Celery filled with peanut butter is a tasty and nutritious snack.
Peanut and almond butters are the most popular and well-known nut butters, although most nuts can be made into a spreadable butter or paste. Almonds are one of nature's most nutritious and delicious nuts and boast the highest protein level of all nuts. Perhaps even more popular, peanuts are also a good source of vitamin E and fiber. Research suggests that nuts have protective properties against cardiovascular disease in both raw and roasted forms.
Nutritional Value
The debate over the nutritional superiority of raw nut butter over roasted nut butter is ongoing. The pro-raw camp claims that heat destroys some of the nutrients in nuts, whereas those in support of the nutritional value of roasted nuts disagree. For example, the peanut-roasting process increases the nut's antioxidant capacity by 22 percent according to researcher Lauren O'Connor of California State University, Los Angeles.
Food Additives
One distinctive benefit of raw nut butters is the lack of any additives, such as salt, sugar or preservatives like hydrogenated oils for those who want to lower or eliminate these ingredients from their diet. Hydrogenated soybean, cottonseed and rapeseed oils are used as stabilizers for many popular peanut butter brands found on grocery store shelves. One beneficial side effect of the stabilizers is the re-establishment of vitamin E lost during the nut-roasting process.
Heart Health
Clinical studies show clear evidence of an association between the consumption of both raw and roasted nuts with a considerable reduction in risk for developing heart disease. Data from a study published in the May 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows a correlation between a diet substituted with nut oils instead of saturated fat, and a whopping 45 percent reduction in risk. The Journal of the American College of Nutrition published a study that investigated the cholesterol lowering potential of both roasted and raw almonds, with the conclusion that there wan no significant difference in the nuts proven cholesterol-lowering capabilities.
Personal Preference
Try and compare raw and roasted nut butters to determine which suites your taste and texture preferences. The noticeable differences between freshly ground raw peanut butter and roasted peanut butter are ease of spreading, texture and taste. Raw peanut and almond butters with no additives are thick, and tough to spread on a piece of bread or cracker. The lack of salt in raw butters may take time to get used to. Some roasted peanut butters without stabilizers are too thin and runny, which makes for a very messy peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Tags: peanut butter, both roasted, almond butters, reduction risk, roasted nuts, roasted peanut
