At Target today, I was standing at the aisle looking for snacks and peanut butter caught my eye. I am a huge fan of peanut butter, I would have it with vegetables, fruits, and crackers. My favorite is peanut butter and banana as the two combined give a really creamy taste. I started to take an interest in almond butter when I saw advertisements for Justin's Almond Butter. I decided to do more research on almond butter and learned that it is in fact healthier than peanut butter. I first tried the almond butter with garlic parmesan pretzels and it had an exotic taste to it. Even though I definitely tasted more garlic than the butter, almond butter lacked the rich taste that peanut butter gives off. Perhaps it would have been smarter to try the nut butter with something plain like saltine crackers, but I wanted to try an interesting combo with it. So conclusively, I love the taste of peanut butter more, but for health reasons I will adjust myself to adapt to using almond butter for my in dorm snacking adventures.
vs.
Credits to Refinery29 for comparing the two nut butters.
Almond and peanut butter are identical in protein, fat, and calories.
For two tablespoons, both nut butters weigh around 8 grams of protein, 17 grams of fat, and 200 calories.
So then what is the difference?
The micronutrient content.
Peanut butter contains 14% of your daily value of B6 and 22% of niacin, where almond butter only contains 2% and 5% respectively.
However! Almond butter contains almost double amounts of magnesium (28%) and iron (15%), triple amounts of the antioxidant vitamin E (28%), four times as much calcium (9%), and six times as much riboflavin (12%). Almond butter is healthier in that it contains more antioxidants which is essential for cleansing the body.
FATS are good for you. Yes, you read it correctly. Our bodies need healthy fats.
Almond butter is loaded with more than 50% monounsaturated fat, which helps lower blood cholesterol. Whereas, peanut butter contains almost two times the Omega-6 fatty acids, which are associated with inflammation and increased risk of heart disease.
For a visual representation that I found on Google Images:
