An Award-Winning PhD Says This Is The Best Nut Butter For Your Health

The days of a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich are over, thanks to the evolution of nut butters over the past few years. Not only are we leaning into alternative nut butters (think walnut or cashew), but additional fillers, emulsifiers, sugars, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, are becoming less and less popular as well. 

Still, the question remains: Which nut butter is the healthiest? On a recent episode on the mindbodygreen podcast, gut health expert Megan Rossi, Ph.D., R.D. (aka The Gut Health Doctor on Instagram), and author of How To Eat More Plants, answers this elusive question. 

Now, as for which butter to choose? According to Rossi: “Try to get a diversity of nuts in your nut butter if possible." That’s right—the best nut butter for your health, Rossi says, is actually a nut butter blend. This makes sense given that different nuts provide different health benefits. Walnuts for example are packed with omega-3s, while cashews are chock-full of magnesium and copper.

Rossi is a champion for getting a diverse array of plants into your diet in general, so it makes sense that she would suggest a mixed nut butter. "More diverse plants, [mean] a more diverse gut bacteria, which in turn [means] a more diverse range of skills that the bacteria can offer our body in terms of hormonal production, metabolism, mental health properties, etc." she says.

In terms of which nuts you should prioritize, Rossi recommends a butter that contains cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, and peanuts. If you’re looking to shop now, some of our favorite mixed nut butters include the Trader Joe’s Mixed Nut Butter and the Nuttzo Organic Power Fuel Crunchy Nut Butter. Both of these options contain a blend of nuts to provide you with a wide range of nutrients, rather than sticking to a single-nut nutrient profile.