About Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts.  Some common additives are salt, oils, sugar, and emulsifiers (those make peanut butter consistent).  “Natural Peanut Butter” is typically just ground dry roasted peanuts.

Peanut Butter was used by the Aztecs and the Incas, and then later patented in the late 1800’s by a Canadian named Marcellus Edson and an American named John Harvey Kellogg (who later invented Corn Flakes).

Nutrition Benefits of Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is a great source of protein, fiber, vitamin E, panthothenic acid, niacin, vitamin B6, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and copper.  They also contain a high amount of antioxidants.

The fats in peanut butter are comprised of 20% saturated fat and 80% unsaturated fats (known as the “healthier fats”).  Of the unsaturated fats, 66% is mono-unsaturated fats and 33% is poly-unsaturated fats.  Poly-unsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats have both been shown to improve blood cholesterol levels.  An an example, Omega-3 is a type of poly-unsaturated fat.

Smoothie Tips

You can replace peanut butter with other nut butters of your choice.  You can also use raw nuts and let the blender to the work.

One relatively new product is powdered peanut butter.  Powdered peanut butter is exactly what is says, only it removes a lot of the oils and fats, which also reduces the calories.  You will likely need to add double the amount of powdered peanut butter if using this instead of regular peanut butter (so if the recipe calls for 1 tbsp, you will likely need 2 tbsp of powdered peanut butter).