Who doesn’t love peanut butter in their protein?
Peanut butter has been a staple in our diets since we were kids, of course, unless you have an allergy. But for those who aren’t allergic, think of how many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches you’ve eaten in your life. Most likely tons. But peanut butter is also a worthwhile ingredient in many others foods and can really work with your protein shakes to help all areas of your gains. As a tasty and versatile option, peanut butter has stood the test of time for bodybuilders and other athletes alike.
As a staple food for virtually everyone, this is packed with macronutrients and serves you fat in a healthy way. While we all eat different amounts of it, it is important to remember that there are alternatives for those allergic or seeking a different option. Even for people on a diet, peanut butter is a good option for what it can do and how it can affect your weight loss and muscle building goals.
Let’s take a look at peanut butter and see what makes this a nice choice to include in your bodybuilding diet. With plenty of benefits, this will go well with many foods and allow you to enjoy your meals while still seeing worthwhile gains.
Benefits For Bodybuilding
The benefits of putting peanut butter in your diet are great and can work well for those bodybuilding gains. For those looking to capitalize on nutrition and see health benefits, while also increasing performance, peanut butter is definitely a food worth putting on the shelf.
Benefits of peanut butter include:
- Healthy fats: Containing a healthy amount of fats, you get this macronutrient into your body so you see the best gains and reach your daily fat intake (1).
- Decent protein amount: It does have a good amount of protein as well to help with those protein needs like muscle growth, recovery, and fat loss.
- Other vitamins and minerals: The added benefit is that it also has small amounts of vitamins and minerals, like magnesium and zinc, so these get added to your diet (2).
- Versatile food: As a versatile food, you can put this with many things for that convenient snack and worthwhile benefits.
- Keeps you more full: Anything that keeps you more full will help with weight loss and peanut butter is a good choice to include for those who find themselves always hungry.
Potential Downsides
Like everything, peanut butter does have some potential downsides to address. This will help you better prepare so you don’t find this harmful to your gains.
Some downsides are:
- Calorie count: It can be high in calories which is something to watch for. With the wrong serving size amount, what you’ll find is it is easy to overeat and consume way more calories than intended.
- Too much fat: With the wrong serving size, you may take in too much fat, so that is something to consider as well.
- Allergies: Of course, those with an allergy should not eat this and while they won’t get the benefits of peanut butter, here is where those nice alternatives come into the mix.
Why Peanut Butter Is Good For Those Bodybuilding Gains
Those looking to benefit from a versatile and convenient food will find peanut butter to be the perfect solution. Bodybuilders need those foods that taste good but that can always work to see great gains. Able to provide a good amount of macronutrients, peanut butter is definitely something to consider for your workout, pre or post, meals. Getting the right amount of fats and protein, as well as carbs, is also a big bonus with peanut butter, for you now have a food to balance out those macronutrients (3).
Ultimately, you want something that can be paired well with other foods, like bread or yogurt, among others, so you only see the best gains. Peanut butter can provide this, but just be careful of calorie count and too much fat, easy things to avoid with diligence.
Best Time To Eat Peanut Butter For Workouts
When it comes to the best time to eat peanut butter, it comes down to properly digesting and letting yourself get all of those vital nutrients. Before your workout, eating peanut butter, like in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, is not a bad idea, as long as you give yourself time to let it settle in your stomach. That feeling when it feels stuck in your throat or upper chest is a killer and can hinder your workout. If you are going to eat before, try to aim for a couple hours to allow for ample digestion time.
For after your workout, this isn’t a bad idea, although typically it is important to consume more carbs and protein as opposed to fat. If you have enough protein and carbs in your meal, then having some peanut butter won’t make or break your gains.
Great Alternatives
While peanut butter is a great option, looking to alternative sources can help with your gains as well. For those who have allergies or are just looking for something different, plenty of different nuts and seed butters are out there (4). While the taste may change, they will still contain nutrients and can help with all your goals, no matter what you try and accomplish.
Peanut butter alternatives include:
- Almond Butter
- Cashew Butter
- Coconut Butter
- Hazelnut Butter
- Sunflower Seed Butter
- Powdered Peanut Butter
Wrap Up
Peanut butter has the ability to help with all your gains and is something to heavily consider putting into your bodybuilding diet. With the right amount and a careful approach, you will see those gains you want most in no time. For those who need alternatives, they do exist so you don’t miss out on any of the great benefits peanut butter has to offer. Give this a try, enjoy the versatility and convenience, and see what it can do for your gains today.
Let us know what you think in the comments below. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
*Images courtesy of Envato
References
- Harvard Medical School (2019). “Ask the doctor: Why is peanut butter “healthy” if it has saturated fat?”. (source)
- Ros, E. (2010). “Health Benefits of Nut Consumption”. (source)
- Lambert, C.; et al. (2004). “Macronutrient considerations for the sport of bodybuilding”. (source)
- Gorrepati, K.; et al. (2015). “Plant based butters”. (source)
