Raw and living peanut butter, was Re: peanut butter

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the peanut butter info. That finally answered my questions and

concerns. What is wrong with buying peanuts at the store to grind? How do

you know whether you have mold-free peanuts? Also, what do you use to grind

nuts for nut butters?

Thanks,

Elaine

[Guest guest]

Thanks for that p

[Guest guest]

>

> I know we talked about peanut butter not so long ago

> and found that it is not easily digested and goes

> rancid quickly. But I found that Sally uses it in

> her recipes. She has crispy peanuts and makes nut

> butter with them. Would that be still not so good?

> Sorry for bringing that up again.

Hello!

The main reason people don't like peanut butter is because of

the mold, Aflatoxin.

I order raw organic valencia peanuts from the Sprout People:

http://www..com/seed/peanut.html

I make the sprouted peanuts into butter. Living peanut butter won't

have mold on them.

Mike

*****************

Dr. Weil on Peanut Butter, http://www.drweil.com :

Question:

Does Peanut Butter Cause Cancer?

Dr. Weil's answer:

Aflatoxin is a natural toxin produced by certain strains of the molds

Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus that grow on peanuts stored in

warm, humid silos.

Aflatoxins have also been found in milk, Brazil nuts, pecans,

pistachios and walnuts. In regions of the world (Africa especially)

where peanuts are a dietary staple, it's relatively common for

aflatoxin to cause a type of poisoning called aflatoxicosis.

Aflatoxin is also recognized as a potent carcinogen that causes liver

cancer in laboratory animals.

According to a Consumers Union study done a few years ago, eating

peanut butter that contains an average level of only two parts per

billion of aflatoxin once every 10 days would present a cancer risk

of seven in one million. Small as that may seem, it's higher than the

estimated risk of cancer from most pesticides. And that's if you can

restrict your children's peanut butter consumption to once every 10

days!

The Consumer Union study also discovered that the amount of aflatoxin

in peanut butter varies from brand to brand. Ironically, the four

best-selling supermarket brands -- Jif, Pan, Skippy and

Smuckers -- contained the lowest levels of aflatoxin among all the

products tested, while the fresh ground peanut butters sold in health

food stores had aflatoxin levels about 10 times higher than those big

supermarket brands.

Thus we arrive at the peanut butter paradox. While big-brand peanut

butters are relatively low in aflatoxins, they're quite high in

hydrogenated oils -- chemically altered fats that I strongly

discourage you from eating as they pose their own health risks. The

only solution is to shop around and read labels carefully. Feel free

to call the producers of your favorite peanut butter and ask about

aflatoxins in their product. As more people become sensitive to the

issue you can be sure producers will respond. In the meantime, you

could switch to freshly ground almond butter, which doesn't carry an

aflatoxin risk at all. I myself eat almond butter and sesame tahini

and use peanut butter very rarely.