The problem with PEANUT BUTTER · Mind and Body Solutions

The problem with PEANUT BUTTER

Peanuts are roughly half fat by weight. Which fat you get depends entirely on the variety of peanut you start with, and that's where things go sideways.

A standard peanut runs up to 30% linoleic acid, an omega-6 polyunsaturated fat. That's the same fat family that makes up the bulk of seed oils, the ones I've been telling you to get out of your kitchen for years.

The problem is structural. Linoleic acid has two double bonds, and double bonds are where oxidation attacks. Oleic acid, the monounsaturated fat that makes up most of olive oil, has one. Fewer double bonds, slower oxidation.

So a jar of conventional peanut butter is degrading the whole time it sits in your pantry. By the time you scrape the bottom of it, you're eating oxidized fat. Which means it’s rancid, in plain English.

Then there's the mold problem.

Peanuts grow underground, get harvested wet, and sit in storage. That's close to ideal conditions for the molds that produce aflatoxins, which is why peanuts are one of the most aflatoxin-tested crops in the world.

Better options would be almond butter, sunflower, etc. anything but peanuts (and cashews which have similar issues as peanuts)

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The problem with PEANUT BUTTER