I’m just going to put it out there – I love peanut butter. For me, a day bereft of natural peanut butter is a day bereft of substance. Ok, that was a huge exaggeration, but seriously, I’m pretty sure it’s the one food I cannot live without. If I don’t get my daily apple and peanut butter in the morning, I am one grumpy fact checker! My cubicle neighbors, who patiently put up with the 8:30am sounds of me noshing on my favorite snack every day, can probably attest to this declaration of love.

Lucky for me, my beloved spread happens to carry a laundry list of health benefits, especially for all you active women out there. In a nutshell, nut butters* are a good source of protein, unsaturated (healthy) fats, antioxidants, soluble fiber, and so on. 

According to New York-based nutritionists and certified personal trainers Tammy Lakatos, RD and Lyssie Lakatos, RD (aka ‘The Nutrition Twins’), since nut butters contain protein, fat and fiber, they can be very satiating. “This combination means that nut butters can help you power through a workout without getting hungry. Plus, the antioxidants in the nut butters are important for muscle recovery.” For these reasons, I started adding Fat Loss cover girl and registered dietitian Tiffani Bachus’ peanut butter protein balls recipe to my diet to eat before the gym. ‘What a delicious, clean prelude to my workout!’ I thought. I convinced myself that any recipe with natural peanut butter was something I could enjoy guilt-free, anytime.

But then I started thinking – nut butter is good for you, but how much nut butter is too much nut butter? Was I even watching my portion sizes? I reflected back on all the times I haplessly dipped (ok fine, submerged) my apple slices into the jar. And how many jars was I actually going through every month anyway? It started to dawn on me that my affinity for this food was becoming a bit risky.

“It’s really easy to spread on several tablespoons of nut butter without blinking and pack on an additional 500 calories to a meal,” say The Nutrition Twins, “Some of our clients even tell us that nut butters are a trigger food – when they eat some, they just can’t stop and end up eating the whole jar because it’s so delicious!” No kidding! Although I have never eaten an entire jar at one sitting (I swear!) have definitely exceeded my limits. Even though nut butter is a healthy fat, it’s still a fat after all, so it’s dense in calories – a mere tablespoon can run up to 100 calories. When you are incorporating it into more than one meal per day, these calories do add up.

According to Tiffani Bachus, RD, if your goal is to lose weight, try eating one to two tablespoons of nut butters only two to three times per week. “Avoid nut butters with added sugar and fat,” she says, “Don’t be fooled into thinking that the reduced-fat is better. Be sure to check the label as the reduced-fat version has the same amount of calories and contains more sugar than the other.” When shopping for your nut butters, Tiffani also recommends opting for raw varieties (as they are less refined and retain most of the beneficial nutrients) as well as choosing those with oil on the top. “If you see oil separations, don’t be scared. Just stir it in after opening the jar.”

And why was I limiting myself to only peanut butter when there are so many other varieties of nut butters on the market? “Switching up your nut butters is great since all nuts have different benefits to offer”, say the Nutrition Twins. For instance, almond butters are higher in fiber, while soy nut and peanut butter are higher in protein. Pistachios are lower in fat, high in protein and fiber and very high in phytosterols as well. Don’t forget seeds too! “Just as nuts and legumes offer health benefits, so do seeds. Time to incorporate a mix of sunflower, chia, hemp and pumpkin seeds into your diet,” recommends Tiffani.

Moral of the story: moderation (and variety, too). Natural nut butter is indeed a fine choice for the active woman, but don’t be like me and go overboard! I am happy to report that I have now started carefully measuring my peanut butter portions to make sure I’m eating no more than about a tablespoon a day (guess what, I can actually taste the apple now!) I also started making my protein balls with almond butter instead of peanut butter and alternating the days I eat them with the days I have my apple snack. Hopefully that oughta bring the guilt-free element back into the equation!

I would like to extend a very special thank you to Tammy and Lyssie Lakatos and Tiffani Bachus for their amazing help with this blog post. For more fantastic advice from the Nutrition Twins, check out their website, nutritiontwins.com. For more on cover girl Tiffani, be sure to grab our
Fat Loss 2012 special on stands in January!

*For the record, peanuts are actually legumes, but who says legume butter?

- Tara Kher, Fact-Checker