Back from visiting my younger grandchildren, I realized the one food item I needed to stock up on was peanut butter. This is the four year old grandson’s “go to” food. He eats peanut butter on crackers for breakfast. He eats a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, sometimes with Nutella, which contains nuts. He eats peanut butter on a spoon for a snack, which happens to be one of my diet tricks to stave off afternoon munchies. When nothing else appeals to him for dinner, you guessed it, back to peanut butter. They buy Costco size peanut butter at their house.
And here I am this morning, sitting here with peanut butter on Wasa flax seed crispbread (80 calories for two slices) smeared with two tablespoons of peanut butter (180 calories). Why? As I typically read the New York Times on line before bed, last night under “Health,” and I do peruse every section, I found “Nuts Are A Nutritional Powerhouse,” by Jane E. Brody in the New York Times on line.
“Now, strong links between nuts and peanuts and better health have also been found in a major study of people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and varied ethnic groups – blacks, whites and Asians -many of whom had serious risk factors for premature death, like smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. The results were published in March in JAMA Internal Medicine by researchers at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Their study, conducted among more than 200,000 men and women in the Southern United States and Shanghai, found that the more nuts people consumed, the lower their death rates from all causes and especially from heart disease and stroke.”
Apparently, now, pregnant women should be eating nuts to avoid nut allergies in their offspring!
“And while it is true that more people today are allergic to nuts, and to peanuts in particular, than ever before, two recent studies have pointed to ways that may prevent children from developing a nut allergy. The first study, published last year in JAMA Pediatrics, found that women who consumed the most nuts or peanuts during their pregnancies were least likely to have children with this allergy. The reduction in risk was highest among children whose mothers ate nuts five or more times a month.
This Grandma reported on the study done on children already, and that the American Academy of Pediatrics has since revised its position, suggesting that evidence that avoiding specific foods beyond 4 to 6 months of age prevented food allergies was lacking.
A very important part of the article concerns using nuts as a means of weight maintenance. Yes, nuts are important. I was told when eating a carb to eat a few nuts, a protein to slow down metabolism and make me less hungry and feel full longer. It seems there is something to this scientifically.
Ms. Brody writes:
Yes, relatively speaking, nuts are high in fat, and fat contains more calories per gram (9) than protein or sugar (4 grams), even more than alcohol (7 grams). But a review of studies of large populations here and abroad by Richard D. Mattes of Purdue University and co-authors most often found that adults who eat nuts weigh less than nut avoiders. And children who ate peanuts usually had a lower body mass index than those who did not. Clinical trials found that adding lots of nuts to one’s diet had a limited effect on body weight. But more important, participants in studies that included nuts in a weight-loss regimen lost more weight and ended up with a smaller waist and less body fat than participants who did not eat nuts. One explanation for the weight control benefit of nuts is the satiation provided by their high fat and protein content, which can reduce snacking on sweets and other carbohydrates.”
This Grandma is now stocking up. Almonds are the best, but cashews are a favorite to snack on (a tablespoon or two only) with
Joy,
Mema
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