Peanut Butter and the Dieting Obsession

Not for nothing - but regardless of whether or not this is a marketing scheme toward chronic dieters, there are people who go on reduced fat diets for reasons beyond weight loss... I've recently become one of them. I'm having gall bladder issues, and my doctor has ordered me to limit my daily fat grams to an ungodly low amount. Period. Until we figure out if it's a stone or if it's what's called "dysfunctional gall bladder syndrome", which causes problems with the way my digestive system handles fat intake.

So while you see reduced fat peanut butter (something I've been eating for a few years, actually - it's nothing that new) as a trick marketing ploy to appease dieters... I see it as a way to enjoy peanut butter while avoiding the sharp pains in my abdomen and causing problems to my internal organs.

Thank you for the information. This blog is certainly helpful for me and my own weight loss goals!

I agree with you that this kind of product is pure insanity. If you care about reducing the fat you consume, you'd be better off using 1 tablespoon of the real stuff (by which I mean REALLY real, not skippy) rather than 2 tablespoons of reduced fat gunk spread.

Reduced fat peanutbutter is the same calories as the real stuff in most casses.
Not all fat is bad and not all body fat is either.

Anything other than peanuts in peanut butter is an additive. I get peanut butter from Trader Joe's that has Peanuts as the ingredients. Simple...and tasty...and REAL. If it's not natural peanut butter it has hydrogenated oils in it and that's not good or real.

I'm not sure with Skippy, but, as iportion mentioned, most reduced fat versions have the same calories as regular. Reduced fat Jif has 190 calories per serving, as does regular Jif. The only difference is less fat and more carbs in the reduced fat version.

In dieting to lose weight, the regular would probably be the better choice. The extra fat it has will slow down the digestion and help keep you feeling full longer than the extra sugar in the reduced fat.

Good Lord! People will buy this rubbish thinking it's "healthy"!

As others have said, peanut butter should contain only, um, peanuts. And as Nathan Sweeney pointed out, the "good" fats in nuts and nut butters make them incredibly filling.

Not all fats are bad, people!

I think the nature of processing food makes it higher in calories and more "unrecognizable" to your body. Most "diet foods" you mention Jim are processed diet foods manufactured by corporations that promote the diet. WW makes all sorts of processed "diet foods" under its brand name, but you can follow the program to a tee even if you don't buy any of it. I believe that processed foods in general are the cause of obesity (HFCS is a prime culprit, especially for causing diabetes) and the more unprocessed the food, the better it is.

No, no. It is just a mistake on the label. Instead of 'Skippy', it should read 'SkipIt!', but people would buy it anyway.

JJ said:

"If you care about reducing the fat you consume, you'd be better off using 1 tablespoon of the real stuff (by which I mean REALLY real, not skippy) rather than 2 tablespoons of reduced fat gunk spread."

You're assuming that someone would choose two tbsp so they could get more for the same. This, as I mentioned before, simply is not true.

When my doctor tells me that the only way to stop my abdominal pains until we determine if I need to have surgery is by cutting my TOTAL FAT INTAKE in terms of TOTAL GRAMS OF FAT - I'm sorry, I'll take the reduced fat version of peanut butter, cheese, and salad dressing whenever I can get my hands on it. This doesn't mean I'm going to double up on something to "fill up" or eat more. It means I have to watch ONLY my intake of fat grams. A serving is a serving, and if the regular stuff (natural or not) gives me double the fat grams of the reduced fat stuff - sorry, but I'm more apt to avoid sharp pains in my abdomen whenever I can.

Why does the world assume that all foods out there can only serve one purpose? Only one "type" of consumer? This is just not the case with any product out there... You all act like the only person who can wear sneakers is someone who's on a treadmill for crying out loud. OPEN YOUR EYES!

"Why does the world assume that all foods out there can only serve one purpose? Only one "type" of consumer? This is just not the case with any product out there... You all act like the only person who can wear sneakers is someone who's on a treadmill for crying out loud. OPEN YOUR EYES!"

Just calm down. We all get it. We're talking about the general case though. You happen to have a special condition where this is actually applicable. However, what you have is fairly rare. We're referring to the general population. The fact is reduced fat peanut butter was not developed with your condition in mind; it just happens to work out well for you. Everything being discussed here doesn't apply to you.

Even though peanut butter is good for you, the amount of fat it contains is huge. This new peanut butter is not the solution as it is just another excuse so people can say they are eating healthy. People can gain weight off of healthy food as well it is just the amount they consume.

This post most definitely refers to the dieting revolution of the (60s?). It has resulted in us having a vast array of food products that pretend to be good.

Your situation (Lara) is completely different. You have my sympathy - gall bladder problems are extremely painful - and I hope you can get to the bottom of it.

