Final word on Almond Butter

[Nancy11son]

I've been scouring the forums looking for the final word on almond butter.  A few girlfriends of mine have started a Whole30 with our own facebook group and somehow I've become the Whole30 expert.  One girl had a snack of banana and almond butter yesterday.  Whole30 compliant?  Not sure.  For starters there is no protein in that snack.  But is it an actual fail?  I doubt it.  Thoughts??

When is it appropriate to have almond butter and when is it not, if ever.

Thanks!

[Tom Denham]

The ingredients are acceptable and eating a banana with almond butter is not a Whole30 fail. 

 

Any snacking should be temporary because needing a snack means you are not eating enough and should either eat bigger meals, add a mini-meal, or add another full meal.

 

Any snack should include protein, fat, and veggies.

 

A banana with almond butter is a bad snack because it is not a good nutritional package and borders on being dessert. 

[Nancy11son]

So when would it be appropriate to have almond butter?  And THANK YOU for a quick reply.  So cool.

[Jenn B]

In small quantities, as part of a meal, that serves as the "fat".

Or, as part of a pre workout meal (suggested lean protein and a fat)

 

Nuts are my nemesis, in any form, whole or in butters. If that is the case with the butter/banana, then avoid altogether. I started out with just a tad here and there, and that would occassionally grow, out of proportion food without breaks. so i pretty much eliminate that.

 

I second Tom, if you are eating enough at each meal, there is no need for snacking, and if you are snacking, it should have the 3 elements. FYI, My first two weeks I had a snack after work (3p.m.ish) of fruit and nuts. I decided to try and see if I could make it to dinner without snacking... no problem! Once I eliminated the snack, not an issue. On days that are exceedingly long, or work out days, I have the extra "snack" or small meal.

[amberino21]

we've only used nut butter twice on our whole30 (32?)   - I whizzed almond butter with lemon, dill and some water to make a dressing for steamed greens.

 

 (I lie - my husband used it another time as part of his lunch on some celery once)

 

as tom and jenn mentioned, while it's not not compliant, your friend's banana/butter snack wasn't the best choice she could have made!

[SpinSpin]

I use almond butter in recipes-- well fed's sunshine sauce for example, and for the rare stuffed celery with lunch as my fat option.

[SanguineAspect]

I use almond butter in recipes-- well fed's sunshine sauce for example, and for the rare stuffed celery with lunch as my fat option.

 

I second the sunshine sauce. I did a cashew butter/almond butter mix when I made it, and I used it to sauce faux pad thai with pork, zucchini, and carrots. I didn't even need that much sauce to make a stellar dish. 

 

I haven't found anything else that needs any nut butters, though. Not yet.

[pjena]

I have put it on sweet potatoes as my fat.  Or eaten it with carrots and celery and hb eggs for a super fast or portable breakfast.

[praxisproject]

If I make a lunch for work and it's not got enough fat in it, I add a little pot of almond butter to eat with it.

 

If your friend had added some protein and some veggie sticks, you'd be close to a mini meal

[EricaV]

Newbie question - is it best to aim for 3 meals and no snacks and desserts?

 

I think I can do this (this is day 1) apart from on a big work out day (I am a runner), when I would probably need a snack

 

protein, fat and veges in a snack is sound advice, thanks!

[amberino21]

Newbie question - is it best to aim for 3 meals and no snacks and desserts?

I think I can do this (this is day 1) apart from on a big work out day (I am a runner), when I would probably need a snack

protein, fat and veges in a snack is sound advice, thanks!

desserts of any sort are out, but snacks are ok if really required. I never let myself think they were ok, as that would give me the freedom to have them (does that make sense?)

If you are starving in between meals, not just bored/used to eating at Xam/pm, then a mini meal is suggested - protein, fat and vegies - over fruit or nuts.

If you're training, you're also allowed extra pre/postWO meals. Pre WO is fat/protein - HB eggs are perfect, post WO is carb/protein. Lean meat with some starchy vegies (sweet potato is perfect!) immediately postWO will help you refuel and recover

[praxisproject]

I found the mini-meal strange at first, but it actually works much better than snacks, especially fruit for me, until Whole30, I'd only ever eaten fruit as snacks, never in meals

[thewyrdwoman]

<snip>

A banana with almond butter is a bad snack because it is not a good nutritional package and borders on being dessert. 

 

 

desserts of any sort are out, but snacks are ok if really required.

 

Okay, I am now officially confused regarding "dessert".  If I eat fruit, say a serving of mixed berries tossed with coconut milk & cardamom, at the end of my dinner, I call that "dessert". 

 

But the above says no dessert, but guidelines say 1-2 servings of fruit per day are okay, and it is being consumed with a meal, so "WTF, mate?" 

 

Do I need to restart my Whole30 because I prefer not to consume the fruit during dinner -- i.e., a bite of meat, a bite of veggies, a bite of fruit -- instead of at the end of the meal?  I am trying to be honest & scrupulous with myself on this so I can address my psycho-food issues & the sugar dragon.

[Roz Griffiths]

As long as your fruit & coconut milk comes right at the end of your meal, that's ok, it counts as part of the meal. But no going back into the kitchen half an hour after your dinner to grab a second bowl 

I believe the preferred method of fruit consumption is literally as part of the meal, say, roast pork & apples, a handful of raisins & dried apricots in your cauliflower rice pilaf, or chicken & pineapple in a stir fry. That would be the way least likely to wake any lurking sugar dragons  It's about changing your relationship with food - if you always had a dessert after a meal pre-whole30 & you're still having a dessert during-whole30, then when it comes to post-whole30 you might find it difficult not to be swayed by that tasty cake or some ice cream.

I've no idea if all that makes sense? It's taken me 2 & a bit whole30s to start getting my head round it! 

[thewyrdwoman]

Thank you for the explanation -- it makes perfect sense, to me, anyway.  Desserts were not a required part of the meal for most of my life.  But the last couple of years, I have been on a carb roller coaster, maybe because I switched to active from sedentary.  Tonight, I'll just eat a bigger dinner and try skipping the fruit ending.

[ultrarunnergirl]

Sunshine Sauce from Well Fed is AMAZING. I dip all kinds of raw veggies in it and along with a serving of protein, that's often the lunch I take to work.

 

I too have to be careful with nut butter and nuts. So easy to keep eating ...

[Marieke]

As my profile implies, I am a newbie. I have a question regarding snacks, which I am not sure where to post - but I see that it seems to be in line with the dessert-mentality danger - programmed eating...

 

Could someone just speak to the concept of avoiding snacks? Where are all these regimes that endorse 5-7 mini meals a day vs. 3 larger meals coming from? Is that basically jacking insulin at regular invervals to keep a body going?!  Will our Whole30 bodies go to fat to tide over or is this metabolically uneccessary and just habit?

 

Thanks for input. These forums are incredibly informational.

[Robin Strathdee]

Hi Marieke! Welcome!

 

We recommend 3 meals per day without snacks for a couple of reasons:

 

1. Hormones. Giving yourself space between meals allows all your digestion-related hormones time to do their jobs, including those that access energy from fat cells between meals.  Many other plans have a much higher carbohydrate level, which causes more frequent changes in hormone levels. Protein and fat, which we encourage, keep those levels stable and keep you from having to eat so often.

 

2. Snacking between meals usually turns into grazing between meals, which usually turns into eating all day. That's not a habit we think is healthy and it doesn't encourage healthy eating behaviors and routines (like sitting down to enjoy your meal at a table without distractions).