The World of Nut Butters

Growing up, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, aka PB&J, with Poore Brothers’ Jalapeno chips was a typical sack lunch. As time went on, I began to resent peanut butter for all those boring lunches while other kids enjoyed deli meat sandwiches or greasy cafeteria pizza. But as I grew older (and realized cafeteria pizza was disgusting), my love for PB&Js was renewed, and now I not only eat PB&Js as a 28-year-old editor, I scoop the peanut butter out of the jar by the spoonful. I crave peanut butter every day, as I’m sure many others do. In fact, there is a sandwich shop, Peanut Butter & Co. in New York City, supporting consumers’ addiction to peanut butter. They offer anything from “The Elvis”, a grilled peanut butter sandwich, stuffed with bananas and honey; to “The Heat Is On™ Sandwich”, a spicy peanut butter and chilled grilled chicken, with a little bit of pineapple jam.

Retail aisles are also taking a spin on peanut butter by catering to those allergic to peanuts with spreads such as almond and coconut. “We saw there was a huge need for consumer safety for people with peanut allergies,” said Jennifer Barney, founder and owner of Barney Butter. “It has been reported by FAAN (Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network) that most people who have a reaction think they are eating something safe (i.e., the food they are allergic to is not listed as an ingredient), but in fact the offending allergen was present by as little as 1 mg. This is most often due to the environment in which the food was produced or packed.” Barney noted Barney Butter has a dedicated facility for almonds, making it peanut-free.

But food allergy-free or not, nuts offer plenty of health benefits. Nuts are high in mono- and polyunsaturated fats, which FDA has labeled “good” fats for cholesterol health. Studies confirm nuts high in mono- and polyunsaturated fats can lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol aka bad cholesterol.(1)

In a review published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers concluded, “Nut consumption may not only offer protection againstischemic heart disease, but also increase longevity.”(2) Similarly, a study at the Harvard School of Public Health and The Adventist Health Study both agreed nuts play a role in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease.(3,4)

Nuts are an excellent sourceof vitamin E and magnesium, and individuals who eat nuts have higher intakes of folate, beta-carotene, vitamin K, lutein and zeaxanthin (carotenoids),phosphorus, copper, selenium, potassium and zinc per 1,000 kcal.(5)Nuts are also an excellentsource of phytochemicals (phyotsterols, phenolic acids, flavonoids,stilbenes and carotenoids) with an antioxidant capacity comparable to broccoli and tomatoes.(6)

In July 2003, FDA approved a qualified health claim for nuts and heart disease. The claim states, “Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, such as [name of specific nut], as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease.”(7)