What are the benefits of peanut butter ?
Peanut butter is one of the unprocessed foods, as it is made only from roasted peanuts, which are ground until they turn into paste, but not all commercial products are natural, some types contain sugar, vegetable oils, and trans fats, and peanut butter is a favorite among adults and children alike, in addition to its delicious taste, and there are many general benefits provided by peanut butter, including the following :
Contains vitamins and minerals
Peanut butter contains many minerals, including magnesium, which is one of the essential elements for the health of the body, as it plays an important role in more than 300 chemical processes in the body, phosphorus, which helps build healthy bones and cells, and helps cells produce energy, in addition to zinc, which is an important element for the body’s immunity, protein synthesis, and DNA formation, in addition to containing copper, iron, manganese, and potassium.
Peanut butter also contains vitamins, such as vitamin B3, which is useful for digestion and nerve functions, and it also helps produce energy, in addition to vitamin B6, which plays a role in more than 100 enzymatic reactions in the body, and it is also an element necessary for heart health and the immune system, in addition to that, peanut butter contains folate, vitamin B1, and vitamin B5.
Contain antioxidants
Peanut butter is a rich source of antioxidants, such as p-Coumaric acid, in addition to containing the compound resveratrol, which has been linked to reducing the risk of heart disease and other chronic diseases in animals; antioxidants are found in many foods, which have a role in reducing the incidence of cell damage caused by free radicals, by neutralizing them.
Contains healthy fats
Peanut butter is rich in healthy fats, as half of the amount of fat in it consists of oleic acid, which is the healthy type of monounsaturated fat that is also found in large quantities in olive oil, and oleic acid is associated with many health benefits, such as improving insulin sensitivity, and peanut butter contains linoleic acid, a type of omega-6 essential fatty acid found in many vegetable oils, and although it contains many calories, eating moderate amounts of peanut butter or peanut in its whole form is a good choice in weight loss regimens.
Have a low glycemic index
Natural peanut butter has a low glycemic index, as whole peanuts have a glycemic index of 14, making it one of the foods with the lowest glycemic index, it should be noted here that the glycemic index is a measure dedicated to foods, indicating the speed of their effect and raising blood glucose levels, as foods with a low glycemic index tend to raise the rate of glucose in the blood slowly and steadily, while foods with a high glycemic index lead to a rise in Blood glucose is fast, and rapidly rising blood sugar levels are unhealthy.
Studies on the benefits of peanut butter
The following is an explanation of the results of some scientific studies on the benefits of peanut butter :
- A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2013 indicated that eating peanut butter or peanuts themselves at breakfast by obese women at risk of developing type 2 diabetes helped regulate their blood glucose levels, and women who added nuts to breakfast had lower blood sugar levels and felt more full compared to those who ate the same amount of carbohydrates without nuts on a meal.
- Another study published in the journal JAMA in 2002 indicated that the benefit of eating large amounts of nuts and peanut butter is to reduce the risk of type II diabetes in women and to avoid consuming large amounts of calories, it is recommended to eat nuts regularly as an alternative to refined grains, or red or processed meat.
- A 2014 study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatments suggested that eating plant-based protein, fat, peanut butter, or nuts by teenage girls reduced their risk of benign breast disease.
- A 2013 study published in the journal Nutrition Research suggested that peanut or peanut butter consumption was associated with weight loss, improved diet, and blood lipid levels in children.
Nutritional value of peanut butter
The following table shows the nutrients found in a tablespoon of peanut butter :
| Nutritional element | Nutritional value |
| Water | 0.189 milliliters |
| Calories | 95.5 Calories |
| Protein | 3.6 grams |
| Total Fat | 8.18 grams |
| Carbohydrates | 3.57 grams |
| Dietary fiber | 0.768 g |
| Sugars | 1.68 g |
| Calcium | 7.84 milligrams |
| Iron | 0.277 milligrams |
| Magnesium | 27 milligrams |
| Phosphorus | 54.2 milligrams |
| Potassium | 90.2 milligrams |
| Sodium | 68.6 milligrams |
| Zinc | 0.406 milligrams |
| Copper | 0.067 milligrams |
| Selenium | 0.656 mcg |
| Vitamin B1 | 0.022 milligrams |
| Vitamin B2 | 0.031 milligrams |
| Vitamin B3 | 2.13 milligrams |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.071 milligrams |
| Folate | 13.8 mcg |
| Vitamin E | 1.46 milligrams |
| Vitamin K | 0.048 mcg |
Peanut butter harm
Peanut butter safety grade
Consuming small amounts of peanut butter is safe and does not cause any harm.
Caveats of eating peanut butter
The following are some cases in which you should be careful when consuming peanut butter :
- Although peanut butter is very nutritious, it may contain different levels of aflatoxin, which are toxic compounds consisting of certain types of mold, aflatoxin compounds are associated with a higher risk of liver cancer, but processing peanuts and converting them into peanut butter reduces aflatoxin levels by 89%, and to avoid exposure to toxicity due to aflatoxin, it is recommended to buy good types of nuts, nut butter, and avoid those that look moldy, or Faded color.
- Peanuts and other nuts are allergens, and people with nut allergies should avoid peanut butter and foods that contain nuts, the allergy sufferer shows several symptoms, which are as follows :
- Hives.
- Redness or swelling of the skin.
- Narrowing of the throat.
- Shortness of wheezing in breath.
- Runny nose.
- Despite its nutritional benefits, peanut butter is rich in fat and calories, with two tablespoons containing at least a quarter of the recommended daily fat requirement, some of which are saturated fat.
How to add peanut butter to the diet
Peanut butter can be made at home by mixing peanuts with a food processor until the mixture reaches the desired consistency, and peanut butter can be added to the diet by following the following recipes :
- Make a sandwich with peanut butter and jam that contains whole fruit, low in sugars, with whole grain bread.
- Grease the rice cake with peanut butter, and place slices of banana on top.
- Add a spoonful of nut butter to the smoothie to make it more saturated.
- Dip apple and pear slices in peanut butter.
- Mix peanut butter with yogurt, or oatmeal.
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