The raw food diet includes only uncooked foods. That also means avoiding cold foods with ingredients previously cooked and added to the product. Many people following a raw food diet claim that they experience increased energy and better overall health. People on a strict raw food diet will check food labels for anything that may have been cooked or heated. Peanut butter is usually not allowed on a strict raw food diet.
Peanut Butter
Some peanut butter contains nothing more than ground peanuts, peanut oil and a little salt. Brand name peanut butters may also contain preservatives, sugar or other ingredients. At face value, peanut butter looks like it might fit with a raw food diet. However, in almost all cases the peanuts used in peanut butter are roasted. This makes most brands of peanut butter unsuitable if you're following a very strict raw foods diet.
Raw Peanuts
The shelled peanuts you buy in health stores and supermarkets are usually roasted. You generally won't find shelled raw peanuts, a type of legume, in general stores across America. Part of the reason for this is the tendency for mold to grow amongst raw uncooked peanuts. Some of these molds are toxic and may even cause cancer in humans. For example, the mold aflatoxin causes aflatoxicosis in humans, which can result in serious liver damage. This is why you should take care when trying to source uncooked peanuts for use in a peanut butter for a raw food diet.
Raw Peanut Butter
Of course you can find raw peanuts in their shells, sometimes known as "monkey nuts." However, peanut butter made with raw peanuts generally doesn't taste good. The roasted nuts are what give peanut butter its distinctive taste. Raw peanuts taste bland and are less appealing. Along with the potential health risks of storing raw shelled peanuts, the lack of taste is why most stores don't stock raw peanut butter. You may have to make your own if you want to include it in your raw food diet.
Alternative
As peanut butter generally includes roasted peanuts, many raw food diet followers opt for almond butter. As the name suggests this uses raw, uncooked almonds in place of peanuts. As uncooked almonds are more easily available you can make raw food diet-friendly almond butter at home using a blender. Some health food stores also stock almond butter ready-prepared in jars. For a slightly different taste, try adding honey to the almond butter mix.
References
- Health Services at Columbia; Go Ask Alice: Ooh, Baby, I like it Raw (Or, is a Raw Diet Healthy?); December 2009
- KidsHealth; Homemade Peanut Butter; Allison Brinkley, R.D.; March 2009
- USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service; Molds On Food: Are They Dangerous?; March 2010
- Rawmazing; Raw Recipe: Almond Butter; Susan Powers; February 2010
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