Peanut Butter - What's In That?

Peanut Butter is as "American" as baseball and apple pie!

It's a staple in the vast majority of American households,
if not every kitchen, and has been, for generations.

It goes great on and with many things including; white
bread, crackers, celery, ice cream, bananas, milkshakes and
much more.

There's even websites dedicated to peanut butter such as
PeanutButterLovers.com.

There's no doubt, Peanut Butter offers some nutritional
value. One ounce of roasted peanuts provides 10% of the
daily value of folate, the naturally occurring form of the
B vitamin folic acid, recommended for the reduction of
birth defects and lowered heart disease risk.

But there is also no arguing the fact that traditional,
non-organic or all natural brands also offer some
not-so-nutritional ingredients and has serious allergy
implications for many. Let's take a look at the big
picture.

INGREDIENTS:

Roasted Peanuts Sugar Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils
(Cottonseed and Rapeseed) Salt

Let's take a closer look at each of these ingredients:

Roasted Peanuts:

A closer look at peanuts and one learns that they are not
even in the "nut family". They are actually legumes
related to peas, lentils, chickpeas and other beans.

But for as small as peanuts are, they pack a HUGE punch in
terms of nutrition. They offer the following nutritional
values:

monounsaturated fats – healthy fat good for a strong heart
vitamin E niacin folate protein magnesium resveratrol, the
phenolic antioxidant found in red grapes and red wine

And there are numerous studies that prove a diet high in
peanuts can reduce cardiovascular disease.

Peanut Allergies

Although allergic reactions can occur to virtually any
food, research studies on food allergy consistently report
more problems with some foods than with others. It turns
out that peanuts are one of the foods most commonly
associated with allergic reactions.

Many schools across the U.S. are banning ALL peanut
products and even products manufactured in plants where
peanuts have been processed due to the high number of
children allergic to them and the severe nature of the
allergic reactions.

But if you are not allergic to peanuts, partaking in them
daily can be a great way to help your heart and body stay
healthy and strong.

Sugar:

Although less harmful than High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS),
sugar offers no nutritional value.

Sugar is known to cause tooth decay, obesity, and
hyper-activity, among other things.

It is added to Peanut Butter to enhance the taste and
flavor.

Partially Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils:

In Peanut Butter, most often includes Cottonseed and
Rapeseed oils. Let's take a closer look at each:

Cottonseed Oil:

Wikipedia: Cottonseed oil is a vegetable oil extracted from
the seeds of the cotton plant after the cotton lint has
been removed. It must be refined to remove gossypol, a
naturally occurring toxin that protects the cotton plant
from insect damage. Therefore, unrefined cottonseed oil is
sometimes used as a pesticide. In its natural
unhydrogenated state, cottonseed oil, like all vegetable
oils, has no cholesterol. It also contains no trans fatty
acids. However, it does contain over 50% Omega-6 fatty
acids and only trace amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids, and
the imbalance is considered unhealthy if not used in
moderation or balanced elsewhere in the diet. Further,
these polyunsaturated fats can potentially go rancid during
the extraction process.

Cottonseed oil is rich in palmitic acid (22-26%), oleic
acid (15-20%), linoleic acid (49-58%) and 10% mixture of
arachidic acid, behenic acid and lignoceric acid. It also
contains about 1% sterculic acids and malvalic acids in the
crude oil. The cyclopropene acids are undesirable
components, but they are largely removed during refining,
particularly deodorization, and also during hydrogenation.
They are not considered to present any health hazard in
cottonseed oil.

Cottonseed oil is commonly used in manufacturing potato
chips and other snack foods. Along with soybean oil, it is
very often partially or fully hydrogenated. The growing
consensus is that in hydrogenated (trans fat) form these
oils are very unhealthy. Cottonseed oil was the first oil
to be hydrogenated in mass production, originally intended
for candle production, and soon also as a food (as Crisco).
In part because regulations apply differently to non-food
crops, it has also been suggested that cottonseed oil may
be highly contaminated with pesticide residues, but
insufficient testing has been done.

Cotton (oil) is also one of the big four (soy, corn,
rapeseed/Canola, and cotton) genetically modified crops
grown around the world.

Rapeseed Oil:

Wikipedia: Natural rapeseed oil contains erucic acid, which
is mildly toxic to humans in large doses but is used as a
food additive in smaller doses. Canola is a tradename for
low erucic acid rapeseed that is sometimes mis-applied to
other cultivars.

Rapeseed has been linked with adverse effects in asthma and
hay fever sufferers. Some suggest that oilseed pollen is
the cause of increased breathing difficulties. This is
unlikely however, as rapeseed is an entomophilous crop,
with pollen transfer primarily by insects. Others suggest
that it is the inhalation of oilseed rape dust that causes
this, and that allergies to the pollen are relatively rare.
There may also be another effect at work; since rapeseed in
flower has a distinctive and pungent smell, hay fever
sufferers may wrongly jump to the conclusion that it is the
rapeseed that is to blame simply because they can smell it.

I think you can summize for yourself the not-so-nutritional
value these 2 vegetable oils offer us when included in
Peanut Butter.

Partially hydrogenated oils, or trans fatty acids are
something we can all do without. They have proven to have
serious health effects and provide no nutritional value
whatsoever.

SALT:

One of salt's major functions is to regulate blood volume
and pressure including the flexibility of the blood
vessels. Taken in moderation, it's a good thing for our
health.

However, when consumed in high volumes, it can be quite the
opposite.

ALTERNATIVES

Homemade Peanut Butter is the absolute healthiest
alternative, as you'll always know EXACTLY what is in the
final product. Here's a sample homemade recipe:

You can use a blender, food processor or an electric mincer.

3 cups organic roasted peanuts 2-3 Tbsp. honey 5 to 7 Tbs.
extra-virgin olive oil (or until desired consistency)
Peanuts help control blood sugar and contain antioxidants,
as do olive oil and honey.

There are other "peanut-substitute" products on the market
for those with allergies to peanuts. Although hard to
find, I would highly recommend only a natural or organic
variety. The traditionally processed varieties do contain
chemicals and preservatives.

Buying organic or all natural "nut spreads" at your local
organic grocer, is another alternative. They are fresh,
all natural and offer all the nutritional value without any
harmful or unnecessary ingredients.

CONCLUSION

Non-organic peanuts are routinely treated with pesticides.
This is one consideration. Another is the hydrogenated
oils and more specifically the cottonseed oil used in the
conventional peanut butter brands.

If we use the nutritional value peanut butter offers, as
our justification to continue eating conventional brands,
then one could say then why not replace with raw nuts
thereby by-passing the oils?

I think we each have to make the choices that are
healthiest for us, even when it comes to something we tend
to love so much, like peanut butter.

All natural, organic peanut butters may cost a few cents
more, are just as tasty, may have a slightly different
texture, but are void of anything harmful and full of
everything healthy. It's a healthy choice we can make
without sacrificing our own personal enjoyment…..a good old
fashioned pb&j!!!!

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Peanut Butter -- What's In That?
Copyright 2007 Moms Organic House