Peanut butter-good or bad?

crunchie84

Hi guys,
I've recently started eating peanut butter on seeded bread. I'm concerned however that it may not be the healthiest thing to eat. Any thoughts?
Thanks!

marathonic

As long as it fits within your daily calorie requirements, it's a good source of fats.

I've ate about six 1kg tubs over the past few months as it's cheaper than nuts and tasty too. Make sure you buy the type that doesn't have a load of salt or sugar added. I use Holland and Barrett and myProtein brands.

Gummy Panda

marathonic wrote: »

As long as it fits within your daily calorie requirements, it's a good source of fats.

I've ate about six 1kg tubs over the past few months as it's cheaper than nuts and tasty too. Make sure you buy the type that doesn't have a load of salt or sugar added. I use Holland and Barrett and myProtein brands.

I love the Whole Earth one on sliced apple.

FOOD OF THE GODS!

marathonic

Gummy Panda wrote: »

I love the Whole Earth one on sliced apple.

FOOD OF THE GODS!

Never thought about sliced apple. I normally use oatcakes or just eat a spoonful of it. Good call, must try it out on some chilled apples.

I do need to place my next order as I've about two teaspoonfuls left in my last 1kg tub at work - I normally keep one at work and one at home.

I've also tried in through cottage cheese but that's a marmite thing - ya'll either love it or hate it...

Mellor

Every food doesn't ahve to fall into a good or bad category. Some foods are just neutral.

Eating small amounts of PB is good, as it contains heathly fats, other nut butters are even better.
Eating more than a small amount of bad as it is very calorie dense. Its very tastey, so its easy to over eat.

SBWife

Peanut butter and banana on homemade whole wheat bread is awesome. A spoonful stirred into oatmeal is lovely and peanut butter and jam on toast is a great treat.

Mellor

Mellor wrote: »

Every food doesn't ahve to fall into a good or bad category. Some foods are just neutral.

Eating small amounts of PB is good, as it contains heathly fats, other nut butters are even better.
Eating more than a small amount of bad as it is very calorie dense. Its very tastey, so its easy to over eat.

any recommendations on other nut butters? I can't get enough of PB, its my go-to snack these days. A tsp of the stuff just let melt in the mouth after dinner, or else make a small bar out of it and some dessicated coconut, just mash them together with some other nuts until the coconut takes the water from the PB and gets hard enough to hold.

SBWife

Almond butter is my other go to, cashew is delicious as well.

Mellor

Deleted User wrote: »

any recommendations on other nut butters? I can't get enough of PB, its my go-to snack these days. A tsp of the stuff just let melt in the mouth after dinner, or else make a small bar out of it and some dessicated coconut, just mash them together with some other nuts until the coconut takes the water from the PB and gets hard enough to hold.

Almond, cashew, or ABC butter (abc = almond, brazil, cashew)

crunchie84

Glad to know there are other peanut better lovers out there.Its my new addiction at the moment so I don't think the amount I'm eating is going to be healthy!

Be very careful with the portion sizes. So easy to overdo it

marathonic

Deleted User wrote: »

Be very careful with the portion sizes. So easy to overdo it

Exactly... I normally eat it on oatcakes or a teaspoonful on it's own (maybe twice a day). It's much easier to overdo it if you're eating a peanut butter sandwich - especially if you use two slices of bread which requires a lot of peanut butter and adds the empty calories of the bread.

Make sure that, if you're currently getting enough calories, you don't just add the peanut butter. Instead, cut out some carbs and replace those with the peanut butter.

I cycle 65+ miles per week and lift weights 3 times per week and am on a bulk so my calorie requirements are very different from the average person. This is why I can afford to eat more calorie dense foods without worrying about gains in bodyfat.

Dotcomdolly

Agree re portion size - the amount I put on an oatcake is just shy of 10g and comes in at 55cals. Just had that now with sliced banana on top, yummy!

rainbow kirby

A spoonful in porridge really does help to make it even more filling, and adds more texture too if you're using crunchy peanut butter. It's also damn good on a bagel with banana as a late-afternoon snack if I want to run straight after work.

