What makes Natural PB better than something like Jif????

I went to the store today and decided that I would try my best to acquire a taste for natural PB.  I'm a Jif regular creamy girl at the moment.

When I found a Skippy Natural creamy (that you don't have to stir) and compared it with my Jif.  It is basically the same, the natural had like 10 calories less, and 1g less carbs, but 0.5 more sat fat.

Here are the ingredient of both..........why is the Natural going to be better for me than the Jif????

Jif- Roasted Peanuts and Sugar, Contains 2% or less of: Molasses, Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (rapeseed and soybean), mono- and diglycerides, salt.

Skippy Natural- Roasted Peanuts, Sugar, Palm Oil, Salt

It's the hydrogenated oils in the Jif that make it so bad.  It's more processed and full of horrible trans fats.

I believe the main reason to consume natural peanutbutter is to remove trans fats and preservatives. Trans fat is very undesirable in any quantity. Many products that claim to have 0 Grams Trans Fat per serving actually do have trans fat; just not enough trans fat in a serving that equals 1 gram or more. This is very deceptive but legal. Federal law allows manufacturers to use this deceptive food labeling practice. I personally only buy peanut butter that has peanuts and salt or no salt. I pour some of the peanut oil out and stir the rest into the peanut butter. It is messier but better for you.

I'm taking baby steps into ditching the Jif...........and this Skippy looked like a good first step.  I tried the Smuckers natural creamy, but couldn't eat it, i had an issue getting it to "mix" up when i tried to stir it..............that was made worse by puting it in the fridge!!

Thanks for clearing up the trans fat issue, I was sitting here thinking to myself "but the label says 0 for trans fat" I guess they are hidden.

Now the Skippy shouldn't have any hidden in there right?

skippy natural creamy, by FAR the yummiest peanut butter ever.  i've tried them all. 

skippy natural doesn't have the hydrogenated fats (yes!) but it does have sugar.  i'm like, "whatever, it's so damn good!"  but i imagine that's a pretty big drawback for many people who're looking to eliminate sugar from their diet.

that said, there really isn't much hydrogenated oil in even commercial peanut butter.  i don't eat trans fats at all, so i avoid it altogether.  but for someone who eats it occassionally, it's no biggie; chips and crackers and biscuits and margarine and many candy items and any baked good/pie has so so so much more.

I wish I could get into eating natural pb, it's ok if I have it on toast with jam, but I really prefer the 'regular' kind :/

Original Post by vicereine:

I wish I could get into eating natural pb, it's ok if I have it on toast with jam, but I really prefer the 'regular' kind :/

Agreed. For the little amount of PB I do consume, Id rather get me the chunky artificial stuff.

My stepdaughter found a great organic peanut butter, no stir and delicious!  Look for MaraNatha brand.  They make all kinds of nut butters.  I've been eating that for so long that I can't say I remember the difference but I give my dogs a no name brand (poor doggies) and there is a bit of a consistency difference.  I'm sure that's because of the added fats in the no name brand. 

Find a health food store they should have a Peanut Butter machine, give that a try, nothing but peanuts and you can buy it in smaller amounts so there is no separation.

I'm not sure about Jif and Skippy, but REAL natural peanut butter doesn't have added sugar or salt. Just peanuts, and oil. So the Skippy isn't all that "natural" really.

The two are both so similar really that you should just buy the one that you like more. Better taste, spreadability, and texture, etc.

Don't sacrifice taste.

If it's hydrogenated, it's not good for you. Peanut butter with palm oil isn't much better though - you're really best off with the old-fashioned kind that you have to stir up before you start the jar - that's just peanuts and a little salt!

Original Post by bintzp:

My stepdaughter found a great organic peanut butter, no stir and delicious!  Look for MaraNatha brand.  They make all kinds of nut butters.  I've been eating that for so long that I can't say I remember the difference but I give my dogs a no name brand (poor doggies) and there is a bit of a consistency difference.  I'm sure that's because of the added fats in the no name brand. 

 I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one that feeds her dogs PB.  One has to take a pill every day and it works better than anything else I've found.  Anyway, I feed my dogs the Skippy Natural.  My BF tried to feed them Jif, but they wouldn't eat it.  I prefer the natural stuff b/c I aim for the shortest possible ingredient list (preferably one I can pronounce).  Plus I think the natural stuff tastes more like peanuts.

People, the ingredient list said Fully Hydrogenated! That is NOT trans fat.

Check this website, they explain it pretty simply...

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/ima ge-files/unsaturated-fat.jpg&imgrefurl=ht tp://##texthol der2##:&tbnh=54&tbnw=135&prev=/im ages%3Fq%3Dhydrogenated%2Bfat%26gbv%3D2%26hl% 3Den%26sa%3DX

Original Post by krzylittlecara:

"Jif- Roasted Peanuts and Sugar, Contains 2% or less of: Molasses, Fully Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (rapeseed and soybean), mono- and diglycerides, salt."

On that health food site that brighteyes149 linked to, I read this list:

Foods that usually contain high levels of trans fats:

Pastries and cakes
French fries (unless fried in lard / dripping)
Doughnuts
Cookies / biscuits
Chocolate
Margerine
Shortening
Fried chicken
Crackers
Potato chips

Next time I go to tell someone I have wine taste on a beer budget, I should just tell the truth and say I have trans-fat taste!

I prefer processed peanut butter to organic peanut butter. Peanuts have a mold called aspergillus that the processing will remove, but organic peanut butter still has.

http://www.deanesmay.com/archives/007598.html

i havent tried the skippy..i use the smuckers natural that you have to stir. I usually take it out of the jar its in and put it in something bigger thats easier to stir it in. Once i get it into another container and stir it up and refridgerate it, i dont have a problem with the oil rising to the top again. Its much easier to stir after being refridgerated than other PB's..i love it!!!

Natural peanut butter should only have peanuts and maybe salt.  Only peanuts will say, "unsalted".   That's all I buy.  Some store brands will sell natural or there is Laura Scudder's brand (expensive). 

There is no reason to add sugar, a lot of salt or any oil to peanut butter. 

well, i can think of a reason to add sugar:  so it tastes better.