The Peanut Butter Diet is a book written by Holly McCord - a senior writer for the US health magazine Prevention. Prevention is published by Rodale. Quite simply, this is fad dieting at its finest (or silliest). Essentially the diet is nothing more than an average low calorie diet with some peanut butter in the meal plans and recipes.
It is an overt attempt to gain popularity and notoriety by focusing on a single food that has traditionally been seen as "bad".
Peanut Butter for Weight Loss
Like most fats and oils, nuts have been derided during the recent prevalence of low fat diets. However this is unfounded as nuts are good sources of mono-unsaturated fats, proteins, and other essential micro nutrients such as vitamin E.
Like all fats they are higher in calories (9 calories per gram), and need to be eaten in moderation. There is no reason why nuts should be completely eliminated from a weight loss diet. This is what the Peanut Butter diet is cashing in on.
Generally any diet that espouses the benefits of a single food over all others is in danger of becoming unbalanced. The Peanut Butter diet is a little deceptive as it gives the impression that peanuts are the answer to weight loss.
Peanut Butters - Not All Created Equal
It needs to be said that there are many different qualities of peanut butter available in retail outlets. Some have sugar and sodium (salt) added, and other oils and preservatives. As a general rule of thumb, the more processed a food is, the lower the nutritional quality is.
Natural peanut butter - with few additives is the best bet. Healthy fats have a place in our diet - but like most things - within moderation.
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