Awaken The World Through Enlightened Media

13 Surprising Health Benefits Of Peanut Butter

September 26, 2020
Total Views: 1342

by (Health Grinder): Have you heard of the health benefits of peanut butter?

It’s delicious and easy to prepare.

Most people like peanut butter, I included.

But, there’s often the question of whether it’s good for us.

Below we take a closer look at the nutritional value of this beloved food. And, learn more about its health benefits.

Peanut Butter Nutrition Facts

Peanut butter is made from, you guessed it, peanuts. The peanuts are processed. Then oil, sugar, salt and other ingredients are added.

Most store-bought PB include other additives as well. This lengthens the product’s shelf-life.

Natural peanut butter meanwhile, is as close as you get to peanuts.

This is why anyone allergic to peanuts should avoid peanut butter. It contains real peanuts.

In the same manner, it’s also the peanuts that are responsible for its nutritional value.

Each serving of peanut butter contains a balance of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.

You get 188 calories and 8 grams of protein.
Plus, 6 grams of carbs. Two of which are fiber. This small serving provides you with 16% of your daily fiber RDA.
Then there’s 16 grams of fat. Of which, all except 3.3 grams are saturated fat. The rest are polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which are good fats.

Surprising Health Benefits of Peanut Butter

1. It Contains Monounsaturated Fat

Peanut butter helps people lose weight and protects the heart.

All this despite having a good amount of fat and calories.

Why?

It’s the monounsaturated fats (MUFA). That’s the good kind of fat.

Monounsaturated Fats

Of the 16 grams of total fat in peanut butter, half of it (8 grams) comes from monounsaturated fat.

It is this fat that makes olive oil, peanut oil and avocados good for the heart.

Monounsaturated fat helps protect against metabolic syndrome and heart disease risk.

It does this by lowering cholesterol, triglycerides and other risk factors.

A review past research by the University of Manitoba shows that MUFA cuts the risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.

Monounsaturated fat promotes healthier blood lipid profiles (cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides). It also improves your insulin sensitivity, regulates blood pressure and glucose levels.

MUFA is why the Mediterranean diet is among the healthiest diets around.

2. Peanut Butter Cuts Your Risk of Heart Disease

Peanut butter like peanuts has a good amount of fat.

One 2 tablespoon serving gives us close to 25% of our daily fat requirements.

While we are often led to believe that fat is bad, the truth is, not all fat is bad.

Above, we saw that despite its high fat content, peanuts and peanut butter are good for weight loss.

It has the right kinds of fat that happen to be healthy for the heart. This helps lower your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Research by the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center revealed that nut consumers had a lower body mass index (BMI). This was compared to non-nut eaters.

They also had smaller waist circumferences and better blood pressure.

Together, these factors lowered their risk of metabolic syndrome and heart disease.

In another study, Loma Linda University went through a larger sample set. In all, they looked at over 31,000 related cases.

Results showed that people who ate nuts often had lower episodes of fatal and non-fatal heart disease.

3. It Contains a Good Amount of Protein

When you mention protein, you think about beef, chicken, pork and fish. At least, those are the first things that pop up.

Peanut butter may not offer as much protein per serving. But if does still have a good amount of it.

The best part, it comes in 2 small, delicious tablespoons.

For vegans and vegetarians, it’s a good non-meat source of protein.

A 2 tablespoon serving of peanut butter gives you 8 grams of protein. This makes it a good breakfast or snack choice.

To add more protein to your meal, have your PB&J or peanut butter sandwich with a glass of milk. This adds another 8 grams of protein.

Together, they give you about a third of your day’s protein RDA.

Note that the protein in peanut butter isn’t a complete one. It does not have all the essential amino acids.

This means adding other proteins to complement it is the way to go. Some good examples include milk, cheese or eggs. These will cover the other essential amino acids not found in PB.

4. Peanut Butter is High in Potassium

Potassium is one of the essential minerals needed by the body. Without it, the body won’t function properly.

