Is Jif Peanut Butter Good Or Bad For You? Explained

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Is Jif Peanut butter healthy or unhealthy?

Jif is a renowned American brand of lip-smacking peanut butter. For three decades, it has been satisfying its customers and has taken a leading position among peanut butter brands in the United States. Wondering about trying out this famous peanut butter and want to know all about its pros and cons? Then just keep on reading! 

Jif is a good addition to your diet as long as it is in moderation. This brand of peanut butter is not all-natural (it contains added sugar, except for one variant). But as long as you keep your intake in check, we recommend this brand of peanut butter.

Ingredients

There are about 10 different variants of Jif as listed below.

  • Creamy
  • Natural Creamy
  • Natural Honey Creamy
  • Reduced Fat Creamy
  • Omega-3 Creamy
  • No Sugar Added Creamy
  • Simply Jif Creamy 
  • Natural Crunchy
  • Natural Honey Crunchy
  • Extra Crunchy

Now, most of the varieties in this brand contain roasted peanuts, molasses, fully hydrogenated vegetable oils (Rapeseed And Soybean), Monoglycerides, Diglycerides, sugar, and salt. Some peanut butter contains Palm oil instead of Rapeseed and Soybean. 

As the name suggests, Jif Natural Honey Creamy and Natural Honey Crunchy peanut butter contain honey along with the other ingredients mentioned earlier.

Jif Omega-3 Creamy peanut butter also contains Anchovy and Sardine oil, Tilapia gelatin, Tocopherols, and citric acid as Antioxidants. 

Jif Reduced Fat Creamy peanut butter contains peanuts instead of roasted peanuts, pea protein, corn syrup solids, Magnesium Oxide, Niacinamide, Ferric Orthophosphate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, and folic acid. The rest of the ingredients remain the same, excluding salt, which is absent.  

Jif No Added Sugar Creamy peanut butter only contains peanuts, Palm oil, and salt. 

Calorie Count 

There are approximately 190-200 calories per 1 ounce of Jif peanut butter. The product is available in 3 fun sizes – jar, squeezy bottle, and to-go packs of 8 small cups! 

Now, if you are buying plastic jars or squeezy bottles, then you will have 190-200 calories per serving. Each serving is 2 tablespoons or approximately 1 ounce. But, if you take the to-go packs which consist of dip-sized cups of 1.5 ounces, then you will get 250 calories per serving (or per cup). 

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Health Factors 

We have already talked about the ingredients in Jif PBs. Now let us find out if these famous PBs contain cholesterol, gluten, and such other stuff. 

  • Cholesterol is absent. Instead, 4/5th of the fats are in an unsaturated form which helps lower cholesterol. 
  • All of the different variants are gluten-free, except for the Omega-3 variant. There is nothing mentioned on the label regarding the presence or absence of gluten in its bottle. 
  • Magnesium is only present in Jif Reduced Fat Creamy peanut butter (contains 15% magnesium). The rest of the variants do not contain any magnesium. 
  • Jif is totally free of trans-fat. Go ahead and buy a jar of Jif PB from your grocery shop shelf the next time you go shopping. 
  • Some variants of the Jif peanut butter contain soy as they have hydrogenated oils of Rapeseed and Soybean. Jif Creamy, Extra Crunchy, Reduced Fat Creamy, Simply Jif, and Omega-3 Creamy peanut butter contain soy. 
  • Most of the variants of this peanut butter brand do not contain high fructose corn syrup. Only Jif Reduced Fat Creamy PB contains corn syrup solids. 
  • Hydrogenated oils create trans fat, which is extremely bad for health. But complete hydrogenation turns the oil back to its zero trans-fat level and is safe to consume. Yes. Jif Creamy, Extra Crunchy, Reduced Fat Creamy, Simply Jif, and Omega-3 Creamy peanut butter contain fully hydrogenated vegetable oils and so, they have hydrogenated fats.
  • Palm oil is 100% fat, half of which is saturated. Jif Natural Creamy, Natural Crunchy, Natural Creamy and Honey, Natural Crunchy and Honey, and No Added Sugar peanut butter contain palm oil.
  • Jif peanut butter does not contain tree nuts. Many people are allergic to tree nuts like almonds and hazelnuts. So, they cannot eat products containing tree nuts. Luckily, as Jif PBs are free of tree nuts, they cater to the peanut butter needs of the population that is allergic to tree nuts.
  • All Jif peanut butter products have added sugar in them, except Jif No Added Sugar PB (obviously!). However, there is no artificial sweeteners like aspartame, Xylitol, or Birch sugar. 

Good For The Heart?

Jif peanut butter is healthy for your heart. It contains a lot of unsaturated fat, which helps lower bad cholesterol or LDL cholesterol. Optimum LDL cholesterol levels are linked with a lower risk of heart diseases, so, Jif PBs will help your heart by lowering cholesterol. 

Peanut butter is still high in fat content, so you should eat them in moderation. Also, you should follow it up with a daily exercise or workout routine. 

Most variants in this brand, including Natural Creamy, Natural Creamy and Honey, Natural Crunchy, Natural Crunchy and Honey, Simply Jif, and No Added Sugar peanut butter, have a low sodium content of 2-4% only.  Other Jif products like Creamy, Extra Crunchy, and Omega-3 Creamy peanut butter contain 5-6% sodium. 

Only Jif Reduced Fat Creamy peanut butter contains 8% sodium. 

Does it cause weight gain?

As already mentioned, this brand of peanut butter contains high amounts of fat. It has almost 100 calories in one tablespoon. So, it will tend to increase your weight if eaten unregulated. But if you eat PB as part of your balanced diet, you need not worry about getting fat. You can have Jif peanut butter three to five times every week in your breakfast or lunchbox, as long as you add in a couple of low-calorie snacks and fruits to your meals daily.

Everyone has a specific calorie budget based on weight and height. As long as you eat all your meals within this calorie budget, you will not put on extra weight. 

References:

  1. https://www.jif.com/
  2. https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/food-poisoning/news/20220610/jif-peanut-butter-recall-expands-to-other-products

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Anand Srinivasan
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