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When I was growing up we had one type of nut butter; peanut better. Yes, technically it's a legume, but for practical purposes it's a nut. I never heard of any other nut butter until I got into healthly living and shopping at the health food store. We have many more choices available today, but not all nut butters are the same.
Nut Butter Quality
Nut butters with additional, unhealthy ingredients
Ideally, peanut butter would be simple. Take some peanuts, grind it up and there is your nut butter. However, this is often not the case. These are the ingredients in Skippy peanut butter. I'm picking on Skippy because I loved their peanut butter growing up.
- Roasted peanuts
- Sugar
- Salt
- hydrogenated vegetable oil (cottonseed, soybean and rapeseed oil) to prevent separation
The added sugar from sugar can be left out. It's there to make the nut butter more addictive. Hydrogenated vegetable oil is used to prevent separation of oil from the nut butter. Another name for hydrongenated oil is margarine. Decades ago margarine was touted as a healthy alternative to regular butter. It has since then been associated with cardiovascular disease and other illnesses.
Some nut butters have palm oil as an ingredient. That's another way they keep the oil from seperating. How healthy it is depends on processing. I recommend organic and cold processed oils.
Another brand of peanut butter, simply lists dry roasted peanuts as the only ingredient. Unlike when I was growing up in the 1980's we have a wide variety of such nut butters available today.
How to keep the oil from separating
If you buy a nut butter that is just nuts and nothing else, then the oil will separate out and rise to the top. You don't need to stir it back together with a spoon. Instead, simply store the bottle upside down and the oil will mix back in with the rest of the butter on its own.
Nut butters and plastic
Nut butter should be sold in glass. Plastic containers used to contain BPA until this was discovered to be a strong endocrine disruptor. Since then its use has been banned in certain products. Since the public is much more aware of BPA, many products are sold in "BPA free" packaging. The truth is that plastic have not been well studied and it's best to just plastic packaging when possible. "BPA Free" is no guarantee of safety.
Why nut butters and cheese are the absolute worst foods to store in plastic
Plastic is fat soluble. This means when you store a fatty food in plastic your food will slowly soak up chemicals from the container. Nothing fatty should be stored in plastic.
What place do nut butters have in a healthy diet?
There are many different diets, which each work for some people. So it's impossible to give a blanket statement on how everyone should use nut butters. These are some general guidelines.
Many vegans or vegetarians have been told nuts are a great source of protein. This is misleading. Nuts and seeds have enzymes which impair digestion. This allows them to stay viable in nature for a long time until buried underground and ready to sprout. Humans do not have the enzymes to easily digest raw nuts and seeds. The only way to use nuts and seeds as a major source of protein is to soak them. This deactivates the enzymes so you can get much more nutritional value out of it. Some companies do sell sprouted nut butters. They are more expensive however.
Don't eat the same nut butter all the time. Exposing your immune system to the same nut protein every day can cause you to develop allergies. So if you just finished a bottle of almond butter, it may be best to buy a different type next time.
Roasting nuts may oxidize their oils and lower their nutritional value. Personally, I go with raw butters when possible. They should be kept in the refrigerator after opening to prevent oils from going rancid.
Fatty foods may not be appropriate for people with a gallbladder condition. If you get pain on the bottom right side of your rib cage after eating nut butters, then you probably need to cut back on fat and go through a protocol to decongest your gallbladder.
Review of various nut and seed butters
There are many different categories of fats. The omega-3's tend to be anti-inflammatory. This is why people supplement with fish oil, for their anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-6's tend to be pro-inflammatory. Most of the nuts we eat are high in omega-6 and low in omega-3 fatty acids.
Peanut Butter
Peanut butter if very high omega-6 fatty acids. This does not make them bad per se. If someone is eating a lot of peanut this has to be balanced with other sources of omega-3 fatty acids or supplements. Even other oils which are omega-6 dominant, do not have nearly as much of them as peanut oil. The other problem with peanuts is the potential for allergies which has been on the increase the past few decades.
Almond Butter
Almonds have become incredibly popular. Part of this may be that they are considered a healthy alternative to peanuts. Almonds are less allergenic. Like peanuts, almonds are almost entirely devoid of omega-3 fatty acids.
Cashew Butter
Fatty acid profile is omega-6 dominant. Like almonds, not as heavy in omega-6 as peanuts. Just like with peanuts people are often allergic to cashews. Cashews are ok, but should be eaten in moderation or else allergy can develop.
Special cashew chocolate treat
No one sells this so you would have to make it yourself. Buy raw cashews and grind in a food processor. Add cocoa butter. Makes an incredibly delicious treat, with hint of chocolate.
Sunflower Seed Butter
Another omega-6 dominant seed. Sunflowers can pick up heavy metals from the soil. Therefore I recommend against sunflower seed butter as a big part of your diet.
Walnut Butter
This is the one nut commonly turned into a butter which is high in omega-3. It's great to use, although on the expensive side.
Hemp Butter
Some companies due make hemp butter. It is high in omega-3's. It's great if you like the taste of hemp. Unfortunately, we probably won't see children clamouring for a hemp butter and jelly sandwich anytime soon.
Coconut Butter
Technically this is not a nut or seed butter. However, since it's sold next to all the genuine nut butters and often takes the same place in peoples diets, I'm adding it in. Coconut butter is a mix of both the oil and ground up pulp from the plant. It is made up of mostly medium chain fatty acids which do not easily oxidise. It doesn't have to be kept in fridge. In fact, you don't want to store it there or else it'll turn in to a solid block. Much of coconut oil is made of the medium chain triglyceride lauric acid. MCT (medium chain glyicerides) from coconut as extracted and sold as a supplement, usually for increase fat burning. Typical dose of the oil is about a tablespoon. If you want to get the full fat burning effect it's best just to get MCT oil. Coconut butter can be a good source of calories for people on low carb diets, or are simply looking for something more filling to cut down on snacks. It's not too high in omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids, so no need to worry about that.
Sesame Seeds (Tahini)
Tahini is ground up sesame seeds. Besides peanuts, sesame seeds are very high in omega-6 fatty acids. I therefore recommend that people have tahini in moderatation.
Sacha Inchi Seed Butter
Sacha Inchi Seeds comes from Peru. Of all the nuts or seed butters this is by has the highest omega-3 to omega-6 ratio. Flax and chia seeds are still even more omega-3 dominant, but those can not easily be turned into butters. Although still relatively unknown, expect this to become more popular as people are looking for alternatives to most omega-6 dominant nut butters.
Chyavanprash - nut butter alternative
This is an Indian jam used for centuries in Ayruveda medicine. In many cases is may be used instead of a nut butter. It is fully of antioxidants, and good for immune system and digestion. I'm listing this because if you want something like a nut butter to snack on, but are sick of the peanuts or almonds, you can try this instead.