This is why every time you go for your annual physical, your doctor will make you take this test.

The body needs potassium to keep your heart healthy. It plays a role in controlling the heart’s electrical activity. This allows the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body.

Potassium also promotes nerve and muscle function. Your kidneys need them as well.

Studies show that high levels of potassium cut your risk of death by 20%. This includes death from any health related issue.

Peanut butter helps us by supplying our bodies with potassium.

Each serving has around 205 milligrams of potassium. This makes it a good source of the mineral.

Along with bananas (358 mg) and avocados (485 mg), peanut butter is a delicious way to get your potassium.

5. It Can Help with Weight Loss

One of the things that turn people off is that peanut butter is high in calories. One serving contains close to 200 calories.

One serving contains close to 200 calories.

So how does PB help you lose weight?

It’s the protein and dietary fiber in PB.

Together, the protein and fiber keep you feeling satisfied longer. This keeps you from craving unhealthy foods.

So, you eat less. And, you’re able to follow your meal plans. This helps anyone trying to lose weight.

The Harvard School of Public Health has a study that backs this up. They found that women who ate more peanuts during an 8 year period didn’t gain weight. In fact, the peanuts cut their risk of weight gain.

In another study, the Nutrition Journal shows how peanuts influence satiety. It found that frequent nut eaters had lower BMI.

6. It has Fiber

While it does not contain as much dietary fiber as beans or grains, peanut butter does have its share of fiber.

You get 2 grams of fiber with each serving slathered on your sandwich. This makes up around 7% of your daily fiber needs.

Most of us fall short of the daily fiber requirements.

As a guide, men below the age of 50 should get 38 grams of fiber daily. Women should get 25 grams.

The problem is, data from the Institute of Medicine tells another story. It shows that the average American only gets 15 grams of fiber daily. This falls way short of the recommended allowance.

Fiber is important for healthy digestion and regular bowel movements. It slows digestion. This way, your blood sugar doesn’t spike after eating. The slow acting nature of fiber also helps keep us full for longer periods. As a result, you don’t feel hungry soon after eating it.

To add to the fiber in peanut butter, try having it on whole grain bread. The 2 slices of bread adds another 4 grams of fiber.

7. It Contains Many Vitamins and Minerals

Peanut butter is often classified as “food for kids”.

As such, we tend to overlook its nutritional value.

A closer look at its nutrient data tells us that it has many vitamins and minerals we need.

Here’s a list of the main vitamins and minerals peanut butter has to offer.

In each 2 tablespoon serving we get:

Vitamin B6: 12% of daily RDA
Vitamin E: 2.9 mg (14% of daily RDA)
Niacin: 4.3 mg (21% of RDA)
Folate: 24 mg (6% of RDA)
Magnesium: 49 mg (12% of RDA)
Phosphorus: 115 mg (11% of RDA)
Manganese: 23% of RDA

8. It’s a Cheap Way of Getting Calories

Most of us exercise to keep the weight off.

But, there are a few people who have the opposite problem. They want to gain weight.

For anyone trying to gain weight, peanut butter is a cheap way to get some calories.

It takes a small amount of PB to get about 200 calories. With that, you get 8 grams of protein as well.

The best part is, each jar of peanut butter costs a few bucks. This makes it affordable for anyone on a budget.

9. Peanut Butter Helps Fight Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia

The niacin in peanuts helps protect our brains from cognitive decline and illnesses.

Research tells us that niacin insufficiency increases your risk of dementia.

From 1993 to 2002, the CDC ran a study to see how diet affected cognitive change.

It found that niacin was inversely related to the presence of Alzheimer’s disease. This means low niacin levels have a link to the illness. High niacin meanwhile, helped reduce your risk.

In a related matter, you can also use peanut butter to test for Alzheimer’s disease. This works even in its early stages.

The test was discovered by University of Florida Health researchers.

Here, they tested patients by letting them smell 1 tablespoon of peanut butter.