Rovi

I have to avoid peanut butter, as all pretence at self-restraint goes out the window and I end up eating it straight out of the jar with a spoon

Alopex

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/aflatoxins-or-another-reason-to-shun-peanuts/

We already tend to steer clear of peanuts for some obvious (to our readers) reasons: the fact that they’re legumes, rather than actual nuts; the potentially dangerous, “anti-nutrient” lectins found in them; and their prominent spot in the upper echelons of the “Most Common Food Allergens” list. But there’s another reason to steer clear of peanuts, something we’ve touched on briefly in the past but never expounded upon. Peanuts, along with a couple other crops we tend to avoid, like corn and cereals, are especially susceptible to a mold that produces a mycotoxin called aflatoxin.

Aflatoxin is a carcinogen that has been shown to cause liver cancer in rats (and, presumably, in humans). The amounts given to the rats in the study were highly concentrated, of course, with the express intent to study the effects of acute aflatoxicosis. You won’t be getting a couple grams of aflatoxin with every bag of peanuts or anything, so acute aflatoxicosis isn’t a big issue for people – at least in the US.

That’s not to suggest that correlations between aflatoxin ingestion and cancer rates in humans haven’t been found. In China, for example, a study of five groups of people from different villages found definite positive correlations between the amount of aflatoxin ingested and liver cancer mortality rates. Those villagers who ingested less aflatoxin were less likely to develop liver cancer; those who ingested more were more likely. Unsurprisingly, the three major sources of aflatoxins in this study were peanuts, peanut oil, and corn. Similar reports of aflatoxicosis have been made in India and Kenya.

India, China, Kenya – all developing countries with huge populations to feed. As the recent Chinese pet food contamination debacle attests, health and food standards in developing nations are often lacking. Aflatoxins develop because of these substandard conditions, whether it’s drought afflicted crops weakened and vulnerable to the mold that produces aflatoxin, or insufficient storage facilities letting in the moisture and humidity that creates the mold. Hot, humid climes and improper storage – the real culprits.

The FDA is aware of aflatoxin, and all susceptible foods are tested to ensure they pass muster. Of course, “muster” to the FDA could mean “not so much that acute aflatoxicosis becomes imminent.” What about chronic (a descriptor our nation’s health “experts” seem loathe to address) ingestion of aflatoxins? You know… long term effects? Eating toxic aflatoxin, even in relatively small amounts, over a long period of time (say, slathered on to your morning toast every morning) just doesn’t seem like the best idea.

Well, a link between aflatoxin exposure and stunted growth in West African children has been shown (bolstered by similar laboratory findings in animals), but no specific mechanism has been proposed to explain the relationship. Still, though, the very fact that much of the evidence seems to be pointing towards aflatoxin as a dangerous, development-stunting carcinogen, with a greater propensity to reside in peanuts and cereal grains, only bolsters my resolve to stay off impostor nuts and cereal grains (in or out of the closet alike). If there’s one thing everyone can agree on, it’s that increased liver cancer and stubby limbs are unequivocally devolutions.

I don’t know about you, but the evidence against eating corn and peanuts and cereal grains just seems to be stacking up incredibly high. So high, in fact, that were it not for the remarkably solid foundation of facts, scientific evidence, and personal experience, I would worry it might topple over.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Key word in that article "Presumably"

two wheels good

No one's mention palm oil content.
Best to avoid palm oil on health grounds and because the rain forests are being cleared to establish palm oil plantations. I'll tolerate some added salt but not the palm oil.

http://www.veg-world.com/articles/peanut-butter.htm

"The worst offender is palm oil, a cheap oil that's added to peanut butter to prevent the natural oil from separating out. Unfortunately, palm oil is high in saturated fats. Brands that use palm oil contain 16 to 20 percent more saturated fats than those that don't.


