Peanut butter

What it is and how to eat it

In the US, where it has a legal definition, peanut butter is the food made by grinding shelled, roasted peanuts, to which seasoning and stabilizing ingredients may be added up to 10% of the weight, with no more than 55% fat. In Spanish it is sold as crema or mantequilla de cacahuete, de cacahuate or de maní, depending on what peanuts are called in each country. This page covers USDA's smooth, unsalted peanut butter, with 598 kcal, 22.2 g of protein, 51.4 g of fat and 10.5 g of sugars per 100 g, against 4.72 g in raw peanuts, so it probably contains added sugar (my inference).

A 16 g (0.6 oz) tablespoon provides 96 kcal, 3.6 g of protein, 8.2 g of fat and 1.7 g of sugars, and only 15% of its energy comes from protein (my calculation), but it fits spread on toast or an apple slice, or blended with milk, when appetite is very low. The 2025 nutrition advisory on GLP-1 therapy names nuts and seeds, including their spreads such as peanut butter, among the lower-volume protein foods that can be encouraged, but notes that foods high in protein or fat can further slow gastric emptying and suggests avoiding fatty or high-fiber foods in the first days of treatment. In those days, and after a dose increase, a thinly spread teaspoon may be enough, and measuring it with the spoon instead of eyeballing it helps you not overdo it. If you want one without added sugar, the ingredient list tells you: only peanuts, or peanuts and salt.

What the evidence says

With USDA's figures, 79% of its fatty acids are unsaturated and they provide 58% of its energy (my calculation), so it meets the "high unsaturated fat" condition (at least 70% of fatty acids and more than 20% of energy) that the EU requires for the claim "replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats in the diet contributes to the maintenance of normal blood cholesterol levels"; the effect depends on replacing other fats, not on adding peanut butter to the diet. Its 9.1 mg of vitamin E per 100 g also exceed the minimum for a "high vitamin E" claim, although a tablespoon provides 1.46 mg, 12% of the reference value; the authorized claim is "vitamin E contributes to the protection of cells from oxidative stress" (Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006, (EU) No 1169/2011 and (EU) No 432/2012). By contrast, the EU register lists as non-authorized, after a 2011 EFSA opinion, the claim that credited peanuts, peanut butter and peanut oil with helping to achieve healthy cholesterol levels. Peanuts are one of the 14 allergens that labels must highlight in the EU (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011).

The sources for this section are listed under "Sources" at the end of the page.