Is peanut butter good or bad for your health? – GOOD SHAPE

For many peanut butter lovers, the food tastes delicious and the texture is simply amazing.

Of course, not everyone can enjoy peanuts like those with allergies, but for the remaining 99%, is peanut butter healthy?

PROCESSED FOOD?

Peanut butter is a relatively unprocessed food. It’s basically just peanuts, often roasted, ground into a paste. However, this isn’t necessarily true for many brands that may add a number of added ingredients, such as:

sugar vegetable oils trans fat

And eating too much added sugar and trans fat has been linked to a number of health conditions, such as heart disease. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to read the list of ingredients to see if the chosen product only contains peanuts.

Once that’s done, let’s get to its benefits:

IT IS A GOOD SOURCE OF PROTEIN

Peanut butter is a very balanced source of energy that provides all three major macronutrients. A serving of 100 grams contains:

Carbohydrates: 22 grams of carbohydrates, 5 of which are fiber Protein: 22.5 grams of protein, which is quite a lot compared to most other plant foods Fat: 51 grams of fat

“For those looking to gain muscle mass, the product is a great source of proteins that help fight fatigue, improve training performance and muscle recovery when there is rest,” he says. Lucas Castro, creator of the brand Dr. Peanut.

LOW IN CARBOHYDRATES

Pure peanut butter contains only 20% carbohydrates, making it suitable for a low-carb diet. It also causes a very low rise in blood sugar, making it a good choice for people with type 2 diabetes, as one study showed.

A large review of eight studies found that eating peanut butter regularly was associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the long term.

RICH IN HEALTHY FATS

Half of the fat in peanut butter is made up of oleic acid, a healthy type of monounsaturated fat also found in high amounts in olive oil.

Oleic acid has been linked to several health benefits, such as better insulin sensitivity.

RICH IN VITAMINS AND MINERALS

A serving of 100 grams of pure peanut butter provides many vitamins and minerals:

Vitamin E: 60% of the Daily Value (DV) Vitamin B3 (niacin): 84% of the DV Vitamin B6: 29% of the DV Folate: 18% of the DV Magnesium: 37% of the DV Copper: 56% of the DV Manganese: 65% of the DV

It is also rich in biotin and contains decent amounts of:

Vitamin B5 Iron Potassium Zinc Selenium

“The presence of B complex vitamins improves the functioning of the mitochondria, which are parts of the cells responsible for distributing energy to the body”, says Lucas.

CONCLUSION

There are many good things about peanut butter, but also some negatives—especially the heavily processed ones.

It is quite rich in nutrients and a decent source of protein. It’s also loaded with fiber, vitamins, and minerals, although that doesn’t seem as significant when you consider the high caloric load.

It’s okay to incorporate moderate amounts of peanut butter into a healthy diet.