Ever since my 5 year old's tantrum over peanut butter at the Little Grill, I have been asking myself this question, "Should I switch to natural peanut butter or just leave well-enough alone?" Natural peanut butter sounds so wholesome, but it just doesn't have the flavor and consistency of the commercially prepared varieties. As far as I can tell, when I looked up peanut butter on Wikipedia, the main problem with commercial peanut butters is the amount of saturated and trans fats they contain, as well as preservatives. Also, they put a lot of sugar in commercial varieties, and I think that is the main problem with my son. He LIKES sweet peanut butter, and the natural stuff is a little reminiscent of paste...like, school paste. Not gonna lie, if you have been eating the sweet stuff, eating the natural stuff is pretty shocking. I think at this point in time, for us it is a matter of taste. We try to eat healthfully, so I am going to maintain that sugar in peanut butter is not such a bad thing as long as you balance it with good choices like natural jams and whole wheat bread and do not make it a daily thing. You have to make that choice for yourself, I am not advocating one or the other for anyone but my own kids. I just wanted to pass on these thoughts and hopefully it will inspire someone! A few commercial companies are jumping on the "natural" bandwagon, though. Supposedly Jiff makes a natural peanut butter that is healthier and tastes very similar to the original.
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