As an alternative to palm oil, some brands contain mono- and di-glycerides of fatty acids, also known as glyceryl monostearate or distearate, or E471. This is used as an artificial stabilizer. These brands are also high in saturates."

Mack_1111

The Kelkin peanut butter is 98% peanuts and no palm oil.

Dotcomdolly

Mack_1111 wrote: »

The Kelkin peanut butter is 98% peanuts and no palm oil.

The meridian one is 100% nuts

Mack_1111

I haven't seen the meridian brand before, where can you get it?

Dotcomdolly

Mack_1111 wrote: »

I haven't seen the meridian brand before, where can you get it?

Nearly all health food shops stock it. Meridian do a whole range of very good nut butters

Pace2008

Rovi wrote: »

I have to avoid peanut butter, as all pretence at self-restraint goes out the window and I end up eating it straight out of the jar with a spoon

This is me.

I can keep it under control under normal circumstances, but after a night on the beer, my sense of judgement left behind in the pub, the lid comes off, the spoon comes out and I'll horse down a day's worth of calories in a matter of minutes. The only thing that stops me eating more is the immense dryness of the stuff, though this can be circumvented with a litre of full-fat milk...

The only solution: keep the tasty **** well out of my reach ie. not buy it at all.

If you're sparing with it it's a good food, though, particularly for skinny types with poor appetites who find it difficult to get the calories into them. YMMV.

Mack_1111

Why not make your own 100% peanut, peanut butter simple

http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/recipes/peanut_butter.html

Mellor

Because buying Meridian 100% peanut, peanut is butter is cheaper.

They buy in massive bulk and pass the cost on. Buying small amounts of nuts is expensive.

BigDuffman

This thread has lead me to going to town on a jar of peanut butter...curse you guys. But on the other hand peanut butter banana and cinnamon...nom nom

Wollwead

I take a table spoon of peanut butter with my porridge in the mornings and a table spoon of natural honey, nothin like it after some really heavy lifting:D

I use the Kelkin brand, red jar and it's feckin delish:cool: You do have to be careful with it though, very easy to stack up the aul calories with it. I eat it in the morning and it keeps hunger at bay better than anything else i've tried.

metamorphosis

Iv moved mostly away from peanut butter and more onto brazil nut butter and hazelnut butter - both bloody lovely. Much cheaper to make these types of butters yourself with a good strong food processor and little oil and nuts. Meaning to try macademias

Edit: iv fouund tahini pretty cheap to buy - it's alright, not lovely but okay

rubadub

In holland & barrett the 1kg meridian tubs are sometimes out the back, so ask for them if not on the shelf. Think they have salted and unsalted types. They come in nice solid containers which I reuse.

Jarren

The only reason why I don't buy any peanut butter at all is because I noticed that is far too easy to lose my self-control
The damm thing is just so delicious:D

dylbert

PB, banana and milk smoothie, oh yeah MMMMmmmm

Dotcomdolly

dylbert wrote: »

PB, banana and milk smoothie, oh yeah MMMMmmmm

Add a scoop of oats & it makes a really filling breakfast

marathonic

Just ordered 4kg of myProtein's crunchy peanut butter... roll on Friday/Monday to I crack open the first tub

SteelyDanJalapeno

Peanut butter = amazing

rubadub

marathonic wrote: »

Just ordered 4kg of myProtein's crunchy peanut butter... roll on Friday/Monday to I crack open the first tub

Opened on monday, scoffed by tuesday.:pac:

The big tubs make most people eat more, an idea would be to have a second regular jar you fill from the big one. Thats a decent enough price on myprotein.

mad m

I was looking at the Kelkin brand someone recommened, but it says on jar that it has Palm oil in it also....

Which is the best to get, the H&B (Big tub)?

marathonic

rubadub wrote: »

Opened on monday, scoffed by tuesday.:pac:

The big tubs make most people eat more, an idea would be to have a second regular jar you fill from the big one. Thats a decent enough price on myprotein.

