Are there concerns about only eating peanut butter?

Dear Reader, 

No food is inherently good or bad, peanut butter included. The body needs varying amounts of vitamins, minerals, and calories for day-to-day functioning. While peanut butter may provide lots of fat, carbs, and protein, it misses some of the other essential vitamins and nutrients. Using peanut butter in recipes with other foods or trying new dips, sauces, and snacks altogether might help you expand your palate if that’s what you’re looking for. Read on to learn more!  

The ingredients in peanut butters vary based on if they are classified as a “natural” peanut butter or if there are added flavors. In many natural peanut butters, one serving (two tablespoons) contains around 190 calories. This includes 16 grams of fat, which is around one-quarter of the average daily amount of fat that’s essential to health. So, eating half a jar (around 14 tablespoons) would likely exceed this recommended amount. Interestingly, most of the fat in peanut butter is unsaturated, which may reduce the risk of heart disease. Additional ingredients like salt, sugar, vegetable oils, and other flavors or seasonings could also contribute to your daily dose of vitamins and minerals. On the other hand, natural peanut butter only contains peanuts and salt. Natural peanut butter may have more calories, fat, and protein than other brands of peanut butter, but not by much. Either way, eating half a jar would likely fulfill your hunger from the number of calories you’re consuming but it might not provide all the essential nutrients that you need.  

While picky eating is common, it typically occurs more in children. That said, disliking foods at one point does not mean you will dislike them in the future. Trying new things with an open mind, even if it’s just one bite, could expand your diet to make sure you’re getting the nutrients that aren’t in peanut butter. Other reasons you may be actively avoiding eating certain foods could include: 

• Sensory processing disorder (SPD). Having SPD can cause people to experience texture sensitivity or sensory overload which might make people less comfortable eating foods with strange or unknown textures. Softer foods like peanut butter might be more familiar or enjoyable to eat than hard, crunchy textures.  
• Avoidant-Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID). This is a condition where people aren’t interested in eating food. It isn’t related to body image or picky eating but can cause disordered eating habits. This can lead to malnutrition or dehydration.  

Everyone’s dietary needs and habits are different, and often they depend on lifestyle and genetics. Here are some questions to reflect on if you’re concerned about only eating natural peanut butter and want to try something new: 

• Aside from peanut butter, what other foods do you consume? Is it possible that those foods are missing the vital fats, proteins, and carbs that are found in peanut butter? You may be craving the nutrients in peanut butter if they aren’t elsewhere in your diet.  
• If you really love the taste of peanut butter, what are some foods or recipes that could be paired with peanut butter that you might enjoy? For example, peanut butter and apple slices, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or a peanut butter-based sauce to go with veggies and noodles. These combos could help you take in some vitamins and minerals that you might be missing out on.  
• Or maybe it’s the texture of peanut butter that keeps you coming back for more; if this is the case, what are some alternatives you could try? For example, guacamole, hummus, or other dips or spreads that are smooth and creamy like peanut butter and contain a variety of nutrients.  

Trying new foods may take some trial and error as you step outside your comfort zone and experiment with different food combinations. Often, picky eaters find that it takes several attempts before they are willing to eat something new, even if they didn’t like it in the past. You may have to be creative to explore variations of recipes that you enjoy. However, if eating is causing you mental distress or you start to lose interest in eating altogether, these could be signs of disordered eating or a mental health condition. Working with a health care provider, mental health professional, or nutritionist may be helpful for you to gain more information and find a treatment option, if necessary. Whatever the case, best of luck on your journey of food discovery!