PB: Spread it around
YOU’VE been topping your toast with peanut butter since your kindergarten days. But, fast-forward to 2018 and the nut butter game is a whole new world. So, if you’re wondering how they stack up, nutritionally speaking, here’s your dietitian-approved answer.
The base
The good news is this: no matter what type of nut butter you choose, the base is always nuts, which come with a wealth of nutritional perks.
Aside from contributing a valuable boost of muscle-building protein, nuts also provide a dose of heart-healthy fats and fibre to support a healthy gut.
The benefits
Enjoying a handful of nuts (about a tablespoon of natural nut butter) a day has been associated with a raft of health benefits, like reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes, to name a few.
Peanuts are not actually part of the nut family, rather they’re classed as a legume. Nonetheless, they offer many of the same health benefits of nuts – plant-based protein for building and maintaining muscle mass, fibre for digestive health and fats that are beneficial for our heart and brain.
The newcomers
Almond, brazil and cashew are the most common nuts popping up in new nut butters on the supermarket shelves – and each of these nuts offers slightly different nutrition benefits.
For one, almonds are a good source of the disease-fighting antioxidant Vitamin E, which can support heart health. They also contain natural plant sterols that can help reduce cholesterol.
Two, exotic brazil nuts are a source of selenium, another antioxidant that is key for the immune system. Brazil nuts contain magnesium, too, which aids enzyme function and muscle contraction.
And three, cashews provide copper, which is needed for various enzymes to function properly. Again, they also have antioxidant properties.
The verdict
In short, yes – nut butters really are that good for you. What’s important to recognise, though, is that different types of nuts offer different nutritional perks. So, I’d encourage you to mix up your toast toppings so you get a well-rounded intake of the different nutrients that nuts have on offer.