You will likely limit the number of times you experience the creaminess of chocolate, the coolness of ice cream milkshakes and the crunch of potato chips when trying to lose weight. Deciding which foods to eliminate or reduce when dieting can be a challenge. Peanut butter is a high-calorie food, which can pose problems during weight loss. However, if you enjoy peanut butter, learn whether you can incorporate the occasional serving of peanut butter into your weight-loss program.
Weight Loss Decisions
Making decisions on which foods to include in your diet is a vital component of any weight-loss attempt. As you decide whether peanut butter fits into your plans, consider your calorie requirements, percentage of macronutrients you will eat each day and your desire to keep or exclude peanut butter from your diet. If you follow a 1,500-calorie diet, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends the following macronutrient composition: 675 to 975 calories from carbohydrates, 150 to 450 calories from proteins and 300 to 525 calories from fats. Peanut butter contains all three macronutrients.
Calorie Considerations
Full-fat peanut butter contains 188 calories per 2 tbsp. serving. Choosing reduced-fat peanut butter saves you 41 calories per 2 tbsp. If you eat at the 1,200-, 1,600- or 1,800-calorie level, a serving of reduced fat peanut butter accounts for 12, 9 or 8 percent of your total caloric intake for the day, respectively. Eating full-fat peanut butter increases those percentages to 16, 12 and 10 percent of total calories.
Nutritional Information
The protein, carbohydrates and healthy fats in peanut butter can help you stay full while dieting, meet part of your fat and protein requirement and add variety to your meals. A standard 2 tbsp. serving of peanut butter contains 8 g of protein and 16 g of total fats. Of the total fat, 3.4 g are saturated fats and 12.2 g are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. In addition, 2 tbsp. of peanut butter has 3 mg of vitamin E, which helps in tissue maintenance, 49 mg of potassium, which aids with fluid balance and about 4 mg of niacin, which is important for skin and nerve health.
Strategies
Because of the high-calorie nature of peanut butter, use it sparingly in your weight loss plan. Eat 1 tbsp. of peanut butter instead of 2 tbsp., if having a peanut butter sandwich or spreading peanut butter on whole-wheat crackers. Use a measuring spoon to ensure you only eat only 1 or 2 tbsp. at a time. When including peanut butter in your weight-loss plan, avoiding eating highly processed foods with peanut butter as an ingredient such as flavored crackers and peanut butter, or sugar-filled peanut butter cookies.
Member Comments