Peanut Butter Alternatives for People with Peanut Allergies

Peanut allergies are scary. Forget the fact that people suffering from peanut allergies will never get to indulge themselves with the great taste of peanuts and peanut products (such as peanut butter), peanut allergies can be fatal. Simply using alternatives in order to not consume peanuts and peanut products is not enough to keep a peanut allergy sufferer safe. Peanut allergies can be very sensitive and can be triggered from foods that have simply made contact with peanut butter and other peanut products. A person with peanut allergies must take an extra step to be cautious as peanut contamination can even spread through kissing.

Here I have some great peanut butter alternatives that are as close to the forbidden peanut butter that the peanut allergy sufferer can enjoy without putting their life at risk.

*IMPORTANT NOTE!*
This list of peanut butter alternatives is made up of alternative nuts that can be made into a creamy spread. It is very common for peanut farmers to harvest other nuts as well, so when selecting a nut product below it is very important to do some research on the product to make sure peanuts are not harvested or contained within the same facilities so there is no chance of peanut contamination. You can buy the nuts yourself and use a blender to create your own peanut butter alternative, but if you choose to buy the finished product at the store it is important to research the processing of the product to be certain that peanuts are not ever in contact with any of the stages of processing.

Almond Butter- The almond used to be so much more than it is today. Yes, it's still a tasty peanut alternative, but ever since a few years back when batches of almonds were found to be contaminated with e-coli, a law was created that all almonds are to be pasteurized to kill any present bacteria. The pasteurization process may sound like a good idea, but it's really over kill. Naturally, almonds do not contain e-coli, but they can be contaminated by e-coli the same way other products can be contaminated by peanuts. Almond farmers, who also produced meat and did a poor job of keeping everything clean and separate, started the almond contamination. Why am I so against an extra step of caution? When a nut is pasteurized, it loses much of its nutrition benefits, so the almonds on the market today are really hollow shells of what they used to be. Never the less, almonds do taste great and will benefit people with peanut allergies as a great peanut and peanut butter alternative.
Soy Nut Butter- A few years ago I ran across soy nuts at the market and decided to try them, and I'm glad I did. Soy nuts taste great and for some reason cost much less than other nuts. While you're eating these great value nuts, you will notice the texture change into a creamy paste. This is where I got the idea to try to make an alternative peanut spread from soy nuts. Soy nuts are high in soy protein, so men may want to consider this before they decide on consuming this peanut butter alternative, as there is debate about soy products being linked to lowered sperm counts in men. Read more here. For those who are still interested, soy nuts are also void of cholesterol.

In addition to using these peanut butter alternatives as a spread, you can also use them as a substitute wherever a recipe asks for peanut butter.

Source: Information on Almond Pasteurization found at welikeitraw.com