Craving peanut butter? We’ve all been there. Standing with a spoon and a half-empty jar of peanut butter and wondering how we downed 1,000 calories worth without blinking.
Ah, yes. It happens to the best of us.
But did you ever wonder why you’re craving peanut butter and can’t stop giving in?
If you think food addiction and lack of willpower are the problem, then read on. Chances are, your cravings for peanut butter are trying to tell you something else.
While there’s evidence that cravings can be based in our minds, there are also physical reasons we can crave certain foods like peanut butter.
So don’t just assume it’s all in your head. Make sure you’re addressing both the mind and the body when dealing with cravings.
(And you might also be interested in reading my post How to Stop Binge Eating.)
Why Are You Craving Peanut Butter?
Here are three reasons why you are craving peanut butter:
Reason #1: You’re eating a low-fat diet.
When fat is evil, suddenly peanut butter tastes good on everything. Rice cakes that taste like styrofoam come to life with a spoonful (or three) of peanut butter on top.
What does this mean?
That’s often your body’s signal that it needs more quality fats. Peanut butter is usually the easiest and seemingly benign choice, but the solution lies in solving the root cause.
Remember, the latest research says labeling foods as good or bad is… not good (and really there is no enemy here — that kind of thinking only leads to the path of food obsession).
Reason #2: You’re eating a low-carb diet.
Like a low-fat diet, peanut butter cravings seem to common in the low-carb world as well.
There is only one time in my life when I couldn’t stop eating peanut butter: when I was on a low-carb diet. Why? Because the fewer carbs I ate, the sweeter and more “carb-y” peanut butter tasted.
Peanut butter was on the “allowed” list, so I ended up eating a lot of it to suppress my carbohydrate cravings.
I’ve noticed (at least for me) any dietary imbalance–like not enough fat or not enough carbs–triggers weird cravings.
What happened when I started eating carbs again?
I stopped craving peanut butter!
Reason #3: You’re under a lot of stress.
First let me say this:
“Stress” can mean a lot of things. It’s basically anything that causes your body to release stress hormones (like cortisol).
That means traffic jams, an argument with your spouse, or a looming deadline are all stresses–but is not sleeping enough, constant anxiety about eating “healthy” food, hating your body, etc. Dieting itself has been shown to raise cortisol levels (aka diets=stress).
Okay, on to peanut butter and stress:
Our bodies tend to crave fatty, high-calorie foods when we’re stressed (especially when that stress is due to energy deprivation from excessive dieting or exercise). Research has shown this to be the case.
But it goes even deeper than that:
Peanut butter actually contains a specific compound that fights the effects of stress: beta-sitosterol.
What is beta-sitosterol?
Beta-sitosterol is a plant sterol. It’s been shown in studies of endurance athletes to normalize high cortisol levels and bring them back into balance with other hormones (as well as reduce inflammation and improve immunity).
This is discussed in the book The Cortisol Connection by Dr. Shawn Talbott.
How much beta-sitosterol is helpful?
Talbott recommends taking 60-120 mg of a beta-sitosterol supplement per day. He even specifically mentions peanut butter:
“A handful of peanuts or a couple tablespoons of peanut butter contain about 10-30 mg of beta-sitosterol.” – from page 202 of The Cortisol Connection
This might explain why someone under a lot of stress (from diet or lifestyle) might eat several tablespoons of peanut butter in five minutes flat.
Could it be our bodies trying to tell us something?
(PS: This is my other favorite supplement for helping me handle stress and feel more grounded even when life is hard.)
“If I’m Craving Peanut Butter, Can I Eat It?”
No. Your cravings are evil. Ignore them, feel ashamed, and eat whatever your current diet plan tells you to eat (even if you hate it).
Just kidding. 😉
If you’ve read my post on 7 “Healthy” Habits that Stress Your Metabolism (or my books The Nourished Metabolism or Love Your Body) then you know I strongly believe that listening to your body is the best way to learn what it needs to thrive.
But listening to your body doesn’t always mean eating everything you crave without putting any more thought into it.
Sometimes it means tuning into the deeper meaning behind the cravings.
This doesn’t mean you can’t eat what you crave.
It just means you need to look at the bigger picture, too.
Here are some options that include eating peanut butter but also consider the why behind your craving as well.
When You’re Not Eating Enough Fat
Add some coconut oil to your peanut butter, in a 1:1 ratio (I don’t know what it is, but coconut oil and peanut butter pair together really well). This is a great way to quell a craving, while also addressing the root issue.
Add a little more healthy fat to your diet. Drizzle the pasta with olive oil. Butter the toast. Put some cheese on the veggies. Add some coconut oil to soups or sauces.
