The other morning, when I realized I had run out of Flexis and was going to be at school all day, I packed a brown paper sack full of Nutri-Brain Bars, fruit, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch on campus. I felt like a kid again — though when I was a kid I used to just nix the jelly in favor of smothering my bread with globs of peanut butter, all of this with the crusts cut off of course.
I remember through many of my teenage years hearing from various friends and acquaintances that peanut butter was full of monosaturated fats and high in calories, and my sandwich concoction would only make my butt bigger and stomach expand. Naturally, being a self-conscious teen got the better of me and I steered clear of it for years.
However, after researching the nutrition facts on peanut butter I began to realize that although full of fat and calories, peanut butter is also healthy for your body on so many levels. According to the American Heart Association, researchers have even linked it to a 21 percent reduction in risk for heart disease.
It’s also a great source of vitamins — the ones you need but probably never pay attention to, like Niacin and Manganese. Along with that, one cup of peanut butter has about 130 percent the amount of protein you need in a day, and is full of a great portion of your daily dietary fiber, which helps increase weight loss. So regardless of what you tell me, I’m still saying hello to a skinny butt and flat stomach.
Both of my roommates in Santa Cruz can also vouch for peanut butter because they live off of it — they eat it straight from the jar. No matter what your mother tells you, this is actually okay. Just don’t eat too much or you can counteract the dietary effects with an overconsumption of calories. It still is a very high-calorie food.
Besides all the health and nutritional benefits, it’s also the cheapest college food on the planet and you can buy a gallon of it at Costco for a discount. Last time I checked, it’s about four bucks at CVS, but that’s for a 16-ounce jar, not monster size.
Now that you have the facts, go steal your best friend’s Costco card, grab yourself a brown paper lunch bag and chow down on a PB & J sandwich. Just don’t forget to cut the crusts off.
