Peanut butter is a versatile ingredient, providing both an appealing taste and a feeling of fullness. Peanut butter has been part of the American diet for more than 100 years and offers an abundance of nutritional benefits. While peanuts are actually legumes, they can help you achieve your daily recommended serving of grains, as well as reduce the risk of many diseases, notes the Peanut Butter website.
Balanced Nutrient Content
Peanut butter is an adequate source of the macronutrients protein, fat and carbohydrates. A 100 g container of peanut butter contains about 24 g of protein, 50 g of fat and 22 g of carbohydrates, according to the Peanut Butter website. Furthermore, about 71 percent of the calories in peanut butter come from fat, 14 percent from carbohydrates and 15 percent from protein. For dieters, peanut butter can help prevent nutrient deficiencies when restricting calories.
Reduced Birth Defects
Peanut butter is high in folic acid, a specific type of vitamin B. A 1 oz. serving of peanut butter contains about 10 percent of the recommended daily value for this vitamin, PeanutButterLovers.com reports. Folic acid is associated with a reduced risk of birth defects. About 400 micrograms of folic acid are recommended each day for pregnant women. Dieters often are at a risk of inadequate vitamin consumption, so peanut butter can help promote sufficient folic acid.
Cardiovascular Benefits
Eating peanuts can result in lower blood pressure, reduced hypertension and improved cardiovascular health, notes PeanutButterLovers.com. A low-fat diet, with four to five servings of nuts and legumes such as peanut butter, has been demonstrated to reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure by more than 11 and five points, respectively. Furthermore, peanut butter's folic acid content has been associated with a reduced risk of heart disease.
Good Fat
While peanut butter contains an abundance of fat, more than 80 percent of it is unsaturated, PeanutButterLovers.com reports. Unsaturated fat can help lower your low-density lipoprotein, or bad, cholesterol. Furthermore, peanut butter contains fatty acids that can help maintain skin health and transport vitamins throughout the bloodstream. Peanut butter is typically very low in trans fat as well, and many natural brands contain no trans fat.
Gallstone and Alzheimer's Prevention
In addition to helping maintain a healthy diet, peanut butter is believed to help prevent gallstones, according to the Peanut Butter website. Just one peanut butter sandwich a week has been shown to reduce the chance of developing gallstones by 25 percent. Peanut butter also is high in niacin, a vitamin that has been demonstrated to prevent Alzheimer's when eaten regularly.
Reduced Risk of Diabetes
Peanut butter has a low glycemic index, a measure of how quickly food is broken down and enters the bloodstream. Foods with a high glycemic index cause a sharp spike in blood sugar levels and can increase the risk of adult-onset diabetes. Peanut butter's low glycemic index has been shown to help reduce the risk of this type of diabetes, PeanutButterLovers.com reports. Furthermore, peanut butter is high in fiber, a type of carbohydrate that has been linked to diabetes prevention.
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