up" which you seem to imply you were seeking.

    Well, while for me Ice cream would be the only choice on a hot day... your analysis of how peanut butter and honey would act seems much more in line with standard nutritional understanding than whatever your family member seems to believe.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    edited July 2020
    cokezerolime wrote: »
    Thanks for the responses everyone! The snack bar in question was a Perfect Snack Peanut Butter bar (this one: https://perfectsnacks.com/products/perfect-bar-peanut-butter). I would probably do better making my own, but I saw it in the store and wanted to try it.

    Terytha wrote: »
    Peanut butter is a perfectly fine source of fat, but you do not need sugar. No part of your body needs sugar to function.

    Perhaps I should have specified. The brain needs glucose to function. Like carbs or natural sugars in fruits, or in my case honey :P


    earlnabby wrote: »
    Honey is sugar and water, but there is nothing wrong with it. Sugar is a carb and carbs give you energy and can help with a boost while studying. Peanut butter is a very tasty source of both fat and protein but it is easy to overdo (always weigh rather than measure or eyeball).

    If the bar fits in with your daily goals, go for it and ignore the family member.

    I see, I was hoping for an answer like this. That's why I thought the bar was good: fat to keep me satiated, and sugar to give me energy, but family member didn't seem to think so.
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Nutrition is important, but nutrition is a matter of the total content of one's way of eating: It's good to get enough protein, enough healthy fats, plenty of varied, colorful veggies/fruits for micronutrients and fiber, and that sort of thing.

    IMO, the only real way of evaluating a single food is in that context: If it contributes to you getting your essential well-rounded nutrition, it's a good food to eat. If it doesn't, then there may be reasons to minimize or avoid eating it.

    Exceptions are things that are objectively poisonous/dangerous, to which you're allergic, or that are contraindicated by a medical condition you have, or a medication you need to take. Don't eat those things.

    Anything else, if it helps you meet your goals, seems fine. Peanut butter has a little protein, and some healthy fats. If those are nutrients you need that day, the bar seems to contribute. Added sugar (including from sources like honey or maple syrup), is not an essential nutrients, but if you have the calories for it and it doesn't interfere with you getting well-rounded nutrition (and you're not diabetic or anything like that), it's fine to eat some.

    Sounds like your family member has bought into the pop-culture stupidity that there are individually, objectively "good foods" and "bad foods". I think there are not. There are nutritious overall ways of eating, and not so nutritious ones. Overall good nutrition is better than overall poor nutrition, IMO.

    I don't know, but food seems to be family member's answer for everything. Feeling tired? Food. Stressed out? Food. And yeah, I wouldn't call them an expert in nutrition either. I love them, but they are the type to buy into any nutrition mlm available.
    kimny72 wrote: »
    Did this family member specify "why" peanut butter isn't a good source of fat? Nuts and nut butters are kind of awesome.

    Honey is just another form of sugar, but again there's nothing wrong with it in moderation.

    As Ann is saying, what's important is the totality of your diet and how those individual foods fit into it. If you'd already eaten a ton of nuts and sugar today, maybe that bar wouldn't be the best idea. Regardless I would disagree with your family member.

    I have no idea why. But they told me I'd be better off getting a milkshake from McDonald's instead because that has real fat in it.

    <snip>

    The fat in peanut butter is very real.


    Edited to fix quote-nesting.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    edited July 2020
    mmapags wrote: »
    Terytha wrote: »
    Peanut butter is a perfectly fine source of fat, but you do not need sugar. No part of your body needs sugar to function.

    Well yeah, except that part about your brain needing it to function. So much so that if you don't ingest it, your body will create it through gluconeogenesis.

    Your brain can run on ketones. It doesn't need sugar. Your CNS and red blood cells are the only thing they requires sugar.

    OP, i often use peanut butter as a source of fats. Its so much better than nut butters. If you don't want the added sugar, than get an all natural version. If you don't care about the additional sugar, than go by flavor.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    At 490 calories, a small vanilla shake from McDonald's has 150 more calories than your snack bar.

    https://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/about-our-food/nutrition-calculator.html
    https://perfectsnacks.com/products/perfect-bar-peanut-butter/
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    Well, you could eat a snickers bar. Lots of fats and sugar. You could eat a protein bar, which usually has a bit less sugar and a bit more protein. Or, you could eat 1oz roasted mixed nuts and a piece of whole fruit. Not much protein (which you could add in a number of ways, if you wanted) but still a great natural snack. I prefer the 3rd option, personally.

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