Hacker News Reader

Comment by nerdjon | Hacker News Reader

One of the best things I did for my diet was to try to rein in all of the places that sugar was snuck into my diet so when I want to get a candy bar or a soda I can not feel bad about it.

My best example of this is peanut butter. I love peanut butter but started making my own with just dry roasted unsalted peanuts and a small amount of salt.

Still enjoyed the things I wanted and fully sustainable. Didn’t actually eliminate anything and no “cheat” days.

Somewhat recently I had a PB craving so I got a jar. Was shocked at how sweet it was.

View on HN

Does peanut butter often have added sugar? I’ve got Kirkland and Adam’s in my closet and am 99% sure neither lists that on the container.

Yes, at least in the USA it almost always has added sugar.

Not true, you can find unsalted organic peanut butter w/o any other ingredients at WholeFoods and elsewhere.

At a glance I think you’re both right. Apparently I’ve been buying the good stuff by accident.

Your statements are not contradictory: products at WholeFoods etc. are a minority in the big picture.

Totally!

And it's all upside (your body feels better afterward) no downside. (Ok, it's more expensive.) Especially when combined with other sweet ingredients, e.g. a banana – equally if not more delicious.

I only buy 100% natural peanut butter with only peanuts and some salt. Every grocery store I’ve ever been to carries this— even the budget stores.

You are correct - Kirkland’s has no added sugar. [0]

[0] - https://www.nutritionix.com/i/kirkland-signature/organic-pea...

Despite the no added sugar, I always found it pretty sweet despite no added sugar. So I just looked it up and they use Valencia peanuts which apparently can taste sweeter.

That’s the back door for an organic products. Source varieties that are naturally sweeter, then you don’t have to list the sugar as a separate ingredient.

Lately i've been avoiding all peanuts (and Kirkland's in my house) because of the saturated fat content, but i'm never sure if its that necessary.

Saturated fat is very good at making you feel full. I view peanutS/PB as a snack-displacement food: if I'm roaming around for nibbles, some sat fat will kill my cravings and reduce the likelihood of eating sugar. But ymmv

This is one reason working in an office can be a disaster if you're someone who would "roam around for nibbles". In every place I've worked there has been a vending machine or otherwise easily accessible junk/sugar dispenser. In my eyes these are no different from having a cigarette machine or a gambling machine or something, but not everyone sees it that way.

In my house there is no ready-to-eat food at all. I'm not just going to go to the kitchen and cook a potato when I feel a bit peckish.

But this seems difficult for many people. Personally I find hunger to be a normal part of every single day. I don't fear it or feel the need to squash it the moment it arises. I also don't feel any discomfort when I'm not surrounded by ready-to-eat food at all times. But many people do seem to feel a constant need to have food available and find it deeply uncomfortable if the next meal doesn't seem readily available.

I have a BMI of 20 so I'm not trying to avoid calories. However I do try to avoid sugar, UPFs, and so on, because what benefit would there be in putting that crap in your body.

If you're good with handling hunger - that's great!

A lot of people get hypoglycemic (ie, irritable) when low on blood sugar, so for them, snacking is an acceptable evil (esp. if only healthier snacks are stocked).

For me, I find whipping up some dill/garlic/mayo dip + cut carrots, or celery + good PB a meaningful snack.

My guideline is to try to find a good carb/fiber ratio (pref: 5:1), and avoid added sugars.

People without diabetes don't get hypoglycaemia. I believe you can train yourself to expect food at certain times. I eat two meals a day and only get irritable (hangry) around those times.

But anyway, what you've written is basically my point. If you want/need to snack then unless you think ahead and make healthy snacks available then it's going to sugar/junk that you find in the socially acceptable junk machine.

Man, the evil that was done to diets by the sugar industry in the 80s is still paying dividends.

Saturated fats, like anything, are bad in excess. However, avoiding them completely is bonkers - and leads to people replacing (ok) fats with additional eating - mostly with sugary snacks.

Peanut butter and mayonnaise both often have added sugar in the United States. You can find brands without but they're less common.

It depends on the grocery store. Fancier “natural foods” stores in Seattle have very little peanut butter with sugar added

Right, that's addressed by the second sentence.

Is it? The point is that the availability depends on the retailer, not just that they “can” be found. In some places there’s one brand and others there are many.

Yes.

I think you responded without reading the whole comment, or are purposefully trolling?

I'm responding to the question of "is it". Go be overly pedantic somewhere else.

Any "shelf-stable" or "no-stir" peanut butter (aka Jif brand) will likely contain sweetener and also palm oil.

You don't have to make your own peanut butter but it tastes even better than a good peanut butter like Kirkland/Adams/etc. Some stores allow you to grind nuts on-site (almond/peanut) and charge you for the output.

It gets worse. PB from the UK can have cane sugar and also palm oil.

What I've read is that peanut oil is valuable as an industrial lubricant, so they siphon it off, replace it with palm oil, and then use sugar to obscure the flavor change.

UK PB is NFG.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com