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Peanut Butter Lovers: A 45 Calorie Solution That Will Save Your Waistline

January 4, 2012   113 Comments

Snack Girl features peanut butter A LOT. I happen to love the stuff and I use it almost every day.

PB2 Review: Low Calorie Peanut Butter

It is super nutritious. The best peanut butter is just roasted and ground peanuts without any extra sugar or oil. The processing of peanuts is minimal and it makes a spread that goes with so many fruits and vegetables.

For the people out there that are trying to slim down, peanut butter is a bit of a problem. Here are the nutritional facts for 2 tablespoons of plain peanut butter:

190 calories, 16 g fat, 7 g carbohydrates, 8 g protein, 3 g fiber, 0 mg sodium, 5 Points+

Ouch.

But, you get 4% of your daily value of iron, and 10% of your daily value of both vitamin E, and folate. This stuff is chocked full of nutrients so these are not EMPTY calories. (those are the worst :)

In my opinion, peanut butter should not be avoided because it IS nutritious.

What if you wanted to cut down on your peanut butter consumption? Like me, you might be using a bunch of it to make your apple, banana, or broccoli taste delicious.

Enter PB2, a powdered peanut butter that has 85% less fat calories than traditional peanut butter. Here are the nutritional facts for 2 tablespoons of PB2:

45 calories, 1.5 g fat, 5 g carbohydrates, 5 g protein, 2 g fiber, 94 mg sodium, 1 Points+

Yeahhhhh.

So, I was against trying this stuff because I thought it would taste yucky (to use a scientific term). I bought some of it on Amazon.com because so many people told me to give it a try. Here it is what it looks like:

pb2powdered

You mix it with water to make this:

pb2mixed

I got out some spoons and tasted it alongside my regular peanut butter. I am shocked and happy to say that PB2 tastes yummy. I would not have known that the fat was missing. It has a strong peanut flavor and in one swoop I save 145 calories!

There are some downsides to using PB2 instead of regular peanut butter:

  • It is expensive at over $7 a jar unless you buy it in bulk. (see note)
  • The nutrients are now missing from the peanut butter. I guess they left with the fat. 0% DV of Iron, etc.
  • You may have to special order it from Amazon or Bell Plantation. (hard to find in stores)

I am planning to use some regular peanut butter some of the time, and PB2 some of the time. I might add a dash to my smoothie and try my no bake peanut butter ball recipe with it.

Bell Plantation also puts out a PB2 with chocolate (that I haven't tried) - but it gets good reviews on Amazon. It has 45 calories for two tablespoons.

Do you use PB2? What do you use it for?

Other posts you might like:

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First 20 Comments: ( See all 113 )

I've been wanting to try that powdered magic for a while. Maybe when I'm richer :)

Wow, PB with only 15 calories is nuts! (haha) Here's another low-cal/low-fat peanut butter option for those who may not be into the powdered thing, or don't want to spend only $7. Better'n Peanut Butter. I got mine at Whole Foods for around $6, still pricy but not too bad. It's 100 calories per 2 tbsp serving and only 2g of fat. There's a low sodium one and chocolate and banana flavors, too! http://www.betternpeanutbutter.com/index.php

I've reviewed both at my blog at CrazyFoodDude.com and now love both. They are staples of my diet when I need a peanut butter fix.

You can also get them for cheaper at netrition.com as well.

Both of the PB2 flavors are delicious! They make great mix-ins for oatmeal and I also love to use the plain PB2 as dip. I've found that ordering them from netrition.com is much less expensive than ordering from Amazon. I think I paid under $5 for a small container last time. Great find!

I was wondering when you were going to feature this product. I personally like it. Coincidentally,I was having some flourless PB2& banana muffins this morning. I took 1 cup of the PB2 powder,a half of a teaspoon of baking powder,vanilla extract,a pinch of salt,a bit of sweetner,a little bit of cinnamon and a whole banana and put it into a food processor and added some water and processed it until it had a smooth,creamy consistancy. You could even eat this raw like a pudding or pie filling if you want (but leave out the baking powder) but if you want to make "muffins" keep the baking powder and bake on 400 degress for 20-25 minutes and it should make 4 small muffins. They are great fresh out of the pan while still warm or you can reheat them the next day or even freeze them for later use,but they are much better fresh.

This sounds like it went through some heavy processing. Fats in moderate amounts are good for you. They help keep you full and absorb other nutrients. The amount you'd use on a PB&J sandwich or in a smoothie is nothing to worry about.

HMR clients love PB2 and many programs sell it locally as well as online - a great choice for PB flavor without the calories - it is terrific in a smoothie with HMR 120 Vanilla or choclate

I'm a big fan of PB2 - luckily a small, locally owned store near my house carries it, so it's not toooo pricey. I like that the only ingredients in it are peanuts, sugar, and salt. I've read mixed things about certain other low-fat peanut butter substitutes so for me, I either eat the real stuff in moderation or enjoy my PB2 with an apple or celery as a really low calorie snack. :) (Note that Bell Plantation *also* sells the peanut oil separately. I always found that kind of amusing AND smart of them.)

I like is straight out of the jar. Dampish things like apples can be dipped into it and banana slices can be shaken in a bag to coat. Very little is needed. Also adding just a couple teaspoons full to pancakes is great. Also great in smoothies.

i LOVE trader joe's (now discontinued) peanut flour! luckily i hoarded it when i heard it was being cancelled and now have lots of packages in my cupboard! however, i will be ordering pb2 when i run out ... they even have a banana flavor!

what can i say, i'm a sucker for all the taste w/out the calories!

I have been using PB2 for about 2 months now and love it! Don't like the chocolate flavor for some reason (even though I love chocolate!). I have lost 4-5 lbs by eating this every day for lunch instead of regular PB without even trying.

I LOVE the peanut butter with chocolate- it is SOOOO good!!

It is my "new" wonder food and I've told everyone at my weight watcher's meetings about it...netrition is the cheapest, as shipping for any and all is only $4.99...and half the price of amazon...use it daily with my apple snack...love your site...its a good job you do!!!

So glad to see that you have included PB2 in your line-up of "good" eatables.

i noticed you mentioned that at the loss of the fat, there's also a reduction (or total removal) of nutrients like iron etc. Wouldn't this mean that aside from imitating the taste (for those who normally crave peanut butter and can't live without it), there's actually not much good to eating PB2? Granted i haven't seen the nutrition label myself yet. It just sounds vaguely like for us people who CAN live without peanut butter, there's now no reason at all to partake of this PB2 stuff? I guess I'm just a little confused over that comment about PB2's nutrients went away with the fat and you didn't elaborate further on that lol

@Shannon - you do get some protein - but my thought was that you don't want to stop using REAL peanut butter altogether since this powdered form isn't as nutritious. If you aren't a peanut butter lover - you don't need to shift. That is my advice. I hope this makes sense.

Look around. I got it for $6.00 a jar. Not cheap but a bit better than the $7.00. It does taste pretty good and I am a peanut butteracholic. :)

Here is a store locator of stores carrying is product.

http://www.bellplantation.com/locator/

I've been buying it directly from the Bell Plantation website. Buying a case of 12, brings the price to about $5 per jar.

As a healthy mom and health coach, I love and swear by PB@ you get the taste with out all the exrtra calories! It is so worth it! www.alwayshealthymom.com

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