Peanut Butter Is A
Quick & Easy Way To Reduce Your Risk Of Heart Disease. 
Just slap together a peanut butter (and
honey or jelly) sandwich on multi-grain bread, and you have the makings of a
heart-healthy meal, if not a childhood memory.
A quick and easy peanut butter sandwich is healthier, by far, than a fast
food burger or fried chicken dinner and far better than, let's say, an equally
easy "meal" of chips or ice cream. That's because peanut butter offers
health-protective mono- and polyunsaturated oil.
Trading burgers (saturated fat) for peanut butter sandwiches reduces your
risk of developing heart disease. In fact, the more often you eat peanut butter
(and nuts), the lower your risk of heart disease. (Hu, J Am College Nutr
20(1):5, 2001)
Start spreading peanut butter (instead of butter) on toast. Enjoy PB &
banana for a "decadent" snack in place of ice cream.
Peanut Butter Is An Affordable Source Of Calories.
If you are a hungry athlete who needs 3,000 or more calories a day, you can
spend a significant amount of money fueling yourself (especially if you
routinely eat protein bars, weight gain shakes and other engineered
sports foods). Peanut butter can fuel your body without breaking the bank.
One hundred calories of peanut butter (about 1 tablespoon) costs about $0.07,
far less than 100 calories of other protein sources, such as cottage cheese
($0.55 per 100 calories), tuna ($0.60) and deli turkey breast ($0.75).
The cost of 200 calories of peanut butter is about $0.15, far less than the
$1.49 you'd spend on 200 calories of an energy bar...and generally, the peanut
butter is far tastier!
Peanut Butter Is A Source Of Protein, Needed To Build & Repair
Muscles.
TAKE NOTE: Peanut butter is not
protein-dense.
That is, two tablespoons of peanut butter, the amount in an average sandwich,
provides about 7 grams of protein. In comparison, the calorie equivalent of
turkey in a sandwich offers about 20 grams of protein.
Athletes who weigh 140 pounds may need 70 to 100 grams protein per day;
200-pound athletes, 100 to 150 grams. For 100 grams of protein, you'd have to
eat the whole jar of peanut butter! Unlikely!
To boost the protein value of peanut butter, simply accompany it with a tall
glass of milk: a PB &J sandwich + 16 ounces lowfat milk = 28 grams of
protein, a good chunk of your daily requirement.
Milk simultaneously enhances the value of the protein in the peanut butter
sandwich. That is, peanuts are low in some of the essential amino acids muscles
need for growth and repair. The amino acids in milk
(as well as those in the sandwich bread) nicely complement the limiting amino
acids in peanuts.
Peanut Butter Is A Reasonable Source Of Vitamins, Minerals & Other
Health-Protective Food Compounds.
There is a nice variety of notable vitamins and minerals in peanut butter. For example,
peanut butter contains folate, vitamin E, magnesium and
resveratrol, all nutrients associated with reduced risk of heart disease.
Magnesium is also associated with reduced risk of adult-onset diabetes.
Peanut butter offers a small amount of zinc, a mineral important
for healing and strengthening the immune system. As an athlete, you need all
these nutrients to keep you off the bench and on the playing field.
Peanut Butter Contains Fiber - Not A Lot (1 gram per tablespoon) But
Some.
Fiber in food contributes to a feeling of fullness that can help dieters eat
less without feeling hungry. Fiber also promotes regular bowel movements and
helps reduce problems with constipation. By enjoying peanut butter on whole
grain bread, you can contribute 6 to 8 grams of fiber towards the recommended
target of 20 to 35 grams fiber per day.
Peanuts Contain Mostly Health-Protective Mono- & Polyunsaturated
Fats.
When peanuts are made into commercial peanut butter (such as Skippy or Jif),
some of the oil gets converted into a harder, saturated fat. This keeps the oil
from separating to the top. The hardened oil, called trans-fat, is less
healthful.
However, the good news is, commercial peanut butters contain only a tiny
amount of trans fats and just a small amount of (naturally occurring) saturated
fat.
For example, only 3.5 of the 17 grams fat in two tablespoons of Skippy are
"bad."
To minimize your intake of even this small amount of unhealthful fat, you can buy all-natural peanut butter. If you
dislike the way the oil in this type of peanut butter separates to the top of
the jar, simply store the jar upside down.
That way, the oil rises to what becomes the bottom of the jar when you turn
it over to open it. And if you eat peanut butter daily, you won't have to
refrigerate it, thereby making the all-natural peanut butter easier to spread.
