Discussion Board

I have a new jar of natural almond butter and it has a lot of oil on the top. I normally stir it in. What if I were to pour it off and not stir it in? Have you ever done that?

Yup I have, it will make it stiffer and less spreadable. Just remember that the oil sure came from somewhere, so it's a good reminder of the fact that there is a whole lot of fat in there, so proceed with caution

Almond butter, oil poured off or not, is not approved on this plan. It is VERY high in fat. Try homemade (no oil added) hummus instead.

I have a friend who always pours the oil off of nut butters. She replaces it with water, well stirred in, and then keeps it in the fridge. The water keeps it more spreadable, but it won't keep out on the table anymore. But, yeah, still too much fat.

You can also mix a banana with a bit of almond butter - like this:

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2009/0 ... r-spreads/

Actually, it is approved of on this plan. McDougall says to eliminate nuts if you are not yet healthy, or if you have weight to lose. If you are doing the regular plan though, he says you can eat nuts, but you must limit them. Also, if you are not able to be moderate with nut consumption, he recommends avoiding them.

I agree it is not a helpful food for most people to eat nuts/nut butters regularly, but it is certainly not forbidden by McDougall for healthy, lean people. Jeff also ok's nut butters, if they are a small part of the diet, and the person is in good healthy and able to control their intake. I believe their recommendation is around 1oz per day, again, if you have no lingering health or weight concerns.

lfwfv

I still do a teaspoon of tahini in my evening salad . That's all the fat I'm getting. I don't know yet if I'm going to outgrow that. At least my fat consumption is drastically reduced. I'd love to spread almond butter on a banana for a snack just once or twice a month, but it's kinda hard to just use small amounts like that. Oh, I guess I could grind it myself at the store for tiny amounts. I mean, if that's what we do when we're feeling wild and crazy just occasionally, we're doing pretty good, aren't we?

the defatted peanut butters are a delicacy I have about once a year
http://www.betternpeanutbutter.com/nutrition.php
85% less fat and 40% less calories

The almond butter you eat is the almond butter you wear its about 80% fat by calories

Did you know you can buy almond butter and other nut butters in single serving packets? I've seen these at Sprouts, but never bought any. Artisana is one brand that offers these. I've experimented with making my own nut butter in the food processor. I tried making almond butter once. Almonds are a pain. Takes about a year (I never exaggerate ) to grind those into butter in my food processor. I had the most success with walnut butter. I lean toward walnuts because of their high omega-3. The ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 is better in walnuts than other nuts. Almonds are high in omega-6, aren't a source of omega-3, and so probably won't help achieve a good ratio if they're a regular player in the diet. That might be something to keep in the back of your mind when you're choosing to include nuts and nut butters. (If omega-6:omega-3 ratio is important, and if we're going to eat nut butter or nuts occasionally, it's probably better if they work for us rather than against us.) Depends on how you want to look at it.

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=dailytip&dbid=65

Of course you can get good amounts of omega-3 from flaxseed meal or chia seed, but I don't know how it'd taste spread on your banana.

Have a great day!

Hmmm, well I don't have any weight to lose and I'm in excellent health. But I do admit, I probably eat more nut butters than I should. I'm an avid cyclist and often go on 35, 50 or 70 mile bike rides (or more!). I avoid all those store bought "energy" bars but I really like half of a peanut butter, honey and raisin sandwich mid ride. Perhaps I should eat a "Mighty Muffin" (Engine 2 recipe) instead. I also take a banana and/or a peeled and sectioned orange on bike rides. I like participating in a form of exercise where I get to eat while doing it!

A chia seed spread would make a nice topping for that banana.

A couple tablespoons each chia and water plus a tablespoon cocoa powder, unsweetened. Let sit til thick.

You can also make your own "energy" bars, using ingredients you prefer. I've experimented with a few that include oats and puffed rice. I've made Walnut-Cherry, Honey-Date-Almond, and a chocolate-peanut one with prunes.

There's a basic formula/method. You toast your oats, nuts, seeds (I wouldn't toast chia, though) and combine that with some puffed brown rice cereal and dried fruit. Then you combine (melt together) a nut butter and liquid sweetener, vanilla and salt, and mix it into the dry stuff. Press it in a pan and let it cool. Cut into bars and wrap individually. The nutritional value varies by ingredients, of course. This is my cherry-walnut one: http://karicooks.blogspot.com/2011/10/c ... -bars.html I made it using my homemade walnut-date butter.

You can also make "energy" bars and nuggets by processing nuts or seeds and dried fruit together and pressing the mixture into bars or rolling it into balls. I think those will generally be a higher percent calories from fat item, unless you made them primarily fruit bars/nuggets. In any case, they'd certainly be calorie/energy dense since both dried fruit and nuts are calorie dense.

I haven't tried the Mighty Muffin recipe, but I made some banana-walnut muffins the other day.

If you eat nut butters and haven't tried walnut butter, try it and see if you like it. You might even like it in place of the peanut butter on your sandwich now and then. I think peanuts are lower in fat (and fiber) than walnuts, but their ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 is horrible. (Apparently, a high omega-6 and low omega-3 in the diet contributes to inflammation and disease.)

Just something to keep in mind, I guess. They say knowledge is power, and who am I to argue with that? Things can be as simple or as complicated as we choose to make them. When I start feeling nutrition info overload, I just switch my brain back to the "starch-based" channel and instantly feel better. (Thanks, Dr. McDougall.)

I did just that (poured off the oil) last night when I made my favourite raw soup last night. It's Chef AJ's recipe and she says to use raw almond butter. I have made the same soup using a handful of almonds.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I really appreciate it!