Whether you like the crunch of crunchy peanut butter, or the smooth texture of creamy peanut butter, nut butters can be a healthy addition to your weight gain efforts. Gaining weight may be necessary if you are an athlete, have a medical condition that makes staying at a healthy weight difficult or if your physician has advised you to gain weight. To gain 1 lb. a week, add about 500 calories each day.
Types
Peanut butter generally comes in two basic varieties: crunchy or smooth. Within those textures, there are standard peanut butters, all-natural peanut butters and reduced-fat varieties. The peanut butter you generally see on the grocery store shelves is a blend of roasted peanuts, salt, oil and additives to prevent separation. Reduced-fat peanut butter has slightly fewer calories and fat than standard peanut butter. You often stir and blend most natural peanut butters before serving, as the oil and ground peanuts separate between uses due to the lack of added stabilizers.
Nutritional Information
The standard serving size for peanut butter is 2 tbsp. Traditional chunk or creamy style peanut butter has 188 calories, about 7 g of protein and 16 g of fat. More than 77 percent of the calories come from fat. Reduced-fat peanut butter has 147 calories per 2 tbsp. and 10 g of fat, which equates to 61 percent of the total calories. Chunky, smooth and reduced fat peanut butter have 2.6 g, 3.4 g and 1.6 g of saturated fats per 2 tbsp., respectively. The other fats in the peanut butter types are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, both of which are a healthier fat. In addition to fat, peanut butter has vitamin E, niacin and potassium. Some brands of peanut butter contain sodium. Choosing low-sodium peanut butter will help you keep your sodium intake under 1,500 mg.
Benefits
Although someone who is dieting may shy away from peanut butter due to the relatively high caloric content, the calories in peanut butter will help you add 500 calories per day without feeling overly full while you're trying to gain weight. The protein in peanut butter will help you stay energized if you are performing strength or cardio workouts to gain weight for sporting events. The versatility of peanut butter allows you to use it in a variety of ways, including in breakfast foods, snacks and as part of dinner meals.
Strategies
Although eating peanut butter straight out of the jar is an option, you can incorporate peanut butter into your weight gain diet in several different ways. Adding peanut butter to a piece of whole-wheat toast or atop a whole-wheat pancake gives you energy from the protein and the extra calories in the peanut butter. Making a vanilla yogurt and peanut butter smoothie is a healthy after-dinner treat. Try an Asian peanut butter dip by combining peanut butter with Asian spices for flavor and texture. Avoid adding peanut butter into high-fat treats, such as cookies, cakes or piesto focus your calories on healthy foods.
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