I agree with you 100%, it's highly addictive. I probably definately wouldn't buy it at all if I wasn't on a bulk.

I'm currently lifting weights and trying the normal 500 calorie surplus - but I also cycle 16 miles daily to/from work which means I've to eat a 1000 calorie surplus. In other words, I can scoff away!!

Alopex

had some peanut butter with coconut oil last night. seriously nice. The saltiness from the PB mixed with the oily sweetness of the CO is just perfect

Dotcomdolly

mad m wrote: »

I was looking at the Kelkin brand someone recommened, but it says on jar that it has Palm oil in it also....

Which is the best to get, the H&B (Big tub)?

Meridian do a big 1kg tub too, think it's about 6.50e. Definitely no nasties in there.
I get mine in my local health food shop.

FueledByAisling

might sound crazy but having a bit of peanut butter with celery is actually incredibly delicious!

Note that I eat an organic peanut butter that I buy in Tesco because normal peanut butter with all the oils make me feel really sick so I don't know what it might taste like with non organic peanut butter.

rubadub

FueledByAisling wrote: »

Note that I eat an organic peanut butter that I buy in Tesco because normal peanut butter with all the oils make me feel really sick so I don't know what it might taste like with non organic peanut butter.

Organic does not mean it has no added oils, it may or may not, just like regular peanut butter may or may not.

There is usually 5-10% added oil to typical supermarket peanut butter.

This is the Whole Earth Organic Smooth Peanut Butter340g from tesco

Roasted Peanuts* (92%),Palm Oil*^ ,Sea Salt† ,*Organically Grown ,†Approved non-organic ingredient ,^Palm Oil proudly sourced from RSPO members

So is probably just under 8% added oil, and it is palm oil which many want to avoid. This is more oil than most brands add.

Whole Earth Organic Crunchy Peanut Butter340g

Roasted Peanuts* (95%),Palm Oil*^ ,Sea Salt† ,*Organically Grown ,†Approved non-organic ingredient ,^Palm Oil proudly sourced from RSPO members

Crunchy has less added oil so is probably not as spreadable.

FueledByAisling

I think that may be the one I use, I know it has a small percentage of oil but it's virtually nothing compared to other brands that my family and friends eat where the oil rises to the surface and it's basically peanuts smushed swimming in oil

rubadub

FueledByAisling wrote: »

the oil rises to the surface and it's basically peanuts smushed swimming in oil

Many see this as a good sign! the merdian brand is 100% nuts, no added oil and you can get it without salt too. It even has a note on the label about the oil separation saying you might have to mix it back in, you get loads of oil on top of it compared to most brands.

To stop this happening some manufacturers put in hydrogenated oils, the solid brick types which are full of trans fats and bad for you. (many will not have transfats, so I am not sure about your one)

Palm oil is naturally fairly solid at room temp, so I am not sure if it would need to be hydrogenated. I would sooner have one with no oil at all. Since yours has palm oil it might appear to have less added oil, but it has about the same, just compare values per 100g next time you are in the supermarket. They rarely openly state the % of added oil, so look at the % of peanuts, the rest is mainly added oil and/or sugar and a small bit of salt.

Meridian do an organic one which is unsalted and 100% nuts.

Mellor

FueledByAisling wrote: »

I think that may be the one I use, I know it has a small percentage of oil but it's virtually nothing compared to other brands that my family and friends eat where the oil rises to the surface and it's basically peanuts smushed swimming in oil

10% oil is quite high, especially palm oil.
The oil on the surface is a sign that it is high quality. Pure peanut butter has this separation of oils and solids, nothign wrong with it.

Branded products ass transfats, palm oil, emusifiers etc to prevent this from happening. Visually it might look better, but its far worse.
You are letting your preception alter what you think is better.

You are aware that nuts and prenuts are naturally 40-50% oil