I think what JJ is referring to is a choice between reducing the serving of a full-fat food, or replacing it with a similar serving of a low-fat food. In the case of cheese - I could opt for either a slice of low-fat cheese, or half a slice of full-fat cheese - both would result in the same fat grams (but, incidentally, reduced micro-nutrients in the low-fat version - see more).

It's the same with low-carb products. You could eat a cup of low-carb pasta, or half a cup of normal pasta to get the same carb grams (for example). The question is, what replaces the carb (or fat) in the diet product to maintain the same volume?

Ryan - I'm perfectly calm, thank you. And for the record, it's not "rare" for people to have gallbladder issues - in fact, if you talk to anyone you know who's had them, most of them will tell you that they've spent more than half their lives on a diet - what's that tell you?

DB - I totally understand that viewpoint, and yes, I agree that during the "low fat revolution" people took that to mean they could eat double for less and lose weight, be fine, etc., when in fact, they were gaining weight due to the excess sugar, and who knows what other fillers. I get it.

However I don't think people are as ignorant as they used to be, and personally, I attribute anyone's failure to lose weight to a lack of really focusing and trying. My own failure included! I've said on my site that I don't do home videos, and in the same sentence will complain about not having $300 for a gym membership. I do know that I would work out more often, and more effectively with a gym membership. I also know that something's better than nothing, and $5 on eBay can get me a set of DVDs to use at home - but I choose not to do that. The lack of weight loss is MY fault in that case. It's MY decision not to do "whatever it takes". Likewise with people who try to lose weight but don't pay attention to serving sizes and nutritional info... so why blame the manufacturers who tell you exactly what's in the food? It's no secret that McDonald's food is horrendous for anyone, fat or thin... but in the end, it's the responsibility of the individual as to what they put in their mouths. If they choose to be ignorant, no one's forcing them.

Lara: I did say "fairly rare". I've never actually encountered someone with gall bladder problems. I absolutely agree about McDonald's not being at fault, now that all of information about their food is readily available. Lack of discipline is the cause of nearly all obesity today.

Ryan - believe me when I say that what I'm about to write is not meant to be nasty or degrading in any way... but why on Earth would people actually need to see the nutritional information about the food at fast food joints to know it's bad for you? Before you knew that the fries were loaded with X grams of fat, could you not taste it? Did you not see the shine on the fries as you watched them come out of a vat of oil? Did you never have to keep the wrapper on your burger to catch all the grease and dripping sauces?

No one ever needed printed out nutritional information to know that fast food was bad. Stuff in the grocery store - an entirely different story. The differences between regular brands of peanut butter are there, just like there are differences in the nutritional information for various types of fish.

All I'm saying is that rather than place the blame on the manufacturers, who are doing their legal duties by placing the nutritional information on the packaging, maybe it's time to think about the fact that these products do fill a need when used properly, and for some, like me (and it's still not "fairly rare" - I spoke with 4 other people in the last week with the same exact problem over the past month or so) it can be lifesaving.

I'd even rather eat the fillers than the fat at this point in my life. Would I choose processed foods over whole foods had I not had this medical problem? Sure, if I was being mindful about it 24/7 - but as we all know, there are more sinners than saints when it comes to food consumption... so why not provide people with options and let them bear the responsibilities for what they eat?

Yeah.

I'm all for the real pb&j's, to tell you the truf.

The fake peanut butter and splenda jelly just kindof are a kickindaballz for a Jersey boy like me. I grew up on Jif and Smuckers, for chrissakes.

Here's the deal...

Give up on the fake pbuttah until you actually need it. For now, stick with the rice cakes and 1gm carb bread.

"Ryan - believe me when I say that what I'm about to write is not meant to be nasty or degrading in any way... but why on Earth would people actually need to see the nutritional information about the food at fast food joints to know it's bad for you? Before you knew that the fries were loaded with X grams of fat, could you not taste it? Did you not see the shine on the fries as you watched them come out of a vat of oil? Did you never have to keep the wrapper on your burger to catch all the grease and dripping sauces?"

By this argument, avocados would be one of the worst foods on the planet, since nearly all of their calories are from fat (granted, they are a really bad food for you in your condition). It's not how much fat, it's what lengths of fatty acid chains and where the carbon double bonds are, if they are present. You can't taste that.

It's interesting to see the 'responses' to this post. It seems that fat phobia is alive and well.

Perhaps there will still be a market for these un-natural food yet! Because God know if we ate real whole foods, well that's just too high in fat! All those nasty Omega3s proven to protect the heart and all!

Jim asked somebody to expose opinion of cause and effect. The cause is the federal government. The effect is keeping the food processing industry and the drug industry in business, and making us sick.

JJ said: "If you care about reducing the fat you consume, you'd be better off using 1 tablespoon of the real stuff (by which I mean REALLY real, not skippy) rather than 2 tablespoons of reduced fat gunk spread."

