20/10/2023
8 Health Benefits of Peanut Butter
Peanut butter isn’t just for school lunches. This versatile spread is surprisingly good for your health. The high protein and healthy oils help with weight loss, diabetes, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
No food is perfect, though. So there are some cautions with peanuts. Hopefully, you are not part of the 1 percent of the population that is highly allergic to peanuts.
November is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Month. More than 65 million pounds of peanut butter will be eaten by Americans during the month of November.
“Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter." James A. Garfield
8 Health Benefits of Peanut Butter
1. Suppresses hunger for weight loss
Eating peanuts and peanut butter helps control hunger without leading to weight gain.
2. Your heart loves peanuts.
Studies found peanuts lowered the risk of cardiovascular and coronary heart disease.
3. Lowers colon cancer
Eating peanuts and peanut butter may reduce colon cancer in women.
4. Helps protect against Alzheimer’s disease and memory impairment
A study found that those getting the most niacin from foods were 70 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Peanuts are one of the foods high in niacin.
Peanut Butter and Banana: A Perfect Combination
5. Prevent gallstones
In two studies, individuals eating five or more servings of nuts per week had a 25 percent to 30 percent lower risk of getting gallstones compared to those who rarely or never ate nuts. Although peanuts are technically classified as legumes, they were considered nuts for these experiments, so peanuts are actually the most commonly consumed ‘nut’ in the world.
6. Full of Healthy Fat
All of the fat in peanut butter is heart-healthy monounsaturated fat. A study found that insulin-resistant adults who ate a diet high in mono-saturated fat had less belly fat than people who ate more carbohydrates or saturated fat.
7. Lowers Type 2 Diabetes
Eating peanuts can reduce the risk of diabetes, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
8. High in valuable nutrition
Peanut butter has protein as well as potassium, which lowers the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease. It also contains fiber for your bowel health, healthy fats, magnesium to fortify your bones and muscles, vitamin E, and antioxidants.
Caution: Peanuts and Aflatoxin
Peanuts are susceptible to molds and fungi, some of which are highly toxic. A fungus called Aspergillus flavus produces a carcinogen that is twenty times more toxic than DDT, called aflatoxin. (To read all about these molds and the best way to minimize the risk, click here.)
History of Peanut Butter
Peanut Butter Lovers Day started on November 4, 1990. It marks the anniversary of the first patent for peanut butter, applied for by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg on November 4, 1895.
Peanut Butter Trivia
In the early 1900s, peanut butter was found in tea rooms as a fancy food for rich people.
The USA has had two presidents elected who were peanut farmers: Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.
On one acre of land, there are enough peanuts to make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.
Before graduating high school, the average child will have consumed 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Women and children like creamy peanut butter, and men prefer crunchy.
Best Peanut Butter to Buy:
Read the label. Natural, old-fashioned organic peanut butter with no hydrogenated fats or sugar is the best. Choose peanut butter that contains only peanuts and salt. This kind is full of peanut flavor, doesn’t contain additives, and is better for the environment too. Refrigerate it and turn it upside down in the fridge so the peanut oils and solids can re-mix.
