Do the Health Benefits of Peanut Butter Include Longevity?

Peanut butter and longevity: Why are nuts associated with decreased mortality, but not peanut butter?

Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

[wadericky]

In my village in Cameroon, peanuts are so highly estimated that we share them as gifts during weddings and other special occasions.. For hundreds of years we’ve been cultivating and consuming it… Am glad science has proven my ancestors to be clever people..

[Nobody-Nowhere]

I was all set up to be immortal considering the amount of peanut butter i eat.... but apparently not.

[Simnettnutrition]

Wait I'm kind of confused. Maybe someone can clarify. I take my peanut butter information very seriously. Other than the added and unnecessary ingredients of unnatural peanut butter, the benefits of nuts over nut butters are because of the un-chewed, un-broken down bits of nut that get into our intestines and feed our microbiome? I always thought thoroughly chewing food was the best. So I guess that is why Dr. Greger mentioned chunky peanut butter. It's hard to believe that such a small factor is enough to either promote a longer life or not.

[suts]

it is such a shame most peanut butter brands in the US have the added oil, sugar and salt when it is completely unnecessary and detrimental to our health. It would be interesting to see a study with 4 groups; a control group, whole peanut group, a peanut butter without added stuff group, and a peanut butter with the added oils/sugar/salt, to see the longevity benefits.

[IsentropeMachzahl]

When I was in the US, I was quite surprised how difficult it was to find raw, salt, oil and sugar free nut butters (not just peanut). Where I am from, nut butters have a singular ingredient and that is how I came to know them. They are amazing. My favorites are cashew and white almond, but I mostly stay away from them now as I tend to consume excess calories when I consume them.

[ihbarddx]

Until recently, most peanut butter contained trans fats from partial hydrogenation. People in the study with long histories of peanut butter consumption would likely have eaten that kind of product.

[NewEarthWellness]

My uncle Milton G. Crane MD was a researcher at Weimar Institute for many years and he explained to me the problems with peanut butter. First is a problem with mold that often grows inside the shell of the ones waiting to be made into nut butter. That is toxic mold. Then the nuts are subjected to enough heat in the processing that damages the fat in the nuts and creates oxidized fat which is a free radical. He said that it is nearly impossible to avoid the mold problem with peanuts.

I had a vegan friend who ate lots of peanut butter and could't be persuaded to quit eating it who died of heart disease not long ago.

[BrasilTrix]

I simply can't live without PB. I make it at home with no added salt, sugar, or oil. It kindda stays a bit chunky, and I guess I'll work on keeping it that way. Almonds and other nut butters are simply too expensive and not environmentally friendly at all. =X

[starvinmarvin]

I'm European and around 3 of the 4 peanut butter brands in the supermarkets are just natural organic peanut butter, either unsalted or salted. I can't imagine eating peanut butter with anything else other than salt in it, which I never tasted salted either way. It's crazy America feels the need to add so much unnesscariry ingreidants to an already delicious product

[milesclark]

One thing about PB for me is it has been around for ever, brings me back to childhood memories. We forget one of the biggest points that Dr Gregor has been talking about for a long time is plants, eat more of them, lets stop over analyzing everything, if you love it, just get the best no oil organic peanut butter you can and while your enjoying it just think back to your childhood memories, just maybe it will make you smile.

[rayjones]

I think it's important to remember that this video focuses very specifically on the advantage of eating nuts in comparison to not eating nuts, but eating peanut butter. While the science presented in the video makes a strong case for not expecting peanut butter to replace eating nuts, I still think peanut butter is helpful in one's diet. For example, in my case, I ate peanuts every day for lunch, but keep a jar of peanut butter around in the event that I get hungry at night. A couple spoonfuls of peanut butter is very filling. This basically ends any interest I have in eating at night, which means these spoonfuls of peanut butter keep me away from snack foods, candy and sandwiches, etc.

[k.h.]

I do think to really decide on the merits of peanut butter (and other nut butters), you need to control for 'pure' peanut butter (no added salt, sugar or saturated fat) vs the most sold kinds, which contain all of those.

[SherryEllesson]

Thanks to Dr Greger and NutritionFacts for this video. Peanut butter is one of my favorite foods and I abandoned the kinds with added ingredients a long time ago, but I think I may look into chopping raw peanuts myself now, and leaving good-sized chunks intact for my Ezekiel sandwiches and apple slices.

[AstonAcademia]

If you are worried about omega 6 please seek out high oleic peanuts or peanut butter. The ratio is much better and fat composition of HO peanuts is very similar to macadamia and olive oil. I use the PB as a vehicle to get veggies in me, dip for carrots, parsnips, cucumbers, celery, radishes, fennel, peppers, lettuce, beets, apples, kiwis, apricots etc.

[Woppettier]

I remember this dutch cohort study (n=120, 000) ("Nut and peanut butter intake and the risk of colorectal cancer and its anatomical and molecular subtypes: the Netherlands Cohort Study") that found a relationship between peanut butter consumption and increased colon cancer odds. Since most peanut butter eaten is the solid kind that contains shortened palm oil, which is also found frequently in processed foods, I highly suspect this ingredient to be a potential cause. A recent study published in 'Nature' on mice also found an effect on metastasis by a fatty acid found in palm oil.
Dutch people also frequently use margarine on any type of bread. They believe margarine is healthy.

[minifix]

Also, peanuts used for peanut butter are roasted. Some whole peanuts on the market are also roasted, but others are raw. Perhaps the difference in health effects could be explained by roasting (creating trans-fats etc)?

[albieoval]

As mentioned in the video, peanut butter had partially hydrogenated oils until they were “banned” in the USA. Now, that has been replaced with fully hydrogenated oil or palm oil and/or sugar.
Then there is the shelf life. Can’t have 1-2 year old peanuts butter perform like 1 month old peanut butter. All those oils will turn rancid.
I would love to see a study using peanut butter which consists of just peanuts, fresh peanuts.

[NinjaMK]

I put peanut butter without additives on my sandwiches every day. It's still much better than regular butter.

[andrewdl]

Palm oil plus refined sugar in nut butters cause me to flare up. But whole nuts blended into smoothies or baked whole grain meals do not.

[phillippinter]

The vast majority of the peanut butter in the US has added sugar and saturated or trans fats such as palm oil or hydrogenated oil. But not really in whole nuts. Yes "oil roasted" peanuts contain a NEGLIGIBLE amount of oil but it's usually around 1% or less and also not saturated or trans fat. Usually like peanut, sunflower or canola oil.