Early stage Alzheimer’s patients had impaired sense of smell in their left nostril. They could only smell the peanut butter when it was closer by 10 cm. than they did with the right nostril.

10. Peanuts and Peanut Butter Reduce the Risk of Diabetes

The unsaturated fats in peanut butter help regulate blood glucose.

By doing so, they help cut your risk of getting diabetes.

A large scale study by the Harvard School of Public Health’s Department of Nutrition gives us some proof.

It learned that middle age women who ate more nuts had lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

A related study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition also looked at how nuts affect body weight and insulin resistance.

The results found that nuts helped regulate body weight. They somehow protected against type 2 diabetes as well.

The scientists attribute this benefit to the high caloric and fat content of peanuts.

11. It Can Help Prevent Colon Cancer

Colon and rectal cancers are among the leading types of cancers. They are often grouped together and referred to as colorectal cancers.

The National Cancer Institute notes that there were 132,700 new cases of colorectal cancers in 2015. This makes it the fourth highest occurring cancer. It only trails breast, prostate and lung cancer.

Problem is, it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths. Lung cancer is number one.

This makes it more crucial to avoid getting this disease.

A long term study done by the China Medical University in Taiwan reveals that eating peanuts cuts your colorectal cancer risk.

The study ran for over 10 years. It had more than 12,000 men and close to 12,000 women participating.

The results tell us that eating peanuts at least twice a week significantly lowers the risk of colorectal cancer. With nuts, risk decreases by over 50% for women and 30% for men.

12. It Prevents Gallstones

Gallstones are hardened deposits that form in the gallbladder.

They can become problematic and cause symptoms. These include pain, jaundice, and fevers. When the symptoms appear, you need to immediately see your doctor.

Many times, gallstones can be left alone. This is true if they don’t cause any symptoms.

Other times, they need surgery where the entire gallbladder has to be removed.

A study by the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital shows a link between eating nuts and gallstones.

Over a 20 year period, following over 80,000 participants, they found that one ounce of nuts a week lowers the risk of getting gallstones.

Avoiding gallbladder disease or at least reducing your risk can be as easy as eating peanut butter weekly.

13. It Reduces the Risk of Pancreatic Cancer

Type 2 diabetes is a known risk factor for pancreatic cancer.

This was why Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School studied the link between nuts and pancreatic cancer.

In past research, nuts helped prevent metabolic syndrome. This included cutting the risk for type 2 diabetes.

For the study, researchers went through the 75,000 participants included in the study.

They found that eating nuts regularly was inversely associated with the risk of pancreatic cancer.

How to Buy Peanut Butter

Not all peanut butter are the same.

And, we’re not talking about smooth or chunky here. Instead, we’re more concerned with their health benefits.

For the best option, go with natural or organic peanut butter.

Note that different brands have different formulations and ingredients. This makes it important to read the nutrition data on the back of the jar.

With natural or organic peanut butter, there is no sugar or hydrogenated fat included. This makes them healthier. You get the health benefits and avoid many bad ingredients.

Other things to check when choosing peanut butter are sodium and sugar. Each company uses different amounts of sodium and sugar. This lets them achieve the taste they want.

Often, the protein, fiber, and calories are similar. Even with different brands.

Choosing Peanut Butter

Here is a quick bullet list to be aware of when choosing peanut butter:

Go for natural or organic peanut butter. This means that there is none to very little unhealthy fats added to the product. Most regular commercial PB include other fats to help the product last longer.
Don’t worry about the amount fats and calories. Most of the time, the number of calories and percentage of fats will be the same among different brands.

Check the amount of sodium. Every brand has their own recipe. To get their specific taste they use sodium and sugar. For regular peanut butter, the sodium per serving can vary from as low as 40 mg all the way to 250 mg. This makes the sodium content worth a look. Organic PB have less.

Also check the sugar content. Sugar is the other additive that helps get the flavor the manufacturer wants. Some brands can have as much as twice the amount of others. This means be wary of the sweeter PB, even if it tastes better. It may not be healthy for you.