You don’t have to go crazy and swallow two sticks of butter for breakfast–take it easy, add a little at a time, and figure out the right amount of fat for your body.
When You’re not Eating Enough Carbs
Peanut butter + honey. Simple yet awesome. (Shhh. Don’t argue. Just try it.) Or go for the more traditional peanut butter and sliced apples–it sounds like a snack for a fifth-grader, but to be honest it tastes pretty good as an adult, too!
(Or make this incredible recipe for Homemade Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups.)
Try eating more carbs. Please don’t freak out–I said more carbs, not all the carbs. You don’t have to switch to a high-carb diet–just be willing to tweak and listen. Snack on fresh fruit, try a sweet potato now and then.
And if you’re up for a baked potato or a slice of sourdough bread, then go for it. You can decide what works for you, but try not to be afraid of food groups or lump foods into “good” vs. “evil” categories. That’s just way too stressful.
Which brings me to my last example…
When You’re Just Plain Stressed Out
Just eat some peanut butter. For real. You don’t need to deal with a harrowing battle of cravings vs. willpower (which does nothing but add to your stress levels).
However, if you think your cravings for peanut butter are the result of high-stress levels, try to do something quick and easy to counter your stress after having a nice, creamy spoonful of peanut butter.
Like…
Take 30 minutes to listen to your favorite music or relax in a hot bath. If your stress is due to over-exercising, then try toning down your workout for a day or two (take a relaxing walk outside instead).
Have a balanced snack if you’ve been skipping meals.
Exhausted? Take a power nap or try to hit the sack an hour earlier tonight.
Look at your diet, sleep, exercise, and lifestyle to see where your stress is coming from. This is a long-term approach, but it’s critical to take small steps to reduce your overall stress load.
You don’t have to do everything perfectly–I promise!–but even just a few small adjustments can make a big difference:
Get a little more sunshine.
Eat more balanced meals and snacks (with enough energy and nutrients to support your body and its daily activities).
Get at least 7-8 hours of sleep most nights. If you can’t do this every day, try to make up for it by taking a nap or sleeping in a couple of times a week.
Move your body a little more if you tend to be sedentary, or a little less if you tend to overdo it to the point of exhaustion.
Make time to do the little things in life, like laugh at your own jokes, watch a few more sunsets, feel the grass under your bare toes (all work and no play doesn’t just make Jack feel dull–it will do it to anyone!).
Do some yoga (science says go for it).
Keeping Cravings in Perspective
The point of all this is that you don’t have to freak out over cravings.
Cravings aren’t actually the little devil on your shoulder trying to make you give in to temptation.
Sometimes they’re just a little nudge from your body trying to tell you something.
Don’t be afraid to listen.
The Nourished Metabolism
You can also read more about how I learned to eat and exercise in a way that nourished my metabolism (without stressing about it!) in my book The Nourished Metabolism.
No gimmicks or magic pills, just a balanced perspective on how you can improve your metabolic health with simple changes to your diet and lifestyle. Click here to check it out.
More Articles on Stress, Metabolism, and Nourishment:
- I stopped dieting 6 years ago and this is what happened
- The Number One Ingredient to Avoid
- 5 Deep Breathing Benefits
Need some peanut butter recipes to kick your cravings? Here are some good ones:
- Homemade Peanut Butter
- Peanut Butter Cheesecake Brownies
- Peanut Butter Stuffed Potatoes (Yes, you read that right!)
- Organic Ice Cube Tray Peanut Butter Cups
- Gluten-Free Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookies
Michelle @ Find Your Balance says
I can think of 1 more reason! If the peanut butter you’re eating is full of sugar, you might have it on your “healthy” list but really it’s feeding your sugar addiction.
Brandy says
It could be that they’re craving the sugar, but anyone reading these articles should know to buy peanut butter that is purely just peanut butter with no added ingredients. There are several out there that are just peanuts and salt and they taste great, just be open minded.
Carrie says
I agree with your moderate approach here. Every rare once in awhile I get a craving for cupcakes. I usually eat half of one (I get the fancy ones from a bakery) and I’m satisfied. If I craved cupcakes every day of my life, I would be concerned. But once every couple of months? I eat the dang cupcake. I think it’s really the buttercream frosting (fats) I need. I’m nursing a 17 month old, my sixth baby, and often forget to eat enough.
Elizabeth Walling says
Nursing will definitely do that! I did not eat enough when I was nursing my son. I was so obsessed with my weight, I tried to eat as little as possible and avoided fat like the plague. I ended up binging on ice cream a lot. Now I wish I had just let myself eat real food! 🙁
jennifer says
Great post Elizabeth!
Elizabeth Walling says
Thanks, Jennifer!
