Nut butters are a great and easy ingredient for snacks, breakfast, lunch, on the go or for the kids. Now, there are so many options. Which is the best one for you? Which ones should you buy? What should you look for when you buy a nut butter? Let’s break all these pending questions…
Almond Butter
Almond butter is a great source of Vitamin E. Vitamin E is an essential vitamin and fat soluble vitamin. That means this vitamin needs fat to be absorbed, broken down, and used. The benefit of this, is that mother nature already paired Vitamin E with a fat product, almonds. Vitamin E helps to reduce oxidative stress, which is something that breakdowns the health and youthfulness of your cells. By increasing your bodies ability to fight off this stress and maintain healthy cells makes this nut butter a very good healthy butter. Almond butter is a good source of fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin B, magnesium, zinc, and potassium.
Peanut Butter
Peanut butter has been for years the most common nut butter out there. Unfortunately the industry has changed the health benefits by over production and over farming. Over the years peanuts have become a common allergy. This is due to the fact that the over farming has lead to more GMO’s and pesticides.
Peanuts are a legume and still offer you many health benefits. Peanuts are a wonderful source of plant based proteins. This means they offer good quality amino acids. Amino acids make up a protein chain. Peanut butter is a plant based protein. To make the complete protein in your body pari peanut butter with wheat foods. For example, peanut butter and whole wheat toast or crackers. These foods together make a complete protein. This is why a peanut butter sandwich is a good thing!
Sunflower Seed Butter
As mentioned, nut allergies and sensitivies have become more prevalent over the years due to over production in farming, GMO’s and more pesticides. This is not a good thing! But the industry has adjusted for that. Welcome, sunflower seed butter. Roasted sunflower seeds and pureed and blended makes sunflower seed butter. Sunflower seed butter is also a healthy fat. All nuts and seeds are fats.
Sunflower seed butter is a great source of Vitamin E, Vitamin A, and magnesium. Magnesium is a mirconutrient, a mineral. This mineral is needed to regulate sleep, reduce inflammation, and helps to recover muscles from exercise. We need a small amount of magnesium, but sunflower seed butter is an excellent source of magnesium and an excellent source of healthy fats.
What To Look For In a Nut Butter
When shopping and adding nut butters into your cart at the grocery store, what do you look for? You know the importance of reading the nutrition fact label, and the ingredients. The list of ingredients will tell you everything in a food item. So what should be the ingredients in a nut/seed butter?
There should be 2 ingredients. That is it! Any more than 2 ingredients and the health benefits of that nut butter spread decline. There should be the roasted nut and sea salt. That is it! There shouldn’t be sugar added, oils, flavors, preservatives, or chemicals. The list should be 2 ingredients long. This is across the board for all nut and seed butters.
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