OK, I love the stuff. I mean, I truly love peanut butter!! I must have some daily...

So, according to CC, where I log my food intake, my Jif is not healthy:

Food Details
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 32.0g
Amount Per Serving
Calories
190
Calories from Fat
144
% Daily Value*
Total Fat
16.0g
25%
Saturated Fat
3.0g
15%
Cholesterol
0mg
0%
Sodium
150mg
6%
Total Carbohydrates
7.0g
2%
Dietary Fiber
2.0g
8%
Protein
8.0g
Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0% • Iron 4%
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Calories in Jif Creamy Peanut Butter


Nutritional Analysis
Good points

* No cholesterol
* High in niacin

Nutrition Grade C
42% confidence


My question... should I change brands? What exactly is *bad* about my peanut butter? Should I go with organic or natural? Or just a lower sodium, or?

I will not give up peanut butter... so should I just deal with the C grade or try and find a healthier brand?

Thanks guys!! :D

If peanut butter is not "natural", it tends to have alot of extra sugar, oil, and salt. Natural peanut butter is basically peanuts and that's all! So actually, it is slightly higher in calories then other types, but healthier in terms of what is in those calories.

The ingredients in your Jif Creamy Peanut butter are (at least from what i found online):

Ingredients

MADE FROM ROASTED PEANUTS AND SUGAR. CONTAINS 2 PERCENT OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN), FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES AND SALT.

So there is alot of extra stuff in there- sugar, molasses, vegetable oil, salt.

However natural peanut butter is very healthy, it has lots of protein, nutrients, and mono and poly unsaturated fats (which are good for you). Peanuts also are a good source of carbs...so overall a pretty healthy food. It is just like any other nut, you can't eat alot of it because it is high in fat (albeit good fats) and calories.

Thanks Shy! I GOT NEW PEANUT BUTTER!! Very small jar, and very expensive! It is:

Food Details
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 32.0g
Amount Per Serving
Calories
210
Calories from Fat
144
% Daily Value*
Total Fat
16.0g
25%
Saturated Fat
2.5g
13%
Cholesterol
0mg
0%
Sodium
50mg
2%
Total Carbohydrates
6.0g
2%
Dietary Fiber
2.0g
8%
Protein
8.0g
Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0% • Iron 2%
* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Calories in Smucker's Organic Creamy Peanut Butter


Nutritional Analysis
Good points

* No cholesterol
* Low in sodium
* Low in sugar

Nutrition Grade C
42% confidence


WHY is it still only a C grade?? The ingredients are: ORGANIC ROASTED PEANUTS, CONTAINS 1% OR LESS OF SALT.

That's it. So why such the bad grade Shy, do you know?

I honestly don't know, does the site say anything? I'm not sure what the qualifications for a grade are. However, i can tell you that the new peanut butter you got is alot better for you then the old stuff ;) ALso i notice your site only looks at a few vitamins and doesn't include the ones peanut butter are good sources of..

I suspect it is such a low grade because it is high in fat? I looked up "almonds" on calorie count, and they only get a B+ grade, and we all know how healthy almonds are!

ps i couldn't find the peanut butter on the site, did you add it yourself?

Yep, added it myself... I add all my own products (to make sure the counts are correct) if I can do so. I'm thinking about just sticking with the Jif, due to price and amount you get, etc... is that bad of me?? I mean, is it OK to eat the non natural peanut butter? Plus, with this organic stuff, it separates and you have to keep it refrigerated, so it will not spread well... :(

Teach I love Peanut Butter too and here is how I look at it.

It is something that you really only eat a little bit of, not like you are eating cups of it everyday. I let myself have it because I like it and just count the fat and calories into my daily count. You cannot deprive yourself of absolutely everything and if you like your Jiff, eat the Jiff. That is my opinion. :lol:

Thank you Cherri! :huggs: and you know what? I agree. My husband is taking back the organic jar (I did not open it yet) and I asked him to look through ALL brands, Jif, Skippy, Peter Pan, the store brand, and whatever else there is and find the one with the lowest in sodium, fat and sugar. That is the brand I will eat. :D

Good Plan Teach!! Enjoy your PB!!! :happydance:

I think the main reason it is rated C is because of the fat content. I think when you combine it with other foods the overall food value is actually quite good.

Hey Teach,

Didn't see this topic until now.

The brand doesn't matter. It doesn't have to be low fat, low salt, low sugar. Really, there is mostly just peanuts in all of them. So don't sweat it - this is a small issue.

See this article for backup of what I'm saying.

http://www.getwiththeprogram.org/pb.html

And by the way, I eat Regular Jif almost every day now for lunch. I don't measure it, I just use what I want and when I'm full I quit. Then I stay full and I'm good until about 4:pm when I want a little snack. I have a piece of cheese or another bite of peanut butter and I'm good until dinner. There was a peanut butter diet created by Prevention and Penn State that said women could have a total of up to 4Tablespoons in a 1500 cal diet (spread over lunch and a snack) - the rest of the diet is a grain filled breakfast (like oatmeal which is what I eat every day), and then a nice sensible dinner. I try to make some of my other foods regular fat dairy (cheese, milk and yogurt) and so far everything is going swell. Hope this takes some fear out of your peanut butter choices. :)

Thanks FLG and I am in agreement 100% I am not worried about it anymore... I guess that CC site gave me a bit of a shock, but it did on may products and to be honest, I am now considering the source ;) I would rather eat whole, fresh and healthy than the low fat, sodium, sugar, etc... when they remove a component from a food, they MUST replace it with something... take away salt, fat or sugar and the taste suffers, so they usually add something that is artificial and I do NOT want that in my body! ;) Thanks for your research and your comment... I think you are right on!

Actually i have to disagree here. With many things i agree, full fat (or a bit reduced fat) and sugar etc is healthier then what they stick in for the alternatives. However with peanut butter, there is no need for there to be all the extra crap they put in regular peanut butter-it is simply in there for the taste. The natural peanut butter, which is just peanuts, is far healthier. The fact that you can keep regular peanut butter in the cupboard, and natural peanut butter has to be kept in the fridge is proof of this...regular peanut butter is full of preservatives.

So as far as i'm concerned with peanut butter, whole fresh and healthy = natural peanut butter. After eating it for awhile, you really notice just how much sugar they stick in the regular stuff.

Just my two cents. :huggs: Hope i don't sound like i'm lecturing lol :blush:

heehee... not at all Shy! :huggs: I see what you mean completely, but I'm still sticking with what I eat... :lol:

I did try the natural pb, I don't like that it has to be kept refrigerated, it does not spread well and I did not care for the taste. EDIT: ... and I can't afford it! :lol:

hehe, all good reasons not to use it :lol: Afterall, if we are eating healthy things we don't like, then we won't stick with it and are bound to give up on eating healthy completely. I do agree that even the regular peanut butter is fairly good for you. :)

Personally i like the taste of the natural stuff better! Actually that reminds me about my cottage cheese/peanut butter/blueberry snack that MagicRe suggested...i'll have to start doing that again.

Too true about needing to eat what you LIKE. For example, I love Jif, but can't stand Skippy. I think the molasses in the Jif is just yummy. lol