Most people who are craving a creamy spread on their sandwich or addition to their morning oatmeal reach for peanut butter instinctively. While peanut butter is truly delicious, it is not a very good choice if you are on a diet or looking into healthy eating. In addition to that, there are people who aren’t able to enjoy peanut butter due to allergies. But no worries, as there are many different alternatives to peanut butter, just like those we’ve listed in our article, What Are the Best Alternatives to Peanut Butter?
Among those alternatives, one of the best is cashew butter. It is a kind of nut butter that is filled with good monounsaturated fats, vitamins, minerals, and plant-based protein. Cashew butter is made with simple ingredients. In fact, if you choose the unsalted and unsweetened variety, its ingredient only includes oil and cashews. If you want to learn more about how good it is, read on as we’re giving you the benefits of cashew butter.
Cashew Butter Nutrition Facts
Before we give you the different benefits that you can get from cashew butter, let us look into its nutrition facts first. This is for two tablespoons of unsweetened and unsalted cashew butter:
- Calories: 200
- Fat: 16 grams
- Sodium: 0 milligrams
- Carbohydrates: 10 grams
- Fiber: 1 gram
- Sugars: 2 grams
- Protein: 6 grams
Carbohydrates
Cashew butter contains a small amount of carbs, which comes from fiber. The other carbs come from starches and naturally occurring sugars in cashews. For cashew butter varieties with added sweeteners, more carbs may be present.
Fats
Even though it is also called butter, it only contains mostly healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and a few of the saturated kinds. Based on a study, the fat composition of cashews is 80% unsaturated and 20% saturated.
Protein
Two tablespoons of cashew butter contain 6 grams of protein, which is 12% of the recommended daily value of 50 grams.
Vitamins and Minerals
Cashew butter is made from cashews, and it gives the same micronutrients as the raw tree nuts. In two tablespoons of cashew butter, you can get 10% of the daily value of iron. In addition to that, it also has small amounts of vitamin K, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Health Benefits of Cashew Butter
If you are looking for a healthier alternative for peanut butter, cashew butter is a great choice, and it has lots of benefits. Here are some of them:
Cashew butter is nutrient-dense.
We get energy from the food and liquids that we consume, and important nutrients are needed to keep us going. Cashew butter is full of good nutrients, such as iron, protein, calcium, riboflavin, vitamin E, and healthy fats that the body loves, including oleic acid. It has less protein compared to peanut butter, but it also does not contain additives and preservatives that peanut butter usually contains. Also, cashew butter is high in selenium, which is a powerful antioxidant that aids in preventing cellular damage from free radicals. It is also known to help prevent painful gallstones.
Cashew butter can help regulate blood sugar levels.
Cashew butter is also known for its ability to help control the levels of blood sugar in the body. This can help in reducing weight, and other critical things, such as decreasing the insulin resistance of the body and burning excess sugar. Meaning, cashew butter can help prevent diabetes.
Cashew butter is good for the heart.
Cashew butter is full of healthy fats like polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats. These can help combat the development of harmful cholesterol levels. This means that eating cashew butter is great for cardiac health. It can help reduce the risk of heart problems and heart disease when you include it in your healthy diet.
Cashew butter may benefit eye health.
Cashew butter also has antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin that have been connected with better eye health. These antioxidants are not very popular, but they can provide lots of benefits to your body.
Cashew butter is great with vegan and vegetarian diets.
Cashew butter is a friendly source of protein for a plant-based diet. This makes it a perfect choice for both vegans and vegetarians.
Cashew butter can keep you full.
Cashew butter has sufficient amounts of fat and protein and a bit of fiber, which all play a part in keeping you satiated. Therefore, it is a good choice if you are looking for something that can curb your hunger.
Cashew butter is good for weight control.
Even though cashew butter is high in fat, nuts are linked with better weight control. According to a study in 2019, the increasing daily consumption of nuts was connected with less weight gain in the long term, and as well as lower risk of obesity in adults.
These are some of the benefits that you can get from cashew butter. Just like peanut butter, it is something that you can use just about anywhere, such as when making cookies, bread, and other desserts. We hope this helped you learn more about the benefits of cashew butter.