Find out whether apples and peanut butter are good for weight loss so you don’t undo all of your hard work with your snack choices.
Something to note first is that your ratio of apples to peanut butter will influence your results a lot.
The ratio in this article is one medium apple (182 grams) with two tablespoons of peanut butter (30 grams).
This combination is reasonably low in calories, high in fiber, and offers some extra protein, vitamins, and minerals.
These amounts of apples and peanut butter will likely help you feel fuller without adding that many calories to your diet.
If this helps you eat less of foods that are worse for weight loss, you should see some positive results.
On the other hand, just adding apples with peanut butter on top of your current diet will likely not get you to your weight loss goals.
Additionally, it is possible to use too much peanut butter while losing weight.
The apple peanut butter ratio and calories
In this article, I will use a ratio of one medium apple (182 grams) with two tablespoons of peanut butter (30 grams) (1, 2).
This combination would come down to about 194.1 calories per 100 grams.
There are food groups that tend to be lower in calories but this amount is still reasonable.
How much peanut butter you will actually use will influence the nutrition info per 100 grams a lot.
Additionally, whether peanut butter is good for weight loss depends a lot on how much sugar or similar ingredients the brand adds.
Simply crunched peanuts tend to be best while losing weight. Potentially with some salt or cinnamon.
In the worst-case scenario the peanut butter has a lot of added refined oils, sugar, and other sweeteners. These are a lot worse for weight loss and health.
Apples tend to be good for weight loss (at least until they add sugar to these too).
Fiber in apple and peanut butter for weight loss
The number of calories in apples and peanut butter does not say everything when it comes to losing weight.
You want to check details like the amount of fiber too.
With the ratio from above, apples and peanut butter would contain around 5 grams of fiber per 100 grams (1, 2).
This is a relatively high amount of fiber which is generally good for weight loss.
The first reason for this is that fiber helps you feel fuller without adding a lot of digestible calories to your diet.
Because hunger and cravings are such big challenges while trying to lose weight, this tends to be very useful.
Fiber can also benefit your gut microbiome and in turn, your weight. However, this health area does need more research before making more specific statements.
In short, with the amount of fiber in it, apples and peanut butter can help you feel fuller which can benefit your weight loss efforts.
Protein in apple with peanut butter for weight loss
Thanks to the peanuts, the protein in apples with peanut butter is somewhat relevant when losing weight too.
The ratio above would make it so your apples and peanut butter would contain around 3.8 grams of protein (1, 2).
To compare, something like salmon contains around 25.4 grams of protein per 100 grams (3).
So while the extra protein is typically welcome while trying to lose weight, apples and peanut butter is not the biggest source of it.
This is unfortunate because protein is very filling and can help you preserve or build muscle.
Your body also generally uses more energy to process protein compared to other macronutrients.
If you don’t like eating more protein through other food sources, you could theoretically use more peanut butter per apple.
At the same time, you do want to keep in mind this raises the number of calories in this snack too.
In short, apples and peanut butter do add some protein to your diet but you will likely need more of it in your weight loss diet through other sources.
Vitamins and minerals in apple and peanut butter
It is hard to say anything precise about the weight loss benefits of the vitamins and minerals in apples and peanut butter.
However, because many of these do play a role in metabolism (and health), it tends to be smart to consume enough of them.
100 grams of the ratio of apples and peanut butter contain some of the following vitamins and minerals (1, 2):
- Vitamin C: 14% of the DV (Daily Value)
- Niacin: 11% of the DV
- Magnesium: 9% of the DV
- Potassium: 8% of the DV
- Phosphorus: 7% of the DV
And other vitamins and minerals in smaller amounts.
Apples and peanut butter are not the highest in vitamins and minerals but small amounts do add up.
Apples also contain certain antioxidants like catechin, chlorogenic acid, and quercetin that may benefit weight loss and health in very small amounts (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).
So the small amounts of vitamins and minerals in apples and peanut butter are welcome.
However, you likely want to consider other foods for your weight loss diet to get enough vitamins and minerals.
Can you lose weight eating apples and peanut butter?
Overall, apples and peanut butter are reasonable in terms of calories, high in fiber, and alright in terms of protein, vitamins, and minerals.
The result is that apples and peanut butter will likely fill you up to the extent that you will eat less of foods that are worse for weight loss.
In turn, you can say that the ratio of apples and peanut butter in this article is generally good for weight loss.
At the same time, you do want to keep in mind that you still need to implement the other changes in your diet.
Just adding apples and peanut butter on top of your current diet will not offer too much progress.
Additionally, using too much peanut butter can result in the opposite of your desired results too.
Is it bad to eat apples and peanut butter every day?
For most people, it should be fine to eat small portions of apples and peanut butter every day.
At least if you use the healthier types of peanut butter that don’t add sugar and similar ingredients.
It is also worth noting that too much peanut butter could have a fattening effect. Your portion sizes could make a difference.
Are peanut butter and apples healthy before bed?
Another thing to keep in mind is that when you eat peanut butter and apples influences the weight loss and health effects too.
It is generally not smart to eat anything right before bed because it tends to reduce your sleep quality and duration.
This principle applies to peanut butter and apples too.
