By: Nick Thomas
Most of us have a life memory of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as a snack, school lunch, or even college survival on a budget. You may even now be prone to simply grabbing a spoonful of peanut butter right out of the jar as you try to keep up with a busy schedule and crave that yummy comfort food. What you may not realize is that while you are just trying to survive life and quench a craving, you are actually bettering your overall health. Eating peanut butter regularly can help lower your risk of developing some serious health disorders and increase your energy. Let me give you some awesome health facts to help support your peanut butter addiction.
Now, by calories alone, peanut butter may not look like such a great choice, but the truth is it actually has the perfect combination of fiber and protein to keep you full, which cuts back on other less healthy snacking temptation. Fat content may be another concern as you reach for the peanut butter, but do not let that slow you down because the fat found here is actually good for you. This healthy fat, known as monounsaturated fat, is proven to help fight off disease and help your body function at a higher level. Studies have even shown that those who eat fats like this on a regular basis tend to have less belly fat. An added bonus is that regular consumption of peanut butter can help reduce your risk of developing diabetes in the future.
Peanut butter packs quite a few health benefits as you can already see, but one that you might not expect is magnesium. This mineral is essential to body function, helping over 300 processes in your body. This high amount of magnesium aids in overall detoxifying, energy production, building stronger bones and teeth, and maintaining a much healthier nervous system.
That “guilty” spoonful of peanut butter you grab during your midday snack attack is really an excellent choice because peanut butter is a triple threat of greatness for your body. It’s packing fiber, protein, and healthy fat which gives you an extra energy boost without a crazy blood sugar spike, which would only result in a major crash later. And more than avoiding the crash and quenching your hunger is that satisfying calm that comes over you after you “indulge” in this spoonful of goodness. This is not just from nostalgia. Turns out the high amount of beta-sitosterol, a natural chemical found in peanut butter, helps bring down cortisol levels and balance them against other hormones, which means peanut butter is actually helping you fight stress.
Now you have more than enough to back up your peanut butter addiction to anyone, but I want to give you two more huge reasons to keep it going strong.
There are several studies that suggest eating peanut butter everyday increases your intelligence. The large amount of monounsaturated fats found in peanut butter help protect your brain health and function due to their antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. This prevents free radicals from damaging the brain so you can maintain and improve your smarts for years.
Finally, and just maybe the best part, is that peanut butter is actually proven to help you stay thinner against your genetic makeup. Peanut butter contains the compound genistein which acts directly against the genes that cause obesity.
The next time you reach for that jar of peanut butter, you don’t have to have any guilt! You can rest easy and defend your addiction fully knowing you are really helping your overall health in multiple ways while enjoying every last bite.
For more information regarding a personalized general or sports nutrition plan contact me at Prime Performance 423-805-0870.
By: Nick Thomas
Owner of Prime Performance Training, and Certified Sports Nutritionist
