Anyone who has been in my office sees rows of diet books. Almost every new diet that comes along, I get the book to read about it, because at some point a patient will come in and say they’ve learned some nutrition when they were on some diet plan.

One of the most common bits of misinformation is that peanuts – and hence, peanut butter – is protein – or a healthy snack — or a complex carbohydrate. Book after book on my shelf lists peanuts as a great source of protein, and a “snack that is healthy for you.”

I wonder if they ever bothered to look at a jar of peanut butter? Of the 190 calories in two tablespoons of peanut butter, 140 of the calories are from fat. Two tablespoons of butter contain 200 calories – all of which come from fat. Basically, while there is a bit of carbohydrate and some protein – peanut butter is over 70% fat. A tablespoon of peanut butter isn’t much- seems to fit right on that celery stick– and four tablespoons of peanut butter — well, now you have just had more fat than in a Big Mac. A Snickers bar (not a healthy snack) has less fat than two tablespoons of peanut butter.

Fat is not, nor will it ever be, a healthy snack. Fat is a dense source of calories, and if you are thinking about losing weight – the last place you would want to get a snack from is a dense source of calories.

Now there are those who will tell you that fat does not make you fat (seriously, someone has this as the basis of their diet) – or that fat is healthier than bread (all I can say is they are nuttier than peanut butter).

If you want a quick, healthy snack  — think of an apple, or an orange, or almost any fruit (not fruit drink, not a fruit smoothie, but real fruit).  It will fill you, it has few calories, and will keep you satisfied for hours. If you think you need protein in a snack, think jerky (better yet make jerky), and there are a few more. But if you want to lose weight – don’t think of peanut butter.

One apple has 72 calories (only 2 of the calories are from fat).