Helen says
Gosh I needed this today. I’m not eating enough fats or carbs, living in a foreign country where it’s hard to find good things to eat, and this may just be why I’m putting peanut butter on everything. It is a viable source of nutrition. Great article.
Elizabeth Walling says
Exactly–when food gets scarce (either by dieting or unintentionally like in your situation), peanut butter suddenly has a lot of appeal! When I was dieting, I always wanted peanut butter. Now I may have some a couple times a month, but I rarely actually crave it anymore.
austin romero says
hello do you know where i could find the information for this article like the year and date published
Elizabeth W. says
Sure! This article was originally published on 1/17/2014.
Kristen at MIX says
As always, fantastic post, Elizabeth! Our bodies are always telling us something via cravings. I never would have thought to mix peanut butter with coconut oil – what a great idea! And BIG thanks for the link love to my dark chocolate peanut butter cups. I think I might just have to make them again… 🙂
Elizabeth Walling says
Thanks, Kristen! Your recipe is awesome–if you make it again, send some to me! 😉
Julie says
This is a craving I have often. I am on the GAPS diet and have been for about a year and a half. From time to time, (translate at least once a week) I go for the peanut butter, the all natural varieties that cost money. I think I have thyroid, adrenal problems. Anyway, thanks for this post, I’ve been waiting for someone to address this issue.
Becca G says
I used to crave peanut butter all the timw while on GAPS. My favorite treats were apples with PB or a spoonful on coconut oil topped with PB. It was so time consuming to soak organic peanuts, dehydrate them, then make peanut butter–but it was always worth it. I only lasted 3 months on GAPS, but haven’t had any issues since.
Sarah says
Great post! Its so true , your body knows what it needs , you just have to find the best way to get the nutrients in (not the one ladened with highly processed foods).
Jennifer says
I went through a long period of this being my “stress-food” when I was re-doing my website and writing 2 e-books all in 3 months.
I was also grinding salt on it and I think it was partly a vehicle for salt that my adrenals were craving.
One day I was magically “over it” and now I have it a few times on month on an apple as an actual snack.
Elizabeth Walling says
Funny how that happens, isn’t it? I have a lot of foods that I couldn’t live without for a while, but then I was “over it” and now I eat them in occasional, moderate amounts. Stress can do crazy things.
Alex says
Absolutely fantastic article! I was at the store today and just asked myself “What could my body use the most right now?” For some reason I found myself being drawn to the organic peanut butter.
“Hmmmm….I though. Is this just a mental craving or does my body actually want something in the peanut butter?” I was also a bit hesitant because I have read mixed reviews as to whether or not peanut butter is “healthy”.
I decided to just cave and indulge when after eating some I immediately felt better and less stressed. The tension in my head was gone and I felt relief. I think my body was calorie and fat deficient and the anti-stress compounds helped to relieve some of my anxiety. I’ll never underestimate the power of peanut butter again!
Elizabeth Walling says
That’s cool! It’s really funny, I’ll go months without wanting peanut butter, and then have a strong craving for it out of nowhere.
Brenda says
I eat it because I love it. I have it every morning for breakfast on an english muffin and topped with a banana. It is my pre-work out super food and it quells my hunger well into early afternoon.
Elizabeth Walling says
Mmm, I forgot about peanut butter and bananas! That’s a great combo too.
Mel Merenda says
MAGNESIUM
If you’re stressed out you should take magnesium!! Raw chocolate has plenty of it.
Re: sugar in peanut butter: I make my own my organic peanuts, I add honey in it, not refinned sugar, which is better. So now I’ve tried Honey + peanut butter + coconut oil on a gluten free cracker. That’s perfect, since as a gluten free dairy free refined sugar free person I don’t have many yummy snacks 🙂 Peanut butter tastes BETTER with cocnut oil 🙂
Elizabeth Walling says
I agree about magnesium!
Mcihelle List says
I am on a quest to find out why there is a family correlation between those who crave peanut products daily, (often excluding most other foods), and those who are seriously/fatally allergic to legumes–which is the category into which peanut fits.
I have observed that there are many families who exhibit the phenomenon of having a SET of “Peanut opposites”: that is, at least one family member of EACH type’: (1.) “Craver of peanut,” AND ( 2.) one who is dangerously “Allergic to peanut (legumes).”
(Note: Peanuts, Soy beans, peas, etc. are are Legumes.)
Cravings are not merely responses to lack of nutrients or stress responses. There is something else that is going on in these families, of which my family is an example. What scientists will research this phenomenon that is becoming (dangerously) more and more common.
Elizabeth Walling says
Interesting idea. It’s certainly something to consider.
Maddy says
I am part of one of those families! I binge on peanut butter more than once a week. When I say binge, I mean I finish the tub in one sitting. Its bad. But then there is my sister who is allergic to it!
Lenore Nieters says
Hmmm…would love to know more. I have suddenly developed an intense craving for Virginia Red Skin Peanuts. Eat them all day long…a whole can! …every day! Don’t care if I eat anything else. It’s bad & I need to stop but having immense difficulty. Without them, I’m restless, fidgety, looking for something else to eat &but returning to my chair empty-handed & still wanting only peanuts! My sister is allergic to soy nuts. Related? Fits your theory?
Audra says
Well, that fits my family. I crave (and peanut butter has always been one of my favorite foods)…. and my youngest is allergic. Interesting.
Anya Vien says
What a great post! I do love my peanut butter and I will start mixing it with coconut oil from now on!
Charise says
Love peanut butter here! I am just responding to the post about peanut butter and peanut allergies in the same family. I wonder if you are experiencing an allergy/addiction? Maybe the family members who love peanuts are actually have a very slight allergy, exhibited through addiction, while others in the family have severe allergies. I think I see something similar in my family. I CRAVE dairy constantly, and I am HORRIBLY allergic to it… whether it be raw milk, goat milk, cow milk etc…My son is the same way. When he was a nursing baby, I had to give it up all dairy, but was told he would outgrow it, and when he was a year, I reintroduced it. Milk was almost the only thing he would drink or eat. To make a long story short, we discovered he was still allergic to it, even the raw goat milk we had sourced. It took a while to get him completely off it and for the cravings to go away for him. I think cravings do usually tell us something, but not always the same thing!
Rejan says
Couldnt you be allergic to peanuts (on some level) if you are having cravings for it? I know this is the case with most sensitivities or allergies, and I’ve experienced it first hand with peanut butter. I know I’m mildly allergic to peanuts, and peanut butter is one of the strongest cravings I have.
Sarah Kay Hoffman says
LOVE everything about this post. For all the reasons you mentioned and more, I created A Loving Spoon, my own (purely unprocessed) nut butter line. We are (finally) launching soon…..with (to one of your solutions!) the Honey Vanilla-Bourbon Peanut Butter! It’s alovingspoon.com
Thanks for the awesome post….sharing all over the place! Ps I’d love to get you the flavor when it launches!
Rachel says
I love this post… and I am one of those who can eat and enjoy peanuts and peanut butter…. I am curious though, since i have a couple of family members who are quite allergic to peanuts… what other plants out there give us that badly needed Beta-sitosterol? Thanks for this!
Elizabeth Walling says
Avocados and pumpkin seeds also contain beta-sitosterol.
laura says
Thank you for listing other foods with beta-sitosterol!
Because I too crave peanut butter and eat only the organic kind with no salt or sugar or palm oil.
BUT peanuts have mold, and I was recently exposed to black mold and have to stay away from all mold in food and environment best I can.
ALWAYS discard the oil off the peanut butter jar. It is highly toxic.
Peanut oil is never good.
laura says
But even still, peanuts have mold, and are NOT the best choice to get the nutrients we are speaking of here.
Avocados are by far the best choice, with just a 2/3 cup giving you 76 mg of beta-sitoterols.
Second choice is almonds or almond butter, pistachios, pecans or walnuts in the nut category.
Dark chocolate 72% or more is a far better choice as well for numerous reasons to our health.
Still not ready to claim peanut butter, even organic, is a great, great option.
Keep it in moderation.
My healthy two cents 🙂
Laura Maria Grammatico
Certified Holistic Health Educator and Public Speaker
http://www.lauragrammatico.com/
Angela says
Great post! I used to eat a lot more peanut butter out of convenience too. I used to crave it when I was first nursing and my supply was still getting established. Maybe the extra fat that my body needed. I’m still nursing, but I’m not eating as much peanut butter these days. Must be getting enough fat from eggs and coconut oil (yum!) Thanks again for the insight.
kate @ Coffee with Kate says
Awesome post! All of these reasons make sense to me. Now if only we could figure out why I have nonstop cravings for Trader Joe’s cookie butter too ……
Marie says
Interesting post! When I was 19 I joined the AF and during basic training I ate really poorly because the food was so different than what I was used to in Hawaii. That and the fact that there was a bizarre rule that as soon as one person at your table was done eating, everyone was done whether you just sat down or not. When I got to my tech school I was obsessed with peanut butter and peanuts. I didn’t stop until I gained 30 pounds in a month! I’ve always remembered that because I’ve never been addicted to a food like that before and I always wondered why.
Elizabeth Walling says
That’s really interesting. My husband had a similar experience in basic training–he looked like he was starving when he got out! It’s amazing what the body will do to compensate for a huge energy deficit like that.