Peanut Butter!

I eat this stuff almost everyday... I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! I thought it'd be interesting to research peanut butter because if it's bad for me I'll know to eat less of it and if it's good for me, even better =) So... "the #1 choice of choosy mom's" includes the following ingredients: *roasted peanuts and sugar *molasses = A By-product, a secondary product deriving from a manufacturing process. *fully hydrogenated vegetable oils = Hydrogenation is the chemical process in which liquid vegetable oil is turned into solid fat.When liquid vegetable oil is fully hydrogenated, almost no trans fats remain. The resulting fat is a solid, hard, waxy consistency, even at room temperature. Full hydrogenation increases the amount of saturated fat, although much of it is in the form of stearic acid, which is converted by the body to oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat, which doesn't raise levels of bad cholesterol. This makes fully hydrogenated fats less harmful than partially hydrogenated fats. *mono- and diglycerides = Monoglycerides and diglycerides allow a food processor to mix oil and water in a process known as emulsification. This very useful property makes monoglycerides and diglycerides a common food additive to extend shelf life. At high temperatures, triglycerides are capable of rearranging into monoglycerides and diglycerides. *salt = for taste and preservation.    My peanut butter comes from Lexington, Kentucky. Since peanuts are popularly grown in North America, I would think they used U.S. grown peanuts. Jif peanut butter is produced by a company called The J.M. Smucker Company and it is packaged in a small plastic jar. On the container it reads "THIS PACKAGE IS RECYCLABLE. HOWEVER, RECYCLING PROGRAMS FOR THIS PACKAGE MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE IN YOUR AREA"... "/ ?   There are many health benefits of peanut butter. A 2 tablespoon serving of peanut butter provides 7 grams of protein. The amino acids in that protein are used to build and repair muscle tissue. They also build metabolism-boosting muscles. Peanut butter keeps you feeling fuller longer as well. Peanut butter contains the same ratio of saturated to unsaturated fats as olive oil, says Harvard Medical School. The poly- and monounsaturated fats in the spread lower your risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes.   One health concern of peanut butter is choking because peanut butter is clumpy and sticky in texture, especially for kids under age 5. Another concern is allergies; it is common for people to be allergic to peanuts. Lastly, peanut butter gets a bad rep because of its high fat content; although it is mostly monounsaturated fat (the good kind), one should still limit their fat intake. Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/245438-health-benefits-of-peanut-butter/#ixzz1ajjnJzV4

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10/13/11

by Shelly

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