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You are here: Home / Science / Is peanut butter good for you or bad for you and why?

Is peanut butter good for you or bad for you and why?

June 6, 2020 by Karen Hill

It can be either very healthful or very noxious, or both.

A study by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, done with money from the Peanut Institute, suggests that peanuts may contain enough resveratrol, the compound in red wine associated with a low rate of heart disease, to be helpful to human health.

The levels per ounce the scientists found were only about half those in wine, and the average serving of peanuts is only an ounce, not a whole wineglass.

And as George Washington Carver found, the peanut is very nourishing, perhaps too nourishing for weight watchers. It is rich in proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, and some vitamins.

It contains no cholesterol, being a plant food, not an animal food, but it is full of oily calories; just a tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter has about 94 calories.

Another problem with peanut butter is that people who are allergic to peanuts tend to be severely allergic, subject to anaphylactic shock, which can stop breathing and cause death, if they eat even a trace.

An undetectable amount of peanut butter used as a thickener in a prize chili recipe killed a Rhode Island student in 1986, leading to warnings about peanut butter hidden in unexpected dishes.

A peanut allergy may be accompanied by severe allergies to other legumes.

Related Facts

  • History of Peanuts
  • How Many Peanuts Are In a Jar of Peanut Butter and How Much Peanut Butter Do Americans Eat?
  • What is Butter made of and Why does Butter thicken sauces when added after deglazing the pan?
  • How does Planters shell all those peanuts without breaking them?
  • What Does the Word Peanut Mean and Where Did the Peanut Originate?
  • What Is Clarified Butter Used For?

Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Can a person survive by eating only slices of pizza?
Next Post: How toxic is aflatoxin a carcinogen that can grow on peanuts? »

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