I’m sure my nut butter habit is making me out weight on!?

[OverwateredCheeseplant]

I’m obsessed with almond butter. I have it on toast twice a day. Since this habit started I’ve developed a bit of a tummy and my jeans are tight! I watch what I eat and my habits haven’t changed in any other way. I thought nut butters were meant to be healthy?!

Healthy doesn't mean calories free! Put it on celery or apple slices

Nut butter

Very high in fat is very high in fat, even if it's good fat.

Calories are calories, and nut butters are LOADED with them.

This was advised to us to use to get my little boy to gain weight. Very high in good fats.

and on toast?! I am TRYING to put on weight (I've lost too much out running), and that's my mid-morning high-calorie snack.

Masses and masses of fat - in fact almost pure at. A bucket of lard would be the same! Ration yourself - spread it very thinly, or one small thick dollop a day. Your gall bladder will start to protest if you keep taking such a high fat item on board.

I have never tasted it, but am now tempted - see what you have started??!!

Calories are calories, have you checked the actual calorie content it will be huge per 100g. Any nuts are calorie dense even if they contain healthy fats.

Yeah my DS loves it, it's very nutrient heavy, loads of good oils and good fats, but yeah, it's high in calories too!

Stop eating it and use it as a face pack to get moisturised glowing skin.

Wash off before leaving the house though.

I am similarly obsessed with 3 nut butter from Whole Foods. I have cut back in the last few months as I was also worried about the effect on my waistline! I recently had a cholesterol check and although still in the safe zone my "healthy" cholesterol had really dropped. Reducing the 3 nut is the only change I can think of as the nuts help with the healthy fat
. So it's swings and roundabouts!!

There's a reason aid agencies provide peanut butter in areas of the world with famine. Very calorific! But good

I'm addicted to pip & nut chocolate orange almond butter!

Uhm, yes nuts are healthy, they’re full of nutrients and good fats.

They’re calorie dense.

Masses and masses of fat - in fact almost pure at. A bucket of lard would be the same! Ration yourself - spread it very thinly, or one small thick dollop a day. Your gall bladder will start to protest if you keep taking such a high fat item on board

Nut butter is not pure fat, it's nothing like lard. It has fibre and protein, unlike lard, and lots of minerals and vitamins. Oh and eating it won't cause issues with your gall bladder.

Almond butter 100g:
650 kcal
55.8g Fat (4.4 g saturated)
6.5g Carbohydrates
11.8g Fibre
25.4g Protein
Also includes vit E, riboflavin, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium in significant amounts.

Lard 100g:
900 kcal
100g fat (44g saturated)

Of course excess amounts of calories will put weight on, but not all the calories in nut butter get absorbed due to its high fibre content. That said, that little jar does pack loads of calories, so it might be worth cutting down and seeing if that helps?

Nut butter on toast is probably one of the most calorie dense foods you can eat, short of attacking the butter dish with a spoon.

Delicious, reasonably healthy depending on what sort of bread you are eating, but very very high in calories. 2 slices of toast with what doesn't look like a huge amount of nut butter could easily be 500 calories.

How many slices of toast are you having a day? If it's 2 slices, twice a day, thats an extra 1000 calories a day in addition to all the other food and drink you are consuming.

@misshappening try mixing it with honey and cocoa powder

Clearly I’ve been scoffing too much of the stuff. I’ll find an alternative breakfast and 8pm snack!

No I have one slice of gluten free toast twice a day, or WAS because it has to stop now!

There was a recipe for healthy bars on FB the other day that was full of nuts, dates and maple syrup. So yes not a Mars bar but still choc full of calories and sugar. Nut fat is still calorific, maple syrup is still sugar.
Still, less almond butter on apple slices is a fab snack.

Just to weigh in on favour of nut butter, when I had gestational diabetes and was under a nutritionist, they advised that carbs should be eaten with protein and peanut butter on toast gave me less of a blood sugar spoke than toast by itself

How about substituting oatcakes or crackers for the bread? My favourite breakfast is mashed banana and peanut butter (no sugar) on a couple of oatcakes!

Keep having it for breakfast. Just maybe a bit less of it and have something else later in the day.

Oh God I feel your pain OP - I blame Deliciously Ella and the like, who claim to stuff their faces with dates covered in almond butter, or the 'energy balls' etc, making out that because they have more nutrients than a chocolate bar, they are 'healthy'.

I have majorly cut down on my nut butter, oil, nut consumption, I was getting totally carried away!

Yes but that’s not really relevant here, because the sugar spike is irrelevant unless you are dealing with some sort of diabetes.

OP will continue to put on weight if that second piece of toast and butter puts her over her daily calorie allowance.

If you’re looking at healthy eating then you’d be better off ditching the toast altogether and just having a teaspoon or two of the nut butter every day, Or just have the one piece of toast per day.

Maybe. I kind of assume sugar spikes aren't great for anyone's health, but am not a nutritionist so don't know.

How old are you?

I love almond butter, I put it on my chia seed porridge for breakfast, absolutely scrumptious x