Peanut Butter for Weight Loss

Peanut butter is one of my favorite foods, which is why I've been heartened by some recent studies that say this food may help you lose weight.

You might have noticed this yourself from snacking on peanut butter, but it's tops when it comes to making us feel full. It's not only yummy, but it helps control hunger.

The key to peanut butter's weight loss potential its high content of monounsaturated fats (MUFAs). A study by Penn State found that a diet high in MUFAs lowered LDL ("bad") cholesterol without lowering HDL ("good") cholesterol.

Another study by Harvard University showed people on a diet with a lot of MUFAs kept off more weight than people on a traditional diet.

While peanut butter is admittedly high in calories, it gives you a feeling of fullness, which means you may ingest less calories overall. According to a study by Purdue University, subjects who snacked on peanut butter self-adjusted their diets so they did not eat more calories overall.

So, peanut butter can help curb your appetite, which will help you successfully manage your weight.

Whenever a new "healthy" food has been identified, you can bet that a diet book isn't far behind. Thus, it is no big surprise that there is now "The Peanut Butter Diet," as related to us by Prevention Magazine editor Holly McCord.

This diet involves a daily regiment that includes about 400 to 600 of calories of peanut butter. The diet allows women to eat 1,500 calories a day, including 4 tablespoons of peanut butter. For men, it's 2,200 calories and 6 tablespoons of peanut butter. The diet requires 45 minutes of exercise a day. According to McCord, you can expect to lose about 25 pounds in a year.

Of course, you are likely to get quite bored of the diet before the year is up, with such a strict calorie restriction and a daily dose of the same amount of peanut butter.

It isn't necessary to follow a diet with a name to lose weight. You've heard it a million times before, but any successful diet just comes down to eating healthily and exercising. That means lots of water and foods that will keep you full, such as Brown Rice.

The way peanut butter can help is as a frequent snack to curb your hunger, no matter what diet you follow...or whether you just eat healthily without following any specific diet.

The good news is that peanut butter is a versatile food and there are tons of ways to eat it. For a couple suggestions, check out this list of Ways to Eat Peanut Butter. Happy eating!