The idea that peanut butter could help with losing weight might seem farfetched to you. You’re thinking this is peanuts turned butter, and peanuts are fat, and everyone knows peanut butter is full of fat too.
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Plus, peanut butter contains sugar, hydrogenated oils, and looking at some of the brands on the market, a lot of other unhealthy stuff.
If you add the flavored versions, peanut butter is not the type of food you’d want to eat regularly. But what if I told you there is such a thing as good peanut butter?
First, here’s what to dismiss
If you want to eat healthy peanut butter, you first have to know what makes peanut butter unhealthy. Here are the ingredients found in many of the peanut butter brands on the market, making these versions bad for health.
Look out for any of them and avoid buying peanut butter that contains one or more of the following ingredients:
- Modified palm oil
- Corn maltodextrin
- Hydrogenated vegetable oil
- Mono- and diglycerides
- Corn starch
- Sugar
- Dried cane syrup
- Glucose solids
These ingredients are added to make peanut butter more appealing. Hydrogenated vegetable oil is added to prevent separation. Sugar and all the other types of sugar in peanut butter are added to make the products tastier, and so on.
The healthy peanut butter
Healthy peanut butter versions do exist, and you can probably find them at grocery stores wherever you live in Canada.
While most stores are packed with unhealthy options, the majority carries at least one brand with natural versions.
Natural peanut butter is peanuts only, although you will find some butter containing salt or sea salt as the second ingredient. These are okay too.
In Canada, Adams brand is the most acclaimed. They’ve been making natural peanut butter since 1922, and this is most people’s first choice of peanut butter.
Peanut butter and bodybuilding
Bodybuilders could tell you a thing or two about the incredible benefits of eating peanut butter frequently. Many in the field consume it daily for healthy fats and protein.
A 2-tablespoon serving of peanut butter contains merely 3 grams of saturated fats while the rest are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that have been proven to support muscle health.
If you are lifting weights or are practicing highly intensive training, you know it takes over 3,000 calories daily to be able to perform well. With peanut butter, not only do you get many calories – how many depends on how much peanut butter you eat per day, but you also have the advantage of cost-effective food.
Peanut butter and losing weight
Don’t be surprised that it’s possible to eat peanut butter every day and still lose weight. The difference between a bodybuilder eating peanut butter daily and a person trying to lose weight with consuming peanut butter is moderation.
As someone who is trying to lose weight, you should limit servings to a maximum 4 tablespoons per day, making sure you adjust your diet to maintain a calorie deficit and don’t eat too much fat from other sources.
Peanut butter helps you lose weight because it contains monounsaturated fats, which inhibit junk food cravings. Don’t pair peanut butter with white bread, cookies or jelly, however, but serve it with apple slices, banana cuts, celery stalks, and whole grain bread for best results.