What is the healthiest peanut butter I can buy at Whole Foods?

[I Can And I Will]

I am going to make a special trip to Whole Foods, it will be my first. One of the things I really want to get is peanut butter since I have 2 little ones who love it. I want to buy the very healthiest kind I can, and I know nothing about this stuff. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

[waiting2exhale]

i found a peanut butter thats called naturally more! its really good and has less fat less cal and more protien! it also has flax seed in it which is really good for you too!

[atreyyena]

Look for peanut butters that don't have any hydrogenated oils, first of all. Also, ideally peanut butter only needs peanuts, maybe oil maybe salt. Have you considered getting a blender you can make your own peanut butter in?

[MeganTheMushroom]

Go for organic, avoid hydrogenated oils, and make sure the only ingredients are peanuts and oil. No salt or sugar added.

You can easily make your own peanut butter too:

1 Cup Roasted Unsalted Peanuts
1 tbl peanut or vegetable oil

Pour 1/2 C peanuts into blender and chop until most the chunks are gone, then add the oil and blend. Add the rest of the peanuts and blend until smooth. You can add more peanuts or more oil to get the consistency you want.
Yields 1/2 C peanut butter,
store in fridge.

I always make my peanut butter, and it's delicous!

Edit: Oh, and for chunky, just add chopped peanuts once you're done blending, you can add as much or as little as you want

[Mikan]

I think trader joe's has a good price on organic peanut butter without salt added. (Under 3$). Organics for peanuts are important I hear because normally they add a lot of pesticides. I will have to try making my own as suggested.

[nelie]

Whole Foods will also generally have tubs of freshly ground peanut butter.

Personally, I really like almond butter and I buy the one that is no salt added so it is just almonds.

[VeggiePowered]

My WF has a grinder and you can make your own in the store, too.

[Xtremesteph]

My grocery store has their own grinders as well. If you can find that, it's the most natural you're going to get. I get all natural ground peanut and almond butter. Never will I go back to jar'd peanut butter

[seagirl]

Grind your own. And grind some almond butter while you are at it.

[darway]

"Real" peanut butter without additives does need to be re-stirred from time to time. But it's hard to go back to commercial peanut butter after you have been eating organic for a while. The texture is just ... "filmy" and wrong. And sometimes too "crystalline" if it has sugar in it.

[seagirl]

The kind your grind yourself doesn't need to be stirred.

[Zoesmama]

I love Smart Balance peanut butter. Its 1g sugar. They use palm fruit and flax oil, evaporated cane juice, salt and molasses. I like the added flax oil for omega 3 which is something my body needs.

Someone told me about PB2 recently its a packet of ground peanuts and you just add water. Its lower calorie 1 g sugar. But I have not tried it personally.

I also like almond butter and cashew butter is my fav. They cost more so I buy Smart Balance Peanut butter most often.

[bleujean]

Bad news, kids.

I am working on an MA in Environmental Health, and tonight's class was about toxins in the everyday environment. I was shocked to learn that peanut butter was on our study guide of harmful exposures. It's not anything too crazy, but, peanut plants are commonly covered in aflatoxin, a known carcinogen. Having more than 4 tablespoons a day (oops, guilty) greatly increases one's risk of developing cancer. The scary thing is, with young children, is that because they are exposed earlier, they keep it in their systems longer. If I had kids, I'd stick with almond butter.


Here is a wiki on Aflatoxin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aflatoxin

Naturally I have not done my assigned readings for tonight and can't comment further, but our professor did devote a good portion of the class to aflatoxin and it's scary stuff and while it effects several different plants, it hits peanut crops pretty hard. I am a peanut butter addict, in addition to being young and foolish and irresponsible, but even I'm put off. I will do my homework and post the findings

[astrophe]

Whatever nut butter... consider blending with beans.

3/4 cup canned great northern beans
1/3 cup peanut butter

A.

[nelie]

One reason I really stopped eating peanut butter was aflatoxin which is a carcinogen. I think occasionally eating it is ok (because I mean, we are exposed to lots of carcinogens) but I prefer other nut butters.