It’s national peanut butter day. Probably the most important day of the year, aside from National Carrot Cake (Feb 3rd), National Women Physicians Day (also Feb 3rd) and National Day The Music Died Day (Look, Feb 3rd is a big day OK).
So amid all the serious news, let’s take a moment to appreciate the joys of peanut butter. Crunchy, smooth, healthy, full of so much salt you have to drink seven glasses of water immediately afterwards, if you’re not into peanut butter then this is not a place for you. Why did you click on this article? Why would you do that to yourself? Go google something about apple pie or something.
For everyone else - here are 12 things you never knew about your favourite nutty spread:
**Peanuts aren't nuts **
Nope, unlike their close friends Cashew and Wal, the peanut is actually a legume. And, for anyone interested, a legume is a simple, dry fruit contained within a shed or a pod - like a bean. Or a pea. So why are peanuts called peanuts? Nobody knows, but we guess pealegume didn't have the same ring to it... or people presumed they were nuts, named them, then found out the truth. It makes sense: they are sort of like peas but, er, nuts.
There are 540 peanuts in a jar of peanut butter
That is a serious amount of legumes, which is why you probably shouldn’t scarf down the whole jar. It also varies between crunchy and smooth, with a little more in smooth peanut butter jars - but there are no actual figures. Maybe scientists should stop fannying around finding cures to diseases and concentrate on this highly important area of science instead. We are 100% joking, please don’t do this.
**Peanut butter was probably invented in Maccu Picchu **
Researchers can’t be sure, but they reckon that peanuts were first mashed into butter by the Aztecs - and peanuts themselves were probably first harvested in Brazil and Peru. By the time the Spanish settled, they’d already spread right up to Mexico. However, you didn’t find Aztec peanut butter in neat little glass jars, obviously. The modern day version of peanut butter wasn’t introduced until 1904 at the St. Louis World’s Fair.
You can buy peanut butter cups larger than your head
Ah, America. Just look at how they do their Reese’s peanut butter cups. Absolute perfection.
Oh and, additional fun fact: the biggest peanut butter cup ever made weighed in at 230 pounds and was made by chocolate extraordinaire’s the Village Chocolate Shoppe. This is erring on the side of terrifying.
Peanut butter was used for medical reasons
In 1890, a doctor from St. Louis called Dr Ambrose Straub asked a food products company to make a protein substitute for toothless people who couldn't chew meat. And so, peanut butter as we know it today, was created. But while George A. Bayle Jr’s processed ground peanuts certainly helped provide protein to the toothless, all the way through the 1800s peanut butter was just seen as food for livestock, until eventually becoming an integral part of the Armed Force rations among the US army in both world wars. Then it basically exploded all across the western world, becoming a delicacy in the UK soon after.
**There’s a Peanut Butter Jelly song **
It has over 85 million hits on YouTube and we’re not convinced it’s about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Lyrics include: “Kush kush wherever we go/ Visualize it / I’ll give you something to doIn fact we’re really not sure what it’s about at all.”
We’re actually not sure what it’s about at all, but it’s quite fun to dance to.
**The “jelly” in “Peanut butter and jelly” means jam **
Just in case you thought we meant actual jelly. In America, jam is known as jelly and it’s pretty much the most popular sandwich filling over there. According to some highly scientific research which doesn’t make us go “But how do you KNOW that” at all, Americans will eat on average 3000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in their life time. Whoa.
Some people have a peanut butter related phobia
Known as arachibutyrophobia, this is a very rare phobia whereby sufferers are terrified of peanut butter sticking to the roof of their mouth. Something that, as a peanut butter obsessive, we find actually rather pleasant. As with any phobia, the symptoms include extreme anxiety, sweating, dry mouth, shaking and nausea.
**Peanut butter is good for you (in moderation) **
While you can’t eat it all in one go, due to its high fat content, peanuts are pretty good for you. Containing Magnesium, which helps you metabolise food and is vital for the proper functioning of hundreds of enzymes; Vitamin E, which protects against toxins like air pollution, and helps with neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes; and Niacin, which is good for your heart, don’t let anyone tell you it’s a junk food! Yes, it’s high in calories - but just have it in moderation!
Peanut butter preference has a gender split
According to the National Peanut Board, women and children prefer creamier peanut butter, whereas men like their peanut butter chunky. And overall, smooth is a lot more popular - in America, aka the mecca of peanut butter, a whopping 80% of peanut butter sold is smooth, while only 17% is crunchy (the other 3% accounts for peanut butter varieties like the stuff mixed with chocolate, etc).
On another note, we’d quite like a job on the National Peanut Board because it sounds like a right laugh.
Peanut butter is good for your boobs
Yep, a study showed that girls between 9 and 15 who ate more peanut butter were nearly 40% less likely to get benign breast disease (which often develops into breast cancer) by age 30. So get that spoon out and start digging.
You can give peanut butter to your dog
But only if it’s the natural, super-posh, organic variety with no added sugar. While sugar is obviously really bad for your dog, good quality peanut butter is full of B vitamins which helps improve your dog’s immune system to help up their defences against illness. Don’t let them go to town on it, though: a teaspoon for them to lick will do. Then prepare for them to follow you around with “Please give me more or I’ll whine for days” until you give them more.
**How do you eat YOUR peanut butter? Tweet or Facebook us your peanut butter tips... **