I agree that the best strategy is to decrease the portion size of the "real" stuff. My mind knows this, and when I'm having a "good" day, I follow that strategy.

However, I am an emotional eater and ended up severely obese partly because of it. I have managed to control my emotional eating for the most part and have lost a heck of a lot of weight. But, I think it's like an alcoholic...I'll always have to deal with my emotions and eating.

I've been working on this for over 3 years, and there are times when my emotions beat out my mind and I eat more than one portion. And, it so happens that peanut butter is one of my favorite foods, so I sometimes will eat more peanut butter than just 2 tbs. And, I honestly do not like the taste of the natural kinds.

So, the times that I feel that it's safe to have peanut butter in my house, I do buy the reduced fat kind, because like Lara, I know I am at least controlling my TOTAL fat intake should I have 4 tbs instead of 2.

Now, sometimes I've had to banish peanut butter from my house because I'll find myself thinking that since it's reduced fat, I can have more. But at least now I recognize when I start to have those thoughts and do something about it. That's how I manage the problem *for me*.

Now, there are other things where I would prefer to just have a little bit of the real stuff and I don't have to worry about binging. I'll take 1 ounce of real sharp cheddar over 2 or 3 ounces of the low or fat free crap anyday. But, I've never really had a problem with using cheese for comfort like I do peanut butter.

So, the bottom line is, it works for me to find replacements for some foods, because if you told me that I'd never be able to eat peanut butter again to be able to lose weight, I'd probably be back at 272 pounds again!

But, since I try to limit processed foods from most other parts of my diet, I don't worry about using some here or there.

Lara,
Ryan is right that I wasn't referring to doubling portions, but rather cutting your portion size in half. Here's the math:
2 tbsp serving of regular: 17g fat
1 tbsp of regular: 8.5g fat
2 tbsp serving of reduced fat: 12g fat
So I stand by my statment that 1/2 serving of the regular stuff contains less fat than a full serving of the reduced fat. Of course a half serving of the reduced fat is even lower (6g), and better for a gallbladder sufferer. (You have my sympathy, unlike Ryan I know several people who've been through it and it sucks.)

Jen,
I hear you. I have that problem with a certain brand of crackers, I have trouble eating the recommended serving size, much less half the recommended serving. But if it's a total "red light" food for you, you're better off just not buying it... as many people have pointed out, both versions have the same amount of overall calories.

And I will also note for those who don't like the natural stuff... I grew up on it and I once had my toe broken by a food service size container of Skippy... so it's easy for me to suggest switching! :-D I know that in reality, some of these changes can be hard to make, and personally there are product that I'll switch out and products that I just love and I'd rather have a smaller serving of the gunky stuff. You have to make your own choice of what works for you.

Dearest Lara,
I understand your appreciation for companies that make an effort to accomodate our modern taste for overly processed foods. However, if the stats above are correct, it is still almost 50% Fat. Not to mention you still need another piece of refined carb/bread to spread it on + Ohh that delicious sweet Jelly to make it go down nice - That's triple the sin. Not withstanding that, moderation is our guide. Generally speaking a typical peanut butter jelly sandwich is not anything that our body actually recognises as nourishiment since it gets digested so fast, much of it being converted to glucose very quickly, loading your blood with it & causing insulin spikes.....It is almost an internal shock to the system as it adjusts to this type of "food". Over 60% of Americans are overweight - the only way to change the food and Drug industry is to change demand from an educated public, so that their choices become more sophisticated pushing them to create better products in the natural direction. All of you here are the guardians of the future - "Spread the Love and Wisdom" and the Truth will will set us free....from obesity and many other ills :) - N.B. I echo Jen's sentiment on the real thing but in 'responsible' portions :)

If you have some time to kill, you could make your own peanut butter... I buy the peanuts (shelled), roast them, then sit on the garden as I peel them (roll them in my hands, blow the skins, repeat...). Then stick in the blender with a dash of your favorite oil (peanut, canola, whatever), a pinch of salt if you like it, and there you have it. I find the peeling very zen and relaxing.

If you put in tupperware you cleaned with alcohol first (to make sure it is totally dry) it will last you around 45 days in the fridge.

The real key to good health ,stamina, and strength, is exercise and in certain aspects, diet. Get your vitamins/minerals, and proteins, some carbs, some non-trans fats, and stay active. You can enjoy ANY peanut butter you want unless you have a specific condition..... if you are exercising properly, doing both resistance training and cardio. Exercise of both sorts will reduce stress, illness, fat, increase strength, natural calorie burn, improve circulation, tighten skin, and even aid in sleep. Stop over concerning yourselves with little minor details and get a consistent workout agenda initiated. CONSISTENCY is key, not just till you like your body a certain way or for 2 weeks. Oh, and I eat Skippy, the regular cheap oily crap, I am 5'11" , 170lbs, never sick, and not a teenager :)