Know how to include peanut butter in your diet for weight loss and strong bones

Peanut butter: crunchy, creamy, scrumptious and yet extremely healthy, what more could we ask for? Let’s reaffirm our faith in peanut butter by knowing its benefits and some ways that you can include it in your everyday diet.

Health benefits of peanut butter

Nutritionist Avni Kaul tells us some health benefits one can enjoy by having peanut butter everyday:

1. Weight loss

Peanut butter has around 180-210 calories per serving, and so, calling it a “diet food” might seem counter-intuitive. But truth be told, consuming peanut butter actually suppresses hunger which later leads to weight loss. It has a good combination of fiber (2.6 g/serving) and protein (7-8 g/serving) that keeps one feeling full for longer, so one ends up eating less overall.

2. Good for heart

“It contains a substance known as p-coumaric acid which assists in offsetting the damage done to cells linked with cardiovascular diseases,” says Kaul. Also, peanut butter has more unsaturated fat than saturated fat making it a fat friendly food which reduces the risk of cardiovascular and coronary heart disease.

3. Promotes strong bones

Calcium and iron are found in abundance in peanut butter which are vital for transporting oxygen in the blood and promoting healthy, strong bones.

How to eat peanut butter and include it in your everyday diet:

1. Peanut butter smoothie

There can be nothing more energizing than peanut butter combined with milk. Having a peanut butter smoothie in your breakfast will boost your spirits for the whole day. Or you can also have it as a pre-workout smoothie which will energize you enough to get you through your workout routine!

2. Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwich

Peanut butter jelly sandwich or PBJ sandwich is one of the most popular dishes of peanut butter. But to make it completely healthy and weight-loss friendly you might have to make some changes to it. Instead of using white bread to make the sandwich try using a whole wheat or brown bread. Also, take out jelly from the equation as that is filled with sweeteners and won’t be good as a weight loss food. But if you are not on a diet or want to give it to your kids some jelly won’t do any harm.

3. Use peanut butter in place of normal butter

Peanut butter can be a great replacement for the normal yellow butter you eat everyday. As compared to the milk-based butter it has less calories and no bad fats. So, with bread or even paratha you can have peanut butter.