BY: SmoothieFans.com
I love adding extra ingredients to my smoothie recipes
that I’ve gathered for SmoothieFans.com For me adding nut and seed butter to a smoothie makes them rich, creamy, and more satisfying. Nut and seed butters are loaded with lots of healthy nutrients that standard smoothie ingredients may be deficient in. Many of the nut and seed butters in this article don’t add much taste difference to a smoothie but they will make it thicker and offer a good amount of protein.
While nut and seed butters have a lot of healthy
nutritional value, they are also high in fat content. The fats in most cases aren’t bad fats, but you do need to add nut and seed butters in moderation. Stay under two tablespoons in a smoothie. These nut and seed butters are high in monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), which are known for lowering triglyceride and cholesterol levels as well as risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Make sure you read the label of any nut
or seed butter you buy. Make sure the ingredient list is as short as possible with no added sugars, salts, or oils.
When you buy a more nutritious butter you’ll have some
oil separation when you open the jar. This is a good sign. Companies use lots of bad ingredients to keep this from happening in many less nutritious butters. There are a couple of ways to deal with oil separation: Mix your seed or nut butter when you open the jar and
when finished stick it in the refrigerator so it won’t separate. You can also just store the jar upside down in your cabinet and then oil will be on the bottom when you open the jar again later.
Peanut butter is a classic smoothie ingredient. Peanuts
are not actually a nut or a seed, but a legume. For all intents and purposes people always group them in with the rest of these nut and seed butters. Of these nut and seed butters, peanut butter has one of the highest amounts of protein per serving but doesn’t offer much in the way of omega-‐3 fatty acids. Peanut butter is a strong provider of omega-‐6, which creates strong bones and keeps metabolism at a good rate.
I’ve tried a TON of different peanut butters over the
years. All of these options are healthy, natural, and taste great. Some are easier to find than others at the local supermarket. Visit my article for links to purchase these http://smoothiefans.com/7-‐best-‐nut-‐seed-‐butters-‐for-‐healthy-‐smoothie-‐recipes/
Santa Cruz Organic Roasted Peanut Butter Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter Adam’s Natural Peanut Butter Reginald’s Homeade Peanut Butter Smucker’s All Natural Peanut Butter Teddie Old Fashioned All Natural Peanut Butter Whole Foods 365 Organic Peanut Butter Joseph’s Sugar Free Creamy Unsalted Peanut Butter
Almond butter is an excellent alternative to peanut butter. It’s
my favorite go to smoothie additive along with chia seeds. Almond butter has a really light and mild taste that works well in just about any smoothie recipe. Almond butter is high in fiber and Vitamin E. It has twice as much Vitamin E as peanut or cashew butter at 26% RDI per tablespoon. Almond butter has more omega-‐3′s than peanut butter. Almonds contain a great amount of good healthy fats at 83% compared to 74% in peanuts and 60% in cashews. Almond butter also contains a good amount of potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium, and phosphorus. The amount of calcium in Almond butter is six times that of peanut butter with two times as much magnesium.
I have tried several almond butters to see which ones I
liked. These options below are easily my favorites. They are really good quality and contain healthy natural ingredients. Links to purchase these almond butters can be found @ http://smoothiefans.com/7-‐best-‐nut-‐seed-‐butters-‐for-‐healthy-‐smoothie-‐recipes/
Barney Bare Smooth Almond Butter Harris Teeter Almond Butter MaraNatha Almond Butter Nuts N More Almond Butter Live Superfoods Raw Unpasteruized Almond Butter
I love raw cashews. They have such a nice sweetness to
them compared to other nuts and seeds. Cashew butter inherits this sweetness making it a great butter to add to smoothies. Cashews are rich in magnesium and copper. The fat in cashew butter is high in oleic acid which has been studied for its cardiovascular health improvement properties.
Cashew butters are not very common to find in stores.
These are the few I’ve tried and enjoyed. Links to buy these cashew butters are here:
http://smoothiefans.com/7-‐best-‐nut-‐seed-‐butters-‐for-‐healthy-‐smoothie-‐recipes/
Reginald’s Cashew Nilla Artisana Cashew Butter MaraNatha Roasted Cashew Butter
Sunflower seed butter is another terrific and healthy
alternative seed butter that mixes really well with smoothies of all types. Sunflower seed butter is made from sunflower seeds and contains a high amount of copper, manganese, magnesium, and phosphorus. Sunflower seed butter offers a good amount of water-‐ soluble B-‐complex vitamins and vitamin C. It offers four times as much vitamin E as peanut butter and twice as much iron and zinc. Alpha-‐tocopherols are high in sunflower seeds, which reduce cancer risks.
Sunflower seed butter is nice and smooth. I don’t buy
this type of butter very often but it is quite tasty. Links to buy these sunflower seed butters are here:
http://smoothiefans.com/7-‐best-‐nut-‐seed-‐butters-‐for-‐healthy-‐smoothie-‐recipes/
MaraNatha Sunflower Butter Trader Joe’s Sunflower Butter Sunbutter
Hemp seed butter is a relatively new addition to the nut
and seed butter market. I personally have not gotten a chance to buy any hemp seed butter but I did feel it needed a mention. The taste has been described as nutty and light. It is packed with omega-‐3. Nearly two times as much as you need each day. It has a ton of omega-‐6 fatty acids as well at 6.2g per 2 tablespoons. Hemp protein is unique in that it is a complete protein featuring all 21 amino acids. Hemp seed butter is also high in fiber and antioxidants.
As I mentioned already I have not ate any hemp seed
butter myself. I’ve heard great things about the stone ground Dastony brand. Links to buy this hemp seed butter is here: http://smoothiefans.com/7-‐best-‐nut-‐seed-‐butters-‐for-‐healthy-‐smoothie-‐recipes/
Dastony Hemp Seed Butter
Soybeans, like peanuts, are a legume. When soybeans are roasted and turned into soybean
butter the taste resembles peanut butter quite nicely. They are so close in taste a lot of schools have switched to using soybean butter instead of peanut butter because of allergy issues with students. Soybean butter is very healthy with less fat than most seed and nut butters. Soybean butter has a decent amount of protein per serving.
I’ve tried a couple of the soybean butters for people that
have nut allergies and found them to be quite tasteful. My recommended picks are below. Links to buy these soybean butters are here:
http://smoothiefans.com/7-‐best-‐nut-‐seed-‐butters-‐for-‐healthy-‐smoothie-‐recipes/
WOWButter Soy Spread I.M. Healthy Soynut Butter
Walnut butter is another rare site in most grocery stores. I sought out Walnut butter because it has a high value of
omega-‐3’s compared to the rest of these butters. Walnut butter does have a bit higher fat content and lower protein, however. Walnut butter is high in antioxidants, specifically polyphenols. Walnuts have the highest value of polyphenols compared to other nuts. This antioxidant compound improves blood flow, decreased cholesterol, and reduces inflammation.
I’ve only tried the Artisana version of walnut butter. I
plan to try to find others. Links to buy this walnut butter is here:
http://smoothiefans.com/7-‐best-‐nut-‐seed-‐butters-‐for-‐healthy-‐smoothie-‐recipes/
Artisana Walnut Butter With Cashews
Nutella is a good treat but not an very healthy addition
to smoothies. While it only has 200 calories per 2 tablespoon serving, it has 21g of sugar. The ingredient label is also terrible. Hazelnuts are not remotely at the top of the list.
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SmoothieFans.com for more
healthy smoothie ingredient articles and tons of smoothie recipes.
What is your favorite nut or seed butter to add to
smoothies?
Let me know in the comments.