Why are peanuts associated with reduced mortality, but not peanut butter?
According to the largest study of risk factors for death in human history, junk food causes more deaths than anything else. Cigarettes kill about 8 million people a year, and junk food kills millions more, as you can see below and at 0:20 in my video. Do the Health Benefits of Peanut Butter Include Longevity?.What are the worst aspects of our diet? Ground meat? Twinkies? Soda? No, the five biggest killers in our diet are: not enough fruit, not enough whole grains, not enough vegetables, too much salt, and not enough nuts and seeds, as shown here and at 0:42 in my post. video.
Nuts should not surprise us since interventional studies have shown that eating nuts improves artery function, and arterial diseases such as heart disease are among our leading killers. But that’s not all nuts can do. They may also improve blood sugar control, lower cholesterol, suppress inflammation, reduce oxidative stress, and nourish our friendly gut flora. Do all nuts do that, or just tree nuts?
What about peanuts and peanut butter? About half of nut consumption in the United States comes from peanut butter, but the link between peanut butter consumption and mortality has not been well studied. To find out exactly, we can call the National Institutes of Health-AARP study, the largest prospective health and nutrition study in history that has followed more than half a million people since the 1990s.
The researchers found that nut consumption generally appears to be protective against all causes of death, meaning that nut eaters live—on average—longer lives. Specifically, they are less likely to die from cancer, heart disease, liver disease, respiratory disease, kidney disease, and infectious causes (so, maybe nuts help the immune system). However, no such associations have been found for peanut butter. So, when it comes to longevity, peanut butter doesn’t seem to count. Why?
Yes, we know that nut consumers tend to eat more meat, smoke cigarettes, and are less likely to exercise, but the researchers controlled for all those factors, along with their alcohol intake, fruits and vegetables, education, and more. So, it’s not like peanut butter eaters were just eating white bread sandwiches or something. (The researchers didn’t control for sugar, though, so they may have been eating more sugary jelly.)
Another explanation: It could be the processing that makes peanut butter—extra fat, oil, salt, and sugar. But regular nuts are also often eaten with fat, sugar, and salt.
Could it be the peanuts themselves? Technically, they’re not nuts, so they probably don’t have the same benefits. But no, a meta-analysis of all such studies found similar benefits for whole nuts, but not peanut butter.
Well, one thing that’s missing even from salt-free, oil-free, sugar-free nut and seed butters is a strong cellular structure. As I noted in How Not to Eat, no matter how well we chew whole or chopped nuts, some nutrients remain locked in the tiny particles that deliver an abundance of prebiotic goodness to our friendly gut flora. That makes me wonder if there is a difference between thick and smooth peanut butter.
Meanwhile, there is “overwhelming evidence” to recommend eating nuts (preferably raw nuts over salted or roasted, and whole or chopped nuts instead of peanut butter) at least three times a week to increase our chances of living a long and healthy life.
Doctor’s Note
The healthiest nut would be walnuts. Look Walnuts and artery function.
However, nuts won’t make you fat? Look Nuts and Obesity: The Weight of Evidence.
I talked about my book, How Not to Diet, which you can read more about here. (All proceeds from my books are donated to charities.)
