What Is the Healthiest Nut Butter? Your Questions Answered
Walk into any grocery store in the U.S. and there will be at least one kind of nut butter. But with so many brands, variations, and types of nuts used, it can be hard to decide which is best for your health.
Are you interested in learning more about what is the healthiest nut butter for you? Keep reading to have your most common questions answered!
What is Nut Butter?
Nut butter is a smooth, spreadable food that is made by grinding down nuts until they become a paste that can be eaten or added to other foods. For many people in the United States, peanut butter was the most common, everyday nut butter you were exposed to as a child.
However, any nut can be turned into the best nut butter, and each one provides different health benefits, textures, and tastes.
What Are the Benefits of Nut Butter?
Depending on the nut butter, there are many different benefits. They can add more protein, fats, antioxidants, and vitamins to your diet.
One of the greatest benefits of nut butter is its accessibility and ease of use. There is no cooking or additional preparation needed for nut butter.
You can add a spoonful to a smoothie for added protein, or spread some on whole-grain bread for a nutritious treat. If you are trying to lower your carbs and eat more fruits and vegetables, foods like apples, carrots, and celery pair very well with nut butter.
Peanut Butter
Peanut butter is a common household staple. It is readily available and affordable, and it offers high amounts of protein! Peanut butter has roughly eight grams of protein per serving. That is more than any other nut butter!
In addition to the high protein content, peanut butter has high quantities of antioxidants. Antioxidants can help promote heart health and prevent certain cancers from forming in the body.
Another added health benefit of peanut butter is that it pairs well with healthy snacks! Many people eat peanut butter with fruits and vegetables like apples, carrots, celery, bananas, and more! If you want the extra fiber, you can spread some peanut butter on a slice of whole-grain toast.
Cashew Butter
One of the amazing health benefits of cashew butter is that it makes sticking to a vegan diet easier! If your goal is to be vegan or vegetarian, cashew butter is often used as a dairy substitute in recipes that call for milk or cream. You can use it to thicken sauces and add creaminess to various dishes.
It has a lower protein content than peanut butter. However, if you are not engaged in an active exercise routine, then protein might not be your priority!
Almond Butter
Almond butter has just the right amount of energy (200 calories), fat (19 grams), and protein (5 grams) to help fill you up and satisfy your cravings.
Almond butter is most suited, taste-wise, for sweet foods, but if you are looking for a healthier alternative for your kids, adding almond butter is a great choice! It has monounsaturated fats that promote heart health, as well as vitamins and minerals like magnesium and vitamin E.
Just because you are making something sweet does not mean that you cannot use a nutritious base for your muffins, cakes, or oatmeal.
How to Decide Which is the Healthiest Nut Butter for You
There can’t be a single answer to which is the healthiest nut butter. Peanut butter, cashew butter, and almond butter are all healthy in their own ways, but they provide different benefits.
To decide which is the best nut butter, you have to evaluate your lifestyle and decide what your nutritional needs and priorities are.
If you are looking for protein, antioxidants, and affordability, then peanut butter may be the best choice.
If you are looking for monounsaturated fats to help promote heart health then almond butter may be the better option. Almond butter also includes a lot of wonderful vitamins and minerals.
If you are looking for something with more carbs and an easy addition to your regular meals, then cashew butter may be best.
No matter your lifestyle, budget, dietary needs, and nutritional priorities-- there is nut butter for you!
What to Look for When Buying Nut Butter
When you are buying nut butter, whether as a treat or for everyday use, one thing that can help increase the healthiness of the nut butter is where you buy it. Choosing the right company can greatly impact your buying experience!
Some companies include harmful ingredients in their products. Finding a source for your nut butter that doesn’t include any fillers, thickening agents, or fake sugars should be a priority!
Choosing a family-owned business that creates its nut butters in small batches helps you to know that the ingredients of your food have been carefully selected for your health and satisfaction.
Which Nut Butter Will You Choose?
Whatever your choice for the healthiest nut butter for you, you must make the right choice when purchasing your nut butter.
Finding a company dedicated to its community, while also providing options for people of all kinds of diets, is very important. Smaller companies are able to give more attention to detail and to individual customers than large manufacturers.
Are you ready to get started with finding amazing nut butter, made by an amazing company, to add to your meals? Check out our shop to explore our extensive selection of almond, peanut, and cashew nut butter. Which will you choose?