Peanut Butter, Ingredients: Peanuts.

Is the Valentine’s Day spirit spilling over into your week!?  I wish it would. I’m definitely trying to exude love while I chug coffee at my desk, using toothpicks to keep my eyes open.  I’ve never been a morning person, and I’ve come to terms with that.  The more up front I am with myself about this trait of mine, the better. Mornings? No.  And that’s ok. I’m grateful I have people around me that understand that. Cheers to the afternoon!  😉

Let’s get to it.

I want to start sharing tidbits of information about food with you guys.  Not because I’m a food guru, health nut, or doctor, but because there are very b a s i c revelations I’ve come across in the past few years and they’re totally worth sharing.

I started to think about food differently 4 years ago. I have a bomb ass friend that went to school for microbiology and also did some learning and questioning of food, every once and awhile shining the light on me.  Unfortunately, she also had one too many cases of cancer in her family, so her brain was always running on a treadmill trying to think of different solutions, ideas, and answers.

Listening to her thoughts + watching the documentary Food Matters on Netflix turned the light on for me.  I started to slow down and think.  What makes sense with food?

I used to watch my roommate in college come home from the grocery store with her mom + bags full of “Organic crap”.  OOOOOOOOOOOOO, organic, I’m so cool.  What a moron I was. Lol. I love it.

(Anyways, I grew up.)

I still remember, one of the first foods that made me stop and have a panic attack was peanut butter. It’s the same example I used when trying to educate Wafiq, in order to make him understand why driving 20 minutes to the organic grocery store in Dubai and paying $30 for a tiny cup of yogurt made sense.. (It didn’t make sense, by the way, I’m completely aware of that. No sense. None).

Peanut Butter.

(Jiffy, you asshole.)  Go to the store and look at the ingredients on all the peanut butter jars. Why should there be anything other than peanuts in peanut butter?  The answer is – there shouldn’t be. But you’ll notice –> S U G A R.  Why?

Because sugar is the sneakiest little invader in the world.

“But sugar tastes better.” If that’s you, take a peanut butter jar with sugar and a jar without sugar home. Taste both.. Significant difference? If you’re dying because oh my gosh yes I love sugar so much and need it in all my food, throw on some honey + call it a day.

BUT the scary part is, most of us don’t even taste the sugar. It’s just sneaking its way inside the peanut butter jar as a hidden freaking poison waiting to eat our insides.  Dramaaaaa… but it’s true!

Good, nice, loving, caring peanut butter = Ingredients: Peanuts

Naughty, bad, mean, liar peanut butter = Ingredients: Peanuts, sugar

I’m no doctor but this appears to be common sense.  Why would I go to the store and buy peanut butter with sugar in it, when there’s a jar right next to it with no sugar?  Common sense people!  If we’re going down eating sugar, we want to eat it when we’re fully aware.  A nice slice of cheesecake, a warm chocolate chip cookie, and/or a vanilla milkshake..  Not sneaking it in our freaking peanut butter jar!

Once I realized something so simple, I started comparing several grocery store items.  Canned beans, spaghetti sauce, coconut milk, juice, chips, hot sauce… it’s scary how many items have sugar in the first couple ingredients. And so completely unnecessary.

In today’s world, especially living in America, we can’t use the excuse “because that other stuff is too expensive”.  It’s not. Really. Maybe a quarter more expensive for the peanut butter without the sugar, BUT it’s’ your health you’re talking about. Your L I F E. What is more important to do with that quarter? Nada damn thang chicken wang.

Start with that. Look at what items you’re buying. Look for sugar.  Leave the hidden sugar behind! Look at the other brands nearby. Find one that does NOT have sugar. Because screw sugar! It’s the enemy, which I can talk about another day.  For now, simply pay attention to the peanut butter, then you’ll believe me… 🙂

Xx MissBassmaster