Friday, March 15, 2013

Apples and Peanut butter! What a great snack!

When you're craving a quick snack, why not ate something both healthy and delicious!
Apples and peanut butter provide that 1, 2 punch that your taste buds need and provide
your body with a quick infusion of protein and nutrients as well.

An apple a day...
Well you know the saying, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Apples are packed with nutritional value and it is no coincidence that saying has stuck throughout the years. One apple contains roughly 81 calories, about 4 of those coming from fat. The avg. apple contains about 21g of carbohydrates and .26 grams of protein. The vitamin and mineral composition of apples are also quite robust.
Apples are full of flavonoids and phenolic antioxidants. Studies show that these flavonoids have been found to prevent heart disease.Combine that with the two types of fiber contained in apples and cholesterol levels, risk of heart attack and stroke all decrease!


If organic apples are not available, try to wash them with a mix of apple cider vinegar and water.
I normally let my apples soak in a pot of water and apple cider vinegar for about 10 minutes. This apple cider vinegar wash helps to break down the waxes and pesticides that water can not always remove. Look for the 5 digit number starting with the number 9. If it doesn't begin with 9, then it is NOT organic.

Peanut butters-

I'll be honest, I'm a Peanutbutteraholic! Yes, I said it, I love peanut butter. Peanut butter and crackers use to be one of my favorite snacks but over the course of several raw diets I've tried to start avoiding
crackers. Ideally, your diet should include as much raw food as possible and processed crackers don't fit into that equation. Thus apples fill in that void.

Peanut butter gives you both healthy fat and a nice serving of protein! Your usual serving of peanut butter will give you anywhere from 100 to 200 calories per serving with your protein ranging from 4g to about 7g per 2 Tbsp.  Moderation is always the key as you don't want to just sit down and eat jars of peanut butter at every sitting, but as a between meal snack it more than serves it's purpose.

Peanuts promote brain health and promote digestive health. Moreover, they contain free-radical destroying copper and manganese and sleep-promoting tryptophan. Thus it won't be far fetched to say that these benefits carry over into the buttered form as well.

Which do I eat?

Tree of Life has a blended organic crunchy peanut butter. Sweetened organically, it is made of organic dry roasted blanched peanuts, organic palm oil, organic dehydrated cane juice, and salt.
http://www.thebetterhealthstore.com/Tree-Of-Life-Peanut-Butter-Creamy-Organic-Jar-16-Oz
You can check out the nutritional label at the link above.




My wife seems to love the Justin's Classic Almond Butter all-natural. These ingredients are even more simple - Dry roasted almonds, organic palm fruit oil. At about 200 calories per 2 Tbsp, you get 7g of protein. This one isn't bad but it has a more natural (plain) flavor. It is also a bit drier in consistency which is ok but definitely not my favorite. There are however a multitude of flavors to choose from.
Check out their nutritional label and other chooses http://justins.com/products.php




My favorite of the bunch is one that I stumbled across as a bit of an accident. The wife brought home some "stuff" from the organic section of the local grocery store. The label said "All natural Better'n Peanut Butter." I immediately thought, what in the hell is this!? Well, the label claimed it had 85% less fat and 100 calories per serving! Made with real peanuts and low in sodium, I said what the heck, I'll give it a try! Boy am I glad I did. I love, love, love this stuff! It indeed in my opinion is better'n Peanut Butter! The texture is creamy and smooth and the taste is ADDICTIVE!
http://www.betternpeanutbutter.com/index.php

Organic varieties will always be a bit more than the regular (Jiff, Skippy, Peter Pan, etc...) but I feel
they are worth it as you are less likely to hear about the salmonella outbreaks and the ingredients are better. If you can afford them do your self a favor and give them a try. You can also make your own. If you have a good blender, a cupful of nuts and some oil, you are in business!

So next time your craving some cookies, or candy, give this a try instead. Not only will you satisfy your sweet tooth but you will also will feel better about what you ate and how you feel.

Nutritional facts were found in the book The worlds healthiest foods by George Mateljan.



2 comments:

  1. Apples and peanut butter is always really good! Unfortunately, I've a nut allergy, so it's not healthy for me. :x

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    Replies
    1. Oh wow, that really sux. I am sorry to hear about this. I am technically allergic to Pecans but I still eat them. Anyway, thanks for the commment. I will look post more alternate snacks soon.

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