Low fat peanut butter
Peanut butter is a very American food, invented here and a stable of every school kids lunch box for generations of Americans. My son Palmer is no exception: he loves peanut butter.
But peanut butter is known for being especially salty and fatty. Not only that, but to make peanut butter more convenient to use, they started hydrogenating the oils in it (the same thing they do to make margarine out of vegetable oil). This turns the "good fat" in peanut butter into the "bad" hydrogenated kind. So Palmer's dad decided to try to find a healthier version. He found a "low fat" peanut butter, which although still hydrogenated, he thought would be better. I took a look at the labeling, suspecting that something odd had been done to make peanut butter less fattening.
The manufacturers of Peter Pan Peanut Butter, the most time honored of all kids peanut butters, decided to mix soy beans in with the peanuts, and in that way made a lower fat version. I rolled my eyes. The problem is that soy is not good for little boys--it has a lot of estrogen in it and just is not intended for pre-pubescent males.
That is the problem with straying from the genuine article, the real deal. The substitutes always have negative side affects. My preference is just for good old fashioned peanut butter that you have to mix yourself and then keep in the refrigerator. Perhaps it is not as convenient, but on the other hand, if I want to make that low fat, I just pour some of the oil off the top before I mix it all together. Problem solved.
But peanut butter is known for being especially salty and fatty. Not only that, but to make peanut butter more convenient to use, they started hydrogenating the oils in it (the same thing they do to make margarine out of vegetable oil). This turns the "good fat" in peanut butter into the "bad" hydrogenated kind. So Palmer's dad decided to try to find a healthier version. He found a "low fat" peanut butter, which although still hydrogenated, he thought would be better. I took a look at the labeling, suspecting that something odd had been done to make peanut butter less fattening.
The manufacturers of Peter Pan Peanut Butter, the most time honored of all kids peanut butters, decided to mix soy beans in with the peanuts, and in that way made a lower fat version. I rolled my eyes. The problem is that soy is not good for little boys--it has a lot of estrogen in it and just is not intended for pre-pubescent males.
That is the problem with straying from the genuine article, the real deal. The substitutes always have negative side affects. My preference is just for good old fashioned peanut butter that you have to mix yourself and then keep in the refrigerator. Perhaps it is not as convenient, but on the other hand, if I want to make that low fat, I just pour some of the oil off the top before I mix it all together. Problem solved.
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