Are nut butters healthy?

How healthy are nut butters?  So many nut butter options to choose from.  Who didn’t grow up with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?  A staple in most of our school lunches.  But today rather than peanut butter there are many nut butter options to choose from.  The Berkeley Wellness has a good article on “10 Questions About Nut Butters”.  

Which nut butters offer the most nutrition? 

Since all nut butters are good for your health, choose the flavor you like best.  Why are nut butters so healthy?  They provide protein, a healthy fat, and many vitamins and minerals.  

Don’t nut butters have a lot of fat?

Nut butters do provide a lot of fat, but the fat in nut butters is a heart healthy fat as it is made up of mono- and polyunsaturated fats.  These are the fats that help lower your cholesterol, not raise your cholesterol levels.  These heart healthy fats also lower your risk of heart disease when you replace the nut fats for saturated fats like bacon.

Why are nut butters nutritious?

The nutrient value of the nut butter depends on what flavor you are choosing.  Each type of nut has different nutritional benefits. Overall, nut butters offer protein, fiber, some calcium and healthy fats.

Walnut butter – this nut butter is a good source of the heart healthy omega-3 fats and many antioxidants.  It is also known for “its anti-inflammatory properties”.    

Almond butter- this nut butter offers the benefit of adding some calcium to your day.  

What about sugar?

Most nut butters aren’t loaded with a lot of added sugar.  Read the label and you might see 2 grams of added sugar which would be only 8 calories from added sugar.  But even if some sugar is added, you are still getting the health benefits of the nut butter. 

What is the liquid layer on top of nut butters?  Should I pour it off?

The liquid on the top is the healthy fat.  You don’t want to pour it off and if you do you will have a very hard to spread nut butter left.  So, mix it in well.  After mixing, you can store the nut butter in the fridge and then it shouldn’t separate again. 

What about reduced fat peanut butter or reduced fat nut butter?

Don’t be fooled by this.  The manufacturer may take out some fat but then add in sugars, corn syrup or another type of sugar.  The calories may not be reduced as sugar replaces the good, heart healthy fat.  So, buy the real thing not reduced fat nut butters.

Nutritional value of nut butters

2 T.	Calories	Total Fat grams	Saturated. Fat grams	Carbs grams	Fiber grams	Protein grams	Calcium mg
Almond Butter	190	16	1.5	6	4	7	80
Cashew Butter	190	15	3	10	2	5	20
Hazelnut Butter	180	17	1	5	3	4	40
Macademia Nut Butter	230	24	4	4	3	2	20
Peanut Butter	190	16	2	7	3	8	20
Soy Nut Butter	190	15	2	6	5	9	30
Sunflower Seed Butter	210	18	2	4	2	8	20

What are some highly rated nut butters?

Health.com  and Everyday Health have rated the best nut butters.  Here are a few they like:

• Barney Butter Smooth Almond Butter – good taste and not gritty like some almond butters.  But it does have some added palm oil which isn’t very heart healthy. 
•  Sun Butter – sunflower seed spread – good for kids who have a peanut allergy.  No added oils, and the added sugars are only 3 grams or 12 calories.  They also have a no sugar added Sunflower Butter.  This nut butter is a good source of vitamin E, magnesium, zinc, copper and manganese.  A healthy choice.

 Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter – Health says this nut butter tastes like vanilla frosting.  Has some added sugar (not sure how much is added, 24 calories from sugar).  Palm oil is added which is not a heart-healthy oil.  

• Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter:  a healthy choice as the only ingredient is peanuts and some salt.  Total sugars are 2 grams from the peanuts or only 8 calories with no added sugar. 
• Artisana Organics Cashew nut butter – they advertise no added sugar, no added oils and no added salt.  So, a healthy choice.  They also say it is great for cooking. 

Any nut butter is a pretty healthy choice.  Now that the kids are grown, we like the Natural Peanut Butter.  But when the kids were growing up, it was Jif Creamy or Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter.  Now, one of my daughters loves nut butters and enjoys going to the Farmer’s Market in the summer to try different nut butters flavors.  Find a nut butter that works for you and your kids.  Sample different ones as they have different tastes and textures.

Sources:   article, properties, Nutritional value of nut butters, Health.com, Everyday Health, Artisana  Images:  Natural Peanut Butter, Almond Butter, Sun Butter