Peanut butter has gone nuts. Now there's creamy, crunchy, extra chunky, reduced fat, reduced sugar, honey roasted and even peanut butter mixed with "banana" swirls.
Beyond flavor choices, understanding peanut butter's place in healthy eating is driving some folks crazy, too. Long promoted as a "great source of protein," peanut butter has become taboo in some circles, because it's just so high in fat.
But for some kids it's the only sandwich they'll take in a lunch box.
So let's look at the facts, and see how peanut butter can fit in your child's healthy eating plan.
Two tablespoons of peanut butter provides, on average, 190 calories, 8 grams (gm) of protein, 16 gm of fat, and 150 mg of added sodium.
Now that is a lot of fat, but keep in mind that half of it is monounsaturated, the heart-healthy kind. The other half is split between saturated and polyunsaturated fats. So when you include peanut butter in your allowable fat for the day, it helps you keep the preferred balance.
An average-sized 10-year-old needs about 2,000 calories a day, including 28 gm of protein and 45 to 65 gm of fat. He can handle about 2,000 mg of sodium. Clearly, a little peanut butter will fit. How well depends on how meals are put together. Compare these lunches.
Lunch No. 1
Menu -- 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, two slices of whole grain bread, one tablespoon of jelly, 8 ounces of skim milk, a fresh nectarine and a carrot.
Nutrition provided: one-third of calories for the day (about right for lunch), 93 percent of protein, 28 percent of fat, and 15 percent of sodium. (Also, half his daily fiber, 44 percent of calcium, one-fourth of vitamin C, and 100 percent of vitamin A.)
Lunch No. 2
Menu -- 2 tablespoons peanut butter, two slices white enriched VTC bread, 1 tablespoon jelly, 8 ounces whole milk, 1 ounce potato chips, 9 Hershey's kisses.
Nutrition provided: 40 percent of calories, 71 percent of fat, 93 percent of protein, 56 percent of calcium, and 38 percent of sodium, but only 5 percent of fiber, 9 percent of vitamin A, and 3 percent of vitamin C.
Lunch No. 1 is well-rounded because the high-fat peanut butter is balanced by foods naturally low in fat. Not by coincidence, those lowfat, close-to-natural foods offer vitamins, minerals and fiber for building healthy bodies.
Lunch No. 2 is really high in calories and fat, and lacks fruits and vegetables with all their life-giving nutrients. But the day can still be salvaged. Surround this lunch with a breakfast of cereal, skim milk and orange juice, an afternoon fruit snack, and a dinner that includes a salad, cooked vegetable and a small serving of lowfat meat, chicken, fish or beans. Choose fat-free salad dressing, and limit butter, margarine, mayonnaise, or gravy to the smallest smidgen, to keep fat in line.
If you and your kids are open-minded, you can add variety and nutrition to peanut butter sandwiches by changing the add-ons.
Change the bread: Try whole wheat, pumpernickel, cinnamon swirl or rye breads, mini whole wheat pitas, bagels of all flavors, English muffins, and even flat breads (crisp and crunchy bread strips with seeds and seasonings).
Change the spread: Replace jams and jellies with real fruit. Sliced or mashed banana is an old stand-by that's always deliciously new. (Don't be misled by "banana swirl" peanut butter. The swirl is sugar laced with banana flavoring.)
For a new twist on raisins, try the light ones -- they're a little more tart. Or experiment with tiny currents, or chopped dates, figs, or pitted prunes for a sweet treat that adds a little iron. Fresh fruits like sliced apples or pears add crunch to a peanut butter lunch, along with some fiber. Apple sauce mixed with cinnamon, apple butter or pear butter add a smooth but spicy touch.
Peanut butter has long been the centerpiece of kids' lunches. Surrounded by fruits, vegetables and whole grain bread, it will continue to grow generations of healthy, happy kids.
Colleen Pierre, a registered dietitian, is the nutrition consultant at the Union Memorial Sports Medicine Center and Vanderhorst & Associates